July 22, 2020 - Family Digest

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Dear SFUSD Families:

SFUSD wants to make sure your children have opportunities to connect and to learn. We know you want what is best for your children and may be seeking in-person options. Many of us are feeling anxious, frustrated and worried. 

Schools cannot open to in-person instruction until there is a public health order allowing them to do so. However, distance learning alone does not meet the needs of many families and children. In SFUSD’s initial fall learning plan, we’re prioritizing relationships and connection and more frequent live interactions online. 

Our staff and community have contributed a lot of creative and innovative ideas and we are exploring ways to allow for in-person learning and support. We hope to move to a hybrid model later in the fall for some of our students once our teachers and staff are able to and public health guidance allows us to do so. 

SFUSD teachers and school administrators have been on break since early June. We look forward to when our teachers and site leaders return from break and can help support families and students in connecting with each other. Administrators are returning to work on July 27 and teachers return on August 11.

More details about SFUSD’s vision for fall will be shared publicly online July 25 and discussed with the Board of Education on July 28. While we look forward to sharing what we envision learning will look like, many of the details of the fall learning plan are still subject to negotiations with the teachers union. These are actively underway. We appreciate your continued commitment to working together as we seek to keep everyone healthy and learning.

Fall 2020 Planning 

Please read this note from Enikia Ford-Morthel, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, who is leading the teaching and learning workgroup: 

As we prepare for Fall 2020, we are prioritizing Connection, Communication and Consistency. Although all students will start the school year in a distance learning format, we plan to implement a hybrid model when safety and circumstances allow. We are being creative and innovative as we think about ways to interact with students and have leveraged the feedback and input from many. We know that only through authentic partnership and true collaboration can we realize the EACH and EVERY in this continued distance context. We look forward to engaging and partnering with our families and community organizations to realize this next step forward in the fall. We have been thoughtful around how to improve distance learning towards the priority areas named above including professional development and capacity building, resources for teachers, school staff and site leaders. We are also mindful of the new role that parents and caregivers are playing and are building our resources.

Technology Support for Families  

With the decision that the school year will launch with online instruction, we want to remind families of available resources to support getting started with digital tools and platforms. On the Technology Resources for Families page you will find Family Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), a Youtube playlist of family technology tutorials in multiple languages, information on accessing your child’s Google login, and support for tools such as Zoom, Google Classroom, and more! 

This page will continue to be updated in the coming weeks, along with our main Resources for Families page. You may also contact the Family Resource Link for assistance.

SNS has served over 2 million meals since March! During the week of July 6th SNS served over 130,000 meals, and we will continue to provide grab and go services throughout the City until school starts on August 17th. The model for providing meals to students during the school year will be modified to align with the District's plan for learning once school starts.  More to come as those plans evolve!

Graduating or Moving On from SFUSD? Return SFUSD Property on July 23!

Graduating seniors and all other students who are leaving SFUSD (not enrolled in August 2020) must return SFUSD property including borrowed textbooks, technology, and musical instruments. Return events will be held TOMORROW on Thursday, July 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at four locations: 

• 555 Franklin St
• Cesar Chavez ES
• James Denman MS
• Willie Brown MS

Please note that this event is for RETURNS ONLY; there will be no new distributions or exchanges. Please visit bit.ly/SFUSDreturns for additional information.

Warm regards,
Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews