CUSD opened the 2020-2021 school year in a virtual environment via the CUSD BRIDGE program. Teachers officially returned from the summer break on Monday, August 24th and participated in a virtual Welcome Back Meeting facilitated by Superintendent Mueller. Continuing with the established themes of Connect, Challenge and Champion, this meeting included three guest speakers, a fun wheel of fortune game and a motivational message by our Superintendent, setting the stage for a successful and unique school year that will provide a robust education to every child, every day. Following the welcome back meeting, teachers participated in self-directed and selected professional learning. The professional learning category resources are continually updated to support ongoing professional learning and support, and include the following categories: (1) online teaching strategies, (2) building virtual relationships, community and social-emotional learning, (3) curriculum, instruction, and assessment in a virtual environment, (4) technology, (5) elementary resources, (6) secondary curriculum resources, (7) distance learning instructional videos, (8) project lead the way, and (9) brain breaks.
Students attended their first BRIDGE classes on Thursday, August 27th. We are excited to report the following attendance and engagement data that represents student attendance in BRIDGE from August 27th through August 31st.
- CHS 98.3% Attendance Rate (n=18 students not attending)
- CMS 100% Attendance Rate (n=0 students not attending)
- SSES 100% Attendance Rate (n=0 student not attending)
- VES 100% Attendance Rate (n=0 students not attending)
School administrators, counselors and teachers continue to reach out to students who have not yet attended in addition to students who are showing sporadic attendance and engagement.
A significant contributing factor to these attendance rates are the efforts the CUSD IT Department and site library technicians continue to make to ensure that all students have access to a device and connectivity. Below is a summary of the number of device requests that have been received and fulfilled:
- 856 requests for devices (Fall)
- 348 requests for devices (April)
- Over 1,200 student devices in total!
CUSD continues to solicit and receive feedback from our learning community relative to technology and the BRIDGE program. Below is a summary of the number of comments/questions received from our families:
In accordance with recent guidance from Governor Newsom and in compliance with the MOU between CUSD and ACT, leadership is actively working on refining our reopening plans. San Diego County is currently in the red category, which allows schools to open up on-campus instruction for no more than 25% of the capacity of the facilities, with all safety protocols in place. Per the current MOU, teacher daily work schedules shall be provided at least two weeks prior to instruction or a return to in-person instruction. The CUSD newsletter sent out on August 26th, served as the two week notice that CUSD will begin preparations to provide in-person instruction in phases in accordance with all guidelines. CUSD surveyed parents and staff of our most vulnerable students who may receive / provide services to during Phase One of our reopening plan. As we finalize the plans, communications will be sent out to our staff and community.