Superintendent's Community Update, March 5, 2021

 

Dear AUSD Community,

AUSD’s hybrid reopening plans were solidified today as the Board of Education approved the Memorandum of Understanding between AUSD and Albany Teachers Association for Hybrid Instruction (TK-12th Grade) during COVID-19. We are just a few days away from bringing our students back to campus. To prepare for this transition, all students will receive asynchronous instruction for a few days near their grade’s hybrid reopening date. This gives teachers time to prepare their lessons and their classrooms for the students’ return. Note the schedule detailed in the table below. The asynchronous schedule for transition days will mimic the student’s current asynchronous schedule (Wednesday schedule for elementary students). 

 

Grades

Return to Hybrid

4 Transition Days

(Asynchronous instruction only for all grades)

TK/K*

Monday March 15

Tuesday March 9

Wednesday March 10

Thursday March 11

Friday March 12**

1st-3rd Grade

Monday  March 22

Wednesday March 10

Friday March 12**

Thursday March 18

Friday March 19

4th-5th Grade

Monday March 29

Wednesday March 10

Friday March 12**

Thursday March 25

Friday March 26

6th Grade 

Monday March 29

Friday March 12**

Thursday March 18

Friday March 19

Friday March 26

7th-8th Grade

Monday April 5

Friday March 12**

Thursday March 18

Friday March 19

Friday March 26

9th-12th Grade

Monday April 5

Friday March 26

Wednesday March 31

Thursday April 1

Friday April 2 

 

*Conference and assessment days for TK/K may change.

**Friday March 12 is a non-instructional day.

 

School Schedules

School schedules are changing. This will affect both students participating in Hybrid Instruction as well as those students who remain with Remote Learning. Schedules are posted here on the District website, as well as on each school’s website. Secondary schedules are also posted.

 

Hybrid Reopening Family Forums

Many attended online Family Forums about the Hybrid Program this week. If you missed a Forum, video recordings are posted below for each school. FAQs are being developed based on community questions and will be posted soon.  

  • Albany & MacGregor High Schools: Video  FAQ
  • Albany Middle School: Video  Slides
  • Cornell Elementary: Video 
  • Marin Elementary: Video  (enter passcode: YEFz#^43) 
  • Ocean View Elementary: Video  (enter passcode: 9e%s!50G) 

 

No Classes On Friday, March 12

According to the AUSD 2020-2021 Academic Calendar, Friday, March 12 is a professional development day for staff. No classes will be held on Friday, March 12.

 

AUSD Stands Against Anti-Asian Hate

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, there has been an increase in hateful behavior against Asians and Asian Americans. Many of us have seen video footage of disgusting acts of anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area and across our nation. The Asian community has faced scapegoating that has made many feel increasingly unsafe in their own communities. Our nation has a long history of racism, xenophobia, and prejudice and we must stand together with our Asian and Asian American students, colleagues, and neighbors to reaffirm that bigotry has no place here. Central to the work of educating our children is reinforcing everyone's sense of belonging—this belonging supersedes racial and ethnic lines. Anti-Asian racism is not new, is rooted in the same systemic oppression that devalues all people of color, and grows when communities turn against one another. 

 

I want to take a moment to reaffirm our district’s commitment to providing an equitable and inclusive environment and to our ongoing work of addressing systemic racism and oppression. To those in our community who have been directly affected by this bigotry, know that we see you, sympathize with you, and are here to support you. A parent engagement group for those who identify as Asian Pacific Islanders is forming. I welcome our Asian Pacific Islander Parent Engagement Group and applaud their desire to raise a voice in support of their students. For more information about the Asian Pacific Islander Parent Engagement Group, contact [email protected].

 

Stay encouraged,

 

Frank Wells signature

Dr. Frank Wells
Superintendent of Schools

Albany Unified School District