Shadow Hills Elementary School

We are excited to once again welcome our youngest students back on campus. Today, our preschool students began face to face learning. We look forward to all students returning in the near future. #onwardandupward #learningtogether #Alpine

Good Evening Families, Congratulations on making it through the first week of distance learning. The families, students and staff showed incredible unity during this first week. I would like to thank all of you for working together in such a collaborative manner. I hope we are able to continue the momentum throughout the next several weeks. I personally can’t wait to have all the students and staff back on campus. Our hopes are the majority of the students will return to school and participate in the hybrid plan. Regardless of how you answered on the last survey, we would appreciate if you let office know if you have changed your mind with the learning options that were outlined. For example, if you chose the hybrid plan and would like to continue distance learning then please call the office. If you are staying with the learning option you selected on the survey, you do not need to let us know. We are making every effort to put all siblings on the same A/B schedule. In addition, we are working with the principals at the other sites to ensure the siblings at SHS, MVLA, CELC, BOES, and JMMS are on the same schedule. We are attempting to put all pods together as well. We will inform you of your schedule by next week. MVLA will have a slightly different A/B schedule due to their unique alternative program. The students will attend 3 days a week with the A/B schedule alternating weeks. The teachers are identifying families that will stay with the pure homeschooling option. Please let them know if you are one of them. We distributed close to 200 devices to Shadow Hills and Mountain View Learning Academy students. If you have trouble with your child’s device, you may reach out to our help desk via email- helpdesk@alpineschools.net. Anthony, our technician, is a computer genius and very helpful servicing your needs. Remember our office is open and fully staffed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm if you have any questions. I hope you and your family have a great week! Yvette Maier

As we continue to plan for the reopening of our schools we want to ensure we have an accurate accounting of each student’s preferred learning model. We will be offering students the option of participating in Distance Learning, returning to school for face-to-face learning in the A/B Day hybrid model, independent study, or our home school program. We realize that you may have rethought which learning model you want your child to participate in. If you would like to make a change to the model your child will be participating in when we reopen our campuses on September 21, please contact the school office by Wednesday, September 3. -- Rich Newman, Ed.D. Proudest Superintendent on Earth Alpine Union School District The Destination District of East County (619) 445-3236

Dear AUSD Families, I am thrilled that the 2020-2021 school year is finally underway. Our goal of reopening our schools for face-to-face learning is now close to reality. For the last several months, we have been preparing for the return of our staff and students to campus. We have developed and updated our reopening schools plan with every new public health order. We have purchased pallets of hand sanitizer, face coverings, personal protective equipment, electrostatic cleaners, Chromebooks, new digital books and tools, and much more, all with the goal of reopening our schools with a sound plan in place. We are also finalizing an agreement with the San Diego County Office of Education to provide free hotspots to our families who do not have reliable internet access. To ensure that we had the option to open our schools, even if San Diego remained on the county watchlist, we submitted an Elementary School waiver. Yesterday, we were notified that the county and state approved our waiver. In fact, we were one of only four public school districts in San Diego county to receive a waiver approval. We have reassigned many of our staff, including bus drivers, instructional aides, and food and nutrition staff, to support our families in our Extended Student Services child care program. We were also the first school district in the state of CA to design and develop a Learning Pod option for our parents. In short, we have been focused on adapting our district to meet the challenges our families face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While our goal is to open our schools, we want to do it in a way that ensures the health and safety of our staff, students and families. We have designed a gradual re-entry plan that will allow us to begin to open our schools on September 2 with our Preschool Special Day Class being the first to return for face-to-face learning. Our goal is to ensure that all of our planning and procedures have a chance to be put into practice and tested before we bring all students back on campus. On September 21, we will begin our hybrid learning model with all students returning to campus in the A/B Day learning model. More information will be forthcoming regarding days in which students will be attending. Having our staff and teachers feel safe is critical to our goal of ensuring the opening of our schools is done with care for our entire community. When we return to campus, all students in grades TK-8 will be required to wear a face-covering unless they qualify for one of the exemptions specified in the CDPH face-covering guidelines. With a gradual re-entry plan, we feel confident that we can monitor the success of our social distancing and sanitation measures, make adjustments as needed and ensure that everyone is as safe as possible. While there is much work that has gone into our reopening plan, there is much work ahead. I have asked our staff to assume positive intentions in all our actions and to create a working and learning environment that supports everyone. Lastly, as we move forward and open our schools, I also ask that each of you join me in supporting our students and staff as we all work together to make our community proud of the way we respond in reopening our schools. With great respect and hope for the future, Dr. Rich Newman Proudest Superintendent on Earth

Shadow Hills Teachers kick off the school year in unity.

Please use the following link to access this month's newsletter: https://www.smore.com/z0kv7 Parent Vue is now open.

Good Evening Families, We are looking for volunteers for School Site Council. If you are interested, I have posted the form below and on Peachjar. Submit it prior to Open House, 8/19, to tlyle@alpineschools.net. Voting will occur during Open House. Thank you, Mrs. Maier

Distance Learning Schedule: Each classroom's schedule may alter slightly. However, here is a sample of the Distance Learning Schedule for Shadow Hills. We will alternate weeks with Spanish and English. Please check with your child's teacher for specific information regarding the class. Back to School Night will be held on August 19th at 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Please attend one of the sessions for additional information.

Good Morning SHS Families, If your child is in need of a Chromebook, we will distribute them starting tomorrow, August 18th. To help with traffic flow, we have assigned the following time slots to each grade level: 1st - 9:00 am - 10:00am 2nd - 10:00 am - 11:00 am 3rd - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm 4th - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 5th - 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm If you have multiple children, please use the oldest child's assigned time slot. Please park and walk down the ramp to the office window. We will distribute the devices from there. You will need to complete the check out form, so please bring a pen. In addition, we are offering insurance on the devices for $25 dollars. We are only accepting checks or Venmo. If you are not able to attend the assigned pick up time, Chromebooks will be available for pick up on August 19th from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. Students may use his/her own device if preferred. Chromebooks will not need to be reissued from the Spring, however, the teachers will send home usage agreements to be completed. Please practice social distancing when in line. Thank you, Yvette Maier

Update on COVID-19 Watchlist Dear AUSD Families, You may have heard the news that the County of San Diego was removed from the state’s COVID-19 watchlist and wonder what it means for Alpine Union. This is encouraging news that could help pave the way for us to reopening schools this fall. However, there are some important things to keep in mind. First, these numbers will need to stay within the acceptable range for at least 14 days before schools in San Diego County will be allowed to reopen without a waiver. Second, when we are allowed to return to face-to-face instruction, we hope to make the transition as seamless as possible for our students, staff, and families by beginning with our hybrid model as outlined in our AUSD Reopening Schools Plan and the AUSD Safe Schools Parent and Student Reopening Guidebook. While we keep a close eye on the watchlist, we are also planning on submitting a County of San Diego Elementary School Waiver next week so that we may begin to reopen our campuses. The process for reopening our schools remains the same as our plans have outlined. For the last several months, we have been developing and updating our reopening plans to do everything possible to ensure healthy environments for our students and staff. As you can imagine, the process for reopening is very complex. District leadership has also been working with our employee associations to develop memorandums of understanding that address working conditions in our schools before employees return to school sites. As a reminder, we have created two options to support our parents as Distance Learning begins: Extended Student Services and Alpine COVID-19 Learning Pods. Information on both options are available on our website on our COVID-19 webpage. I appreciate your flexibility, support, and understanding as we adjust to these ever-changing conditions. I will continue to share updates as they become available. You can also find the most current information on our reopening plans on our COVID-19 webpage. I very much look forward to seeing our students back on campus in the very near future. Stay well and healthy! Sincerely, Dr. Rich Newman Proudest Superintendent on Earth

Good Evening, I'm very happy my teachers returned from break today. They just received their class list and will be sending out welcome emails to their families by August 18th. Our Back To School Night is scheduled for August 19th at 5pm and 6pm. More info to come.~Mrs. Maier

SHS Families- Please use this ZOOM link for tonight's Webinar outlining the upcoming 20-21 school year. The presentation will begin in 30 minutes, starting promptly at 5:30 pm. If you are unable to attend, it will be recorded and posted. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82642283644

Please use this ZOOM link for tonight's Webinar outlining the upcoming 20-21 school year. The presentation will begin at 5:30 pm. If you are unable to attend, it will be recorded. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82642283644

This is the last day to complete the online survey to register you child for the upcoming school year. The survey is located on our website.

Student registration closes Friday, July 31. We will be making class lists, schedules, and staffing models based on the responses to the registration form. To secure your child's place you must complete the registration form located on our website.

AUSD is looking to hire friendly, enthusiastic, and passionate individuals to join our team. We are hiring custodians, child care workers and other positions. These and other positions can be found at Edjoin.org, search Alpine Union.

Dear AUSD Families, We realize that everyone is eager for answers as to what school routines will look like when the new school year begins. With this in mind, we have designed the AUSD Safe Schools Parent And Student Reopening Guidebook. It provides a road map for how our schools will operate in the 2020-21 school year. The guidebook along with all communications and updates are posted on our COVID-19 page on our website. The Guidebook, our Reopening Plan, and the list of Frequently Asked Questions and other resources are located on the page. Here is the link to the Guidebook. https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/819514/2020-21_AUSD_SCHOOL_REOPENING_GUIDEBOOK.pdf

AUSD 2020-21 Registration Extended Until Friday, July 31 We are extending the 2020-21 Student Learning Model Registration until Friday, July 31 at 4:00 PM. While we will be beginning the year with distance learning, we plan to transition to face-to-face learning when health conditions allow. It is imperative that each child is registered for the learning model of your choice by Friday, July 31 so that we are able to staff appropriately. If a registration form is not completed for each child we may not be able to place your child in the learning mode of your choice when we reopen our campuses. Please check our COVID-19 webpage for a list of frequently asked questions. This page is updated daily with all communications and key information. The 2020-21 Student Learning Model Registration registration form can be found at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PSV68FS

As a follow up to our Town Hall Meeting we have posted a Frequency Asked Questions page on our Covid-19 webpage. The link to the page is located at the top of each our webpages located at www.alpineschools.net

Please read our new parent update on Reopening Schools. All updates are posted on our Covid-19 D webpage. https://www.alpineschools.net/o/ausd/page/coronavirus-updates--15