FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Greetings Chabot Families,
I want to extend a huge Bobcat welcome to the scores of new families joining our community this year. I especially want to acknowledge the cohort of families who have transferred into Chabot from Kaiser Elementary due to that campus closing. We are so happy to have all of you with us. Please know that we have some special Orientations scheduled for these new families:
KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION – Monday, August 3, 8:30pm – Room Parents will send link
NEW TO CHABOT FAMILIES IN GRADES 1-5 – Wednesday, August 5, 7pm (keep an eye out for Zoom Link via email)
By the end of Friday, everyone should have received a greeting from your new class’ Summer Room Parent Ambassador and you should know who your new teacher will be. I am very appreciative of the parent volunteers who have stepped up to welcome all families and to begin creating a class community. As you are aware, teachers will not be back at work until next Wednesday, August 5, when they will be immersed in some very intensive professional development and planning geared towards making this year’s Virtual Chabot as strong as possible.
WHAT WILL DISTANCE LEARNING LOOK LIKE AT CHABOT?
My last letter shared some of the details about what you can expect from Chabot’s Distant Learning this fall. I want to now share a little more about what the first 3 weeks of school will look like. Please keep in mind that all plans are contingent on the MOU between OUSD and OEA which has still not been agreed upon.
OUSD has designated the first 3 weeks as “STRONG START”. Each morning teachers will meet with their classes on Zoom for a class meeting. The main focus of this time is to establish the class community, learn expectations and protocols for interacting in the virtual world, and develop student’s socio-emotional skills. These are the same priority and focus areas that our teachers always have during the start of school, and they are more important now than ever!
After the morning meeting, students and families will have a standards-based set of academic learning activities that they can access asynchronously while teachers are engaged in crucial activities including 1:1 meetings with students and families, small group assessments to plan instruction, professional development, planning, and grade-level collaboration. By the end of Week 2, all families will have a chance to meet with their teachers. If possible, this will happen outdoors on campus with social distancing – if not, it will be on Zoom.
By Week 4, Virtual Chabot should be moving to our new “normal” schedule where your child will have a consistent predictable daily routine that will include whole class meetups, lots of small groups with their teacher (and specialists when needed), asynchronous/independent learning and assignments, and options for Enrichments.
You can hear more about all of this with a special focus on Socio-Emotional Learning – what is it and why does Chabot keep talking about it at my very first COFFEE WITH THE PRINCIPAL on Friday, August 7, 9:30 am. Look for Zoom Links through email.
TECH DISTRIBUTION
OUSD and Chabot want EVERY student to have their own device for Distant Learning. There are three different options for your family:
1. Purchase your own laptop or device
2. Borrow one from Chabot (or keep the one you borrowed last Spring)
3. If you have a demonstrable need for a permanent device/internet solution also complete the #OaklandUndivided survey (opens Monday, August 3). The #OaklandUndivided program seeks to bridge the digital divide. See attached TECH DISTRIBUTION MEMO for details on the qualification process. As these devices will not be available until early September, you should still borrow one from Chabot until they arrive.
Chabot will be distributing Chromebooks to any currently enrolled student who needs one on THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1-4 pm. One adult per family – no children, masks required. Please only enter through the Main Gate and please adhere to all social-distancing protocols. In order to avoid crowds, please make every effort to come according to last name: A-I, 1-2 pm; J-P, 2-3 pm; Q-Z, 3-4 pm. If you need a computer and cannot come on Thursday, please reach out to margaret.thorp@ousd.org and we will make arrangements. For more information see this TECH DISTRIBUTION MEMO.
DATA CONFIRMATION/REGISTRATION
Part of Registration is the paperwork you have to fill out every year – emergency contact info, Policies Page (with all the initials), etc. This year the district is calling this “Data Confirmation”. In the past, this is the paperwork that was filled out at registration events during the week before school started. Last year many of you filled out this information through SchoolMint. This year the district is asking families to update student information in Aeries (an effort to both save money, streamline the process and eliminate data transfer errors).
Here is a LINK to a “how-to” about how to login to the parent portal and complete the “Data Confirmation”.
You will need to set up a Parent Portal account here, parent.ousd.org – you will need an ID# and district verification code. Margaret has this information for everyone, please email her to request this information. Please provide your child’s full name when requesting.
Incoming Kindergarten families are required to provide a copy of their student’s most recent immunization record.
ALSO, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES TO COMPLETE THE MEAL APPLICATION regardless of income. Chabot actually gets additional money based on both applications completed and on applications approved. https://family.titank12.com/application/new?identifier=NY34JE
Feel free to email margaret.thorp@ousd.org with any questions or problems you may have.
In community,
Jessica
