Spring 2021

This will be the last newsletter of the 2020-21 school year. I want to thank you all for entrusting us with your children. They are the best part of Wallenberg. This year was not what any of us imagined, and I know it has been frustrating at times. Your kids have been resilient, dedicated, and mature through this whole thing. I want to thank you all for your kindness and grace while we worked through how to have an entirely online school for a year.

Next year, we plan on a full in-person reopening. We will be focusing on building a strong school community from the very start. There will be orientation events for all grade levels the week of August 2nd. More details will come during the summer. These will not be required, but will be a great way to re-introduce (or introduce) students to Wallenberg.

In August we will have a new start time. The school day will be 8:40am-3:50pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays we will have early release at 1:35. We are working on a revised bell schedule that will be posted on the Wallenberg website by mid June.

Counselors have been working with students to sign up for summer school classes. If your student has fallen behind in credits, we are planning on offering some credit recovery opportunities at Wallenberg starting in August. This will start small, but we will be adding options and opportunities throughout the fall semester. Our hope is that students will be able to catch up here, and won’t have to attend night school, saturday school, or summer school.

I want to congratulate the class of 2021 for making it through an unprecedented senior year. We look forward to celebrating you in person at graduation on June 3rd. The graduation ceremony will be livestreamed at this link: https://sfusd.zoom.us/j/89051526186 

Remember that if your grade 9-11 student is NOT returning to Wallenberg for the 2021-22 school year, they need to come to Wallenberg on Thursday June 3rd between 9am-1pm to empty their lockers, return any borrowed technology, sports uniforms, musical instruments, or other items. If you have any questions please email kellyk1@sfusd.edu or call 415-749-4369.

I wish you all a safe, healthy and relaxing summer.

Hello! 

There are 17 days of school left. This has not been the school year any of us imagined, and we’re all hoping for a very different start in August. Please reach out to teachers if your student needs support in finishing strong. We are here to help.

Monday we will have an end of the school year assembly. It will still be a six period day- but 2nd period will be extended.

Students will be permitted to come back to campus to get their personal items or return school materials in the next several weeks. I want to share dates so you can plan ahead, we will have more details soon. 

• 10th and 11th grade students who ARE RETURNING to Wallenberg in the fall will be permitted to come to school on May 24-27 to get any personal items that remain in their lockers. We will not be collecting books or other materials from students who are returning in August. 
• 9th-11th grade students who are NOT returning to Wallenberg in the fall will need to come and return any school or district items on June 3rd. 
• 12th graders will come to school to clean out lockers, return materials, and pick up everything they need for graduation on June 1st. We will have the cap and gown, and graduation tickets on this day. 

We will have more information about graduation for you soon. In the meantime, you can find all current information here: https://www.sfusd.edu/school/raoul-wallenberg-traditional-high-school/announcements/2021-04-29-senior-graduation

If you haven’t yet, please fill out a short survey about our school. This survey is very important to helping us understand how we can improve the school, the deadline has been extended to May 7th! We want to hear every family’s voice! http://bit.ly/38NgG5E

Hello! 

It’s been a busy week with lots of work to prepare for the students who are returning. I know that it’s disappointing that we can’t have more students return to in-person school, but we are committed to all students returning in-person in the fall.

We are seeing a decline in daily attendance. This isn’t shocking at all. We are all exhausted by sitting in front of computers all day for over a year. However, with only 32 days left in the school year, it’s important that we don’t give up too soon. Please check in with your student, make sure they are still attending classes. If you or your student needs any support as we finish out the year, please reach out.

Staff are returning to school. We now have clerical staff on-site every day. So there is someone here to answer the phones from 9:00-3:00 Monday-Friday. 415-749-3469

This week the Board of Education approved the calendar for the 2021-22 school year. The first day of school will be August 16, 2021. School will end on June 1, 2022. I don’t have an actual calendar yet but I know some of you are planning travel so I wanted to get you these dates.

12th grade families: I expect to have details about graduation by Monday at the latest. I will email as soon as I have details.

Hello and happy Friday.

At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, there was an update on return to in-person learning. I am linking the presentation below. Currently, there are no plans for a full return to in-person learning for high schools. However, The Board is committed to returning all students to in-person school in August. We are planning to return SDC and Focal Students later this month. Some of the information in the presentation is focused on kindergarten-5th grade, but I think it gives a decent snapshot of where we are. Slide 21 has videos that are translated into multiple languages.

4/6/21 Board of Education Return to In-Person Learning Update 

How do we want to represent ourselves when people call the school and are put on hold?

The following submissions were created by Wallenberg band (digital music) students and selected by their peers as their top choices. We still need to narrow them down, however, and are requesting community input in this process. Please take a few minutes to listen to these pieces and choose your top 3 choices. 

We hope you will enjoy these examples of exemplary student work, and choose your top 3 choices on this form.

Hello!

There has been a lot of news about students returning to in-person school. There is a lot of information, but not a lot of Wallenberg-specific information. Here’s what I can tell you.

• In mid- to late-April there are about 80 Wallenberg students who will qualify for a return to in-person school. 
• We were provided with that list and it includes students with disabilities, foster youth, students who are experiencing homelessness, students living in public housing, and students who have not engaged in distance learning consistently.
• A survey was emailed home to the families of students who qualify. Families can choose to remain in distance learning or return to in-person school. Wallenberg staff will be making follow-up calls to families who do not respond in the coming days.

There are a lot of unanswered questions here still. We aren’t entirely sure on the start date for in-person school. We don’t know if we can add students who are not on that list to the group. We aren’t clear on what the in-person school will look like (it will NOT be a “normal” student day of six periods in six different classrooms with six different teachers). I’m sure you have questions of your own as well. As this plan develops, I will keep you updated. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

12th Grade families- I have some good news!!! We are working on planning for an in-person graduation. I know even LESS about what it’s going to look like than I do in-person school, but there will be an in-person graduation and I will let you know as soon as I know more.

Happy Friday all!

 As you may have heard, SFUSD schools are preparing to have in-person learning for some students. We are aware that many students and families are struggling, this has been an exceptionally hard school year.I don’t have a lot of specific information yet, but we are making progress. SFUSD is preparing to offer some students a choice to remain in distance learning or return to in-person learning for the remainder of this school year that ends in June 2021. We will share as much information with parents as possible, including when the first group of students will be able to return, as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience as we move through all the necessary steps to return safely.  

This Wednesday from 5-6:30 we will have our last Site Council and Community meeting of the spring. This is an opportunity to see and comment on a draft of the school plan for the 2021-22 school year. Everyone is welcome. This is NOT a meeting about returning to in-person school, but planning for the academic year like we do every spring. 

Here is the link: https://sfusd.zoom.us/j/81782760436?pwd=alVCVXV4NFBVbnFQNEJiMzNLdGFRUT09

Our Computer Science program has a few industry partners. One of them has created videos to tackle common technology tasks using all Google products.  All of the videos have a live volunteer talking throughout and walking you through each step on how to complete that task, while screensharing. Tasks include: 

1.       How to use Zoom 

2.       How to organize Gmail 

3.       How to use Google Calendar 

4.       How to compose an email  

5.       Linking Google Documents 

6.       Using the task function 

7.       How to organize and navigate Google Drive  

8.       Writing a resume and cover letter (and components for each) 

Some of the videos are available  in Spanish.  Videos can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jsyXqk5HBVSwlhbuW5fz1ui0-wd4PHNR?usp=sharing  

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Friday all!

I hope you have been able to get out and enjoy some of this beautiful week. Even a short walk does wonders.

We are in the process of writing our school plan for next year. As a part of this process I sent a survey to students. I asked about the things they are excited and worried about returning to in-person school. I was surprised that nearly all of their concerns are COVID related. In response to this created a presentation that all English teachers will be sharing with students in Google Classroom. I wanted to share it with all of you as well:

Student COVID Update

We will be holding our second site council and community meeting on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:00. This meeting is part of the school planning process. Everyone is welcome to join. This meeting will focus on a budget overview and some data analysis. It is a place to come and have your voice heard. The link is in the mailed newsletter, and will be posted to the school calendar on the homepage by 4:45 on Wednesday.

Teachers are entering grades today, report cards should be available on ParentVue and in the mail early next week.

Have a good weekend.

Happy Friday! 

About 200 students participated in Challenge Day Thursday and Friday morning. It was a very positive experience, and I was glad to get to spend time getting to know some students better.

We are about halfway through the P4 grading period. Please encourage your students to check in with teachers if they need any additional help. 

Next week senior portraits will be taken at Wallenberg. Your 12th grade student should have already signed up for an appointment, but it’s not too late. They should have an email from Lifetouch with details. If they do not have that email, please let me know: kellyk1@sfusd.edu. Photos will be taken on the upper yard. Students will enter through the gate on Vega St past the cafeteria. This is the same entrance we used for materials pick-up in the fall.

There is no school on Friday February 12 for Lunar New Year and Monday February 15 for President’s Day. I will send an email to all students. Teachers will post the schedule in their Google Classrooms as well, The schedule for those two weeks is below:

Monday February 8 = Tuesday Bell Schedule

Tuesday February 9 = Wednesday Bell Schedule

Wednesday February 10 = Thursday Bell Schedule

Thursday February 11 = Friday Bell Schedule

Friday February 12 = No School

Monday February 15 = No School

Tuesday February 16th = Tuesday schedule

Wednesday February 17th = Wednesday Schedule

Thursday February 18th = Thursday Schedule

Friday February 19th = Friday Schedule

Hello all- I’ve got a very short newsletter for you this week.

Monday’s Challenge Day Assembly was a success. I was really impressed with the student participation, and I hope they all enjoyed it. There are two more Challenge Day events on January 28/29. These will be smaller group events that involve only some classes. Your student will get more information from their teacher if they are participating.

There is no school on Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday. Now more than ever, it feels important to reflect on the progress the civil rights movement led to, and the work that we still have to do. May we all honor the legacy or Dr. King in our words, and deeds.

Remember, as always, if your family or your student need support of any kind, reach out. We are here to help.

Hello, and happy 2021. I hope that you and your families are well.

The events of the past week have been unsettling for many of us. Teachers tell me that students had the desire to talk about what has been happening in the country, and they have held space for those conversations. Staff have been sharing resources with each other, and this felt worth sharing with all of you: How to Talk to Kids About the Riots at the US Capitol If there is any reason you or your student needs additional support, please reach out. 

Tuesday was the first day of spring semester. This is not the spring semester any of us imagined, but we are going to continue to do the best we can and take care of each other through these unprecedented times. If your student is struggling with their classes, our after school program partners at the Richmond Neighborhood Center have many resources for students. Here is a link to their program offerings- the schedule is in the bottom right link: After School Updates

On Monday we will have a whole-school assembly. The bell schedule for the day is at the end of this newsletter. Some afternoon classes may not meet synchronously. All students should check their Google Classrooms to see what teachers have planned for those shortened classes. In the morning we will participate in a Challenge Day Virtual Assembly. Many students participated in the Challenge Day program last spring, I was lucky enough to join them, it was a powerful experience. We were excited to learn that they were offering online programs this year. Challenge Day builds empathy and compassion. If you would like to learn more, here is their website: https://www.challengeday.org/ 

9:00-9:20

First period (check in/Attendance)

9:20-11:20

Challenge Day Assembly (all school)

11:20-11:40

2nd Period

11:40-12:20

Lunch

12:20-12:40

3rd Period

12:40-1:00

4th Period

1:00-1:20

5th Period

1:20-1:407

6th Period