Scotts Valley Middle School

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

It was announced today that Santa Cruz County has transitioned to the Orange “Moderate” Tier.  As has been mentioned previously, there are requirements for schools to be able to begin to open up for in-person services.  Please read this letter from the County Superintendents, which outlines the requirements.  As a reminder, SVUSD is starting to progressively invite back small groups of students for support in November. We will continue to move forward safely in this manner up to winter break.  

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and partnership as we blaze a trail into this new territory.

Be safe,

Tanya Krause

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

Items included in this update:

• Parent survey and next steps
• Small group support
• Technology update
• Student attendance
• Parent Workshop 10/28
• Site highlights

Thank you to the parents who responded to our recent survey, soliciting feedback from families regarding your experience with distance instruction since the start of school.  As I shared with you in my last update, we are analyzing the survey data from parents, staff, and students to help us make necessary adjustments to the current instructional plan, support student needs, and plan for our next steps. We received a 58% parent response rate from this last survey, a bit over half of the responses to make plans for all students.  Therefore, for those that did not respond to the survey, or did not turn in a waiver before school began, the District is assuming that you will be sending your student(s) to school when invited back.  Your feedback is important and we are trying to respond to requests to the best of our ability, however, we must acknowledge that it is very challenging to address all parents and staff requests and suggestions, while also adhering to local and state requirements.  Like all educators, we are doing our best and keeping our focus on students.

Sites have been reviewing their site-specific survey data and are planning to start bringing back small groups of identified students for academic and social-emotional support.  Students are first being identified for return to the site based on a few initial factors which may vary across the sites.  Examples include students who require specialized supports such as Special Education or English language supports, and also students who experienced the greatest learning loss since schools were closed last spring.  We are also discussing the younger grades at each site possibly needing more support.

In November, all sites will be progressively inviting students to return to their respective school sites for small group support.  For those families who elect to stay in full remote instruction, we are of course honoring those requests; however, it is important that you are aware that the current teacher(s) of record may have to change based on the numerous transitions that need to be made over the next year.

We want to let you know that the District’s Director of Technology went out on a leave of absence at the beginning of October and Assistant Superintendent Stewart and I, along with our small but mighty IT department of two, have been managing, redirecting, and following through on those important tasks. 
We are pleased that to date,  the overall student attendance rate and engagement is over 97%! Thank you to all of the parents, teachers, and staff for supporting students in their learning. 

Please join us this coming Wednesday, October 28, at 7:00 PM for our next Parent training, How to Help Your Child Manage Distance Learning.  The information is on our website on the Distance Learning Page, and linked here as well.

We want to share some site highlights:

SVHS:
The Haunted House is back but in a very different format.  Drive Through, and family-style friendly:
Scotts Valley Haunted House Presents HALLOWEEN
An all-ages drive-through experience
Tickets Available at svhaunt.org
All proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
SVMS:
The student council is working on creating weekly morning announcements, and they are excited to bring back this greatly missed part of our day.
The PTA Drive for schools ends today!
Principal Allen and Assistant Principal Menchaca have been “going into” classes on Fridays to see if students are wearing green!
College and career is next week, and November 2nd is the 7th-grade CSUMB trip. 
BK:
Thanks to the efforts of the PTO, BK is proud to offer enrichment lessons for all students at the (virtual) Knoll Garden.  Miss Timmer has put together a google classroom that the teachers will be sharing with students in all grade levels.  Lessons include Garden Tours, Information on the Life Cycle of Plants, Soil Exploration, and Seed Dissection.
Miss Colleen, the Music teacher, is creating videos for all grade levels to enjoy.  Students will be learning musical vocabulary, different musical notes, and will be exploring musical patterns.
Art supplies are making their way home and we can’t wait to see what the students create.  All grade levels will be working on teacher-led projects.  Primary grades will be exploring Banda Mask, Byzantine Mosaic, and Joan Miro.  Our intermediate grade levels (3-5) will be exploring Faith Ringgold, Pablo Picasso, and John J. Audubon.  We can’t wait to view their creations! 
VH:
Kindergarten students will return to a new PTA sponsored turf playfield when they arrive back on campus. The Scholastic Book Fair will begin on November 6th with a packed online store of great reading material.  Life lab lessons started this week for all grade levels.  Students are participating in video lessons, and planting seeds at home with the guidance of the LifeLab staff!  Teachers continue to conquer new and engaging online platforms to instruct and engage the Vine Hill Bears.  The school is looking forward to robust virtual Red Ribbon Week and College & Career Week!

As a reminder, next Friday, October 30th is a student day in case you have an older version of the school calendar.  We “swapped” this day for a non-student day in late August due to the fires.  

As Halloween is coming up, please be safe and embrace new traditions to celebrate this year!

Take good care,

Tanya Krause

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

Items included in this update:

• Surveys - parents and staff
• Next steps
• Measure A Town Hall Webinar visit SOSSV.net 
• District’s Cultural Responsiveness Committee (CRC)
• Internet connectivity update
• SVHS and Brook Knoll highlights

Thank you to those that have participated in the district survey. As a reminder, the survey closes today at 3 PM and we are compiling the results and we are relying on a good response rate.  We also implemented a staff survey and will be reviewing those results as well. 

Our next steps are to review survey results, begin to implement COVID testing for staff and identify students to return for small group support for partial days or certain days of the week. At this time students, even in small groups, have to remain in a static cohort and cannot commingle groups. We will be reviewing school schedules, staff schedules and we will be in communication with you regarding any upcoming transitions. As you know, we are offering parent training sessions to support you.  We had a great turnout for our last workshop on Mental Health, Anxiety, and Depression.  Our next workshop will be on October 28 at 7:00 PM and is focused on supporting your child to manage distance learning.  To find a recording of the last workshop, or to participate in future workshops, please visit the Distance Instruction Resource page on our website.  

We are receiving the question, ”Why are private schools in session and not public schools?”  There are key requirements that have been put in place and some are different for private schools. As mentioned, testing 50% of your staff every month is a requirement and easier to implement in a smaller educational setting. Additionally, most private schools do not have collective-bargaining agreements. 

A Town Hall Webinar was held regarding the Measure A school facility bond. Information and the recording are available at SOSSV.net. 

We have begun meeting as a District team to discuss Cultural Responsiveness.  Our team is currently made up of administrators, counselors, and teachers, and we are researching best practices and reviewing our current curriculum. We look forward to increasing awareness and providing strategies and supplemental resources for our teachers.

Since my last letter, we experienced some technology challenges that made it difficult for teachers to conduct their distance learning sessions from their classrooms for a couple of days. We are working with the County Office of Education, as they help to provide our Internet connections, and we were able to resolve the issue. We apologize for the struggles this added on top of already challenging times, but we now have a process to follow to restore bandwidth should this issue arise again.  Please know that we understand how frustrating it is when there are internet interruptions. We will continue to work to improve our systems.  

Some Site highlights:

SVHS

Back to School Night was a success! If parents missed it, the videos, including the administration’s presentation, are still posted on the homepage. The library is having a virtual book fair on October 12-23.  (See News from the Nest for more details.) 

SVHS is planning for a Drive-Through Haunted House Halloween for families!  This year will be outdoors, drive-through, and families will stay in their cars.  Currently, if all goes well, they plan to open this for the last two weekends in October: October 22-24, Thurs-Sat, and October 29-31, Thurs-Sat.  Each day the event will be from 5-8 pm.  Yesterday a student survey was released, focusing on academics and mental health.  The results of this survey, along with the results from the parent survey, will be reviewed to support students across SVHS.

Brook Knoll 

Red Ribbon Week is coming up 10/23 -10/31.  There is no better time than the present to focus on making smart choices for our bodies and minds.   The school counselors have put together a series of activities that all students can enjoy as they explore healthy choices.  Additionally, the elementary counseling team has provided grade-specific journals for students to use as a resource to help manage and understand their feelings and emotions.   

During a typical year, 4th Graders enjoy an informative and exciting field trip to Cabrillo College.  Unfortunately, last year, our 4th Graders were not able to attend due to county closures, so Cabrillo has invited both 4th and 5th-grade students this year to a Live Virtual 4th Grade Experience, in partnership with Santa Cruz College and Career Collaborative.  This year’s experience will include interactive activities, a virtual tour, and a live question and answer session with a Cabrillo team on October 27.  Vine Hill School 4th and 5th graders will be participating as well.

As we close out another busy week, we are focusing on positive thoughts and hoping for a few needed rain drops this weekend.  

Stay healthy and take care,

Tanya Krause