May 21, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
We understand that you likely have questions about what the start of our next school year may look like. While we cannot yet provide any specifics, SJUSD and SJTA are working on developing various school day scenarios along a continuum of models (full distance learning to hybrid distance learning with in-person learning to full in-person learning) in preparation for the next school year. While current social distancing and other health guidelines would not allow for full in-person learning, we know we should be prepared for all possibilities during this rapidly changing time while always keeping the health and safety of staff, students and families at the center of the planning process.
Through this process, both parties agree that regardless of the model in the fall, we will need to collect input from practitioners, administrators, students, and families to continue to refine and adjust our instructional program. Parents are currently being surveyed by the district and SJTA will be surveying members soon as well.
In any typical year, we may face challenges to get all students to reach mastery of all standards, however recognizing this unprecedented time, we believe that it will be even more challenging to cover all of the standards in 2020-2021 as we would during a typical school year. In an attempt to reduce stress and address this reality, while still trusting professionals and believing in professional autonomy, we have recently convened joint teams of practitioners and administrators to draft guidelines for ‘Essential Standards’ for each grade level and core academic content area. Within this work, essential standards represent the minimum a student must learn to reach higher levels of learning. In order for a standard to be identified as “essential” it would either be a power standard or building block standard that is necessary for students to master in order to be:
· successful later in the year
· successful in the next grade or course level
· successful across other domains or content areas
Another reason to identify the essential standards is to provide time for practitioners to focus on developing relationships with students this fall. While relationships have always been an important part of education, we anticipate relationships will be even more valuable as we head back to school into next year. The social, emotional and mental health needs of many students has increased during school closures. Our hope is that by identifying the essential standards you will have more time to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with your students.
Again, in San Juan, we trust practitioners and believe in professional autonomy, therefore these guidelines are intended to serve as a resource and practitioners should determine how they are used. The teams currently working on identifying these essential standards will be reaching out to various practitioners for input and feedback.
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