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| Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Before I get to the shout-outs, I want to draw everyone's attention to some changes we're making – starting Monday – to how we're delivering food. Please scroll down to see the changes.
And now...
- Shout out to Principal Kenya Massenburg for doing an Instagram Roll Call for Richmond Community High School students. She wanted snapshots, Tick Tocks, check-ins, book titles being read, etc. from her students. She ended the video telling them she loves them, misses them, and blew a kiss....such A CLASS ACT!!!!
I would like to shout out 2 MLK employees: Ms. Priscilla Anderson for assisting me at school by mailing out instructional packets to families who couldn't make it to the school, and Mrs. Elizabeth Atkins who is assisting the ICC with completing IEPs. They both volunteered their services and time for the betterment of our students.
- I want to give a shout out to my daughter’s honors geometry teacher from Huguenot High School, Mrs. Tara Brown, for giving out her number and texting help with a problem. She is the best!! We love her!! Love, Proud RPS teacher and parent!!
- Thank you to Mrs. Green and Mrs. Singleton for always guiding and helping us with our work and allowing us to tweak our projects. Being on safety patrol made me more responsible. Thank you for your class dojo support and updates...you both ROCK!
- I would like to shout out my granddaughter’s 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Williams from Holton Elementary School, because she has provided positive information and different websites for the students to explore. Ms. Williams continues to encourage the students and families to stay healthy and offers support to them all.
- I would like to give a shout out to Ms. Elizabeth Dunn, 4th grade teacher at Mary Munford Elementary. She keeps in touch with her students through Google Classroom, posts videos of math lessons and daily audio read-alouds, and answers students’ questions during the day. She makes the learning at home less stressful for our entire family.
- I would like to give a shout out to Mrs. Sharon Allen, 2nd grade teacher from Broad Rock. She has done an outstanding job keeping in touch with my son through ClassDojo and posting videos on YouTube of their current lessons. Much appreciated. Thank you for all the support.
- I sat in on a Zoom math lesson today with Ms. Schwarz (4th grade). It is really amazing and worked great. I could see and talk with the teacher and students. Felt like I was doing a walk-through observation!
- I wanted to shout out the team of volunteers and community members that came out today to ensure that the needs of our RPS families are being met.
- Shout out to Richmond Public Schools staff members for caring about our students. Love is unconditional and you all have been on the front line. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to the students and families of RPS.
Food Distribution – A number of people who are not intimately familiar with public schools in high-poverty areas have reached out to me over the past week with some version of the following: "I didn't realize how much you all do beyond teaching. You're basically running an entire social services system." Indeed, we are.
So while I am of course deeply concerned about making sure our students continue to learn while we're closed, my number one priority right now is making sure they eat.
We started on Monday with food distribution sites at 20 of our schools. On Wednesday, we began delivering meals directly into neighborhoods to make sure that students/families who couldn't get to the centers were able to receive food. The data from this week is clear: delivery into our communities led to a doubling of the number of meals reaching our students.
Given this, starting on Monday, March 23, we are expanding our meal delivery program by utilizing our buses to bring food to 34 locations around the city. Each bus will have volunteers to help hand out the grab-and-go meals, including Spanish-speaking staff for our Southside routes. For all the details, please see the flyers below in English and Spanish.
We are also closing the 10 least utilized school distribution sites so that we can put more food on the buses. The sites that will remain OPEN are:
- Southside: Boushall MS, Broad Rock ES, George Wythe HS, Miles Jones ES, Reid ES
- East End: Armstrong HS, MLK MS
- Northside: Ginter Park ES
- West End: Binford MS, Carver ES
We will continue to monitor how things go and make any necessary adjustments to ensure our students and families have all the support they need. I want to thank the extremely dedicated RPS staff – including bus drivers! – who are making all of this possible. We are incredibly grateful to you!
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SOLs - As you may have heard, the US Department of Education announced today that it will be accepting waiver applications from states that want to cancel their annual spring testing. Given that Dr. Lane has already said he would submit a waiver, I think it's clear now that there will NOT be SOLs this year. I'd like to personally thank Dr. Lane for his leadership in advocating at the federal level for this waiver. I hope this announcement will bring much-needed relief to students, families, and teachers!
Learning at Home – As a reminder, you don't need to figure this out on your own. We have a TON of resources on our website. Big thanks to the entire academic team for pulling everything together so quickly. Check it out here!
"Mr. K's 30 Minutes of Math!"– I'm live-streaming math lessons every weekday, from 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm. I'm focusing on everyone's favorite subject: fractions! Don't be scared; fractions are awesome once you get to know them. PLUS, every episode has a Math Joke of the Day (major groaners) and a Riddle of the Day!
Wishtree Read-Aloud – Today's celebrity guest reader for Chapters 10 and 11 is Dawn Page, 8th District School Board Member! Catch the earlier chapters here.
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Vote! – As I shared yesterday, Tiffany Clark, a 3rd Grade Teacher at Broad Rock ES, sent me a picture of a baby chick that just hatched from an egg her class was incubating before the shutdown (see below). Thanks to everyone for sending in so many creative names! You can still do so by emailing me at jkamras@rvaschools.net. I'll confer with Ms. Clark this weekend to pick 5 finalists - stay tuned!
With great appreciation,
Jason
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Note: Newly added questions are in blue.
Closure
- How long are we closed for? Until April 13. Keep in mind that we may need to close even longer.
- Will we need to go to school in the summer? I highly doubt it. In all likelihood, the State will waive the days we're closed, meaning we won't have to make them up. Once I know for sure, I'll let everyone know.
- Are events run by external organizations that rent space at schools (like churches for Sunday services) cancelled? Yes. ALL activities are cancelled.
Food
- Which schools have food available for pick-up? Southside: Boushall MS, Broad Rock ES, George Wythe HS, Miles Jones ES, Reid ES; East End: Armstrong HS, MLK MS; Northside: Ginter Park ES; West End: Binford MS, Carver ES
- Is RPS also delivering food directly into neighborhoods? Yes! We are using our buses to deliver food to 34 locations around the city. Click here for all the details.
- Can students pick up food without their parent/caregiver being present? Yes.
- Can parents/caregivers pick up food without their student being present? Yes.
- If I want to help in some way, what should I do? Please fill out this Google Form so we can follow up with you. Thank you!
Pay
- Who will be paid during the closure? ALL RPS employees will continue to be paid. That includes full-time, part-time, and hourly employees.
- Are long-term subs included? Yes!
Academics
- Where do I find the "Learning at Home" section of the RPS website? Just click here.
- What should I do if I want to access online learning resources, but I don't have internet? Please call Comcast at 855-846-8376 (English) or 855-765-6995 (Spanish) to get 60 days of FREE internet. In addition, Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country are now FREE. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, just select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots, and then launch any browser.
- Will students receive official grades for the work they're doing while we're closed? No.
- Will students need to take SOLs? It's clear now that the SOLs will be cancelled for this year.
- What's going to happen with graduation? It's still not clear, but it seems likely that many requirements for this year's graduating seniors (and maybe underclassmen, too) will ultimately be waived. There's also the question of whether we'll have graduation ceremonies in June. Again, I'm not sure just yet. As soon as I have clarity on these issues, I'll make sure to let everyone know.
- Where do I go to find all the Wishtree read-aloud videos? Right here!
Communications
- What is the RPS website address? www.rvaschools.net
- Can anyone receive my daily RPS Direct emails? Yes. ANYONE can sign up here.
- Are these messages available in other languages? Yes. They're all posted on our website, which has an auto-translate function for dozens of languages. The translate button is on the top right of the menu bar.
- Does RPS have any guidance on how to talk about the coronavirus with children? Yes. Please click here for a number of resources.
Other
- If I want to volunteer, what should I do? Please sign-up here. Thank you!
- If I want to donate, what should I do? Click here to go to the donation page of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. Thank you!
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Information for RPS Employees
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Nothing new to report today! As a reminder, if you have questions about your benefits, please call 804-780-7859. And if you have any other concerns, please reach out to me directly at jkamras@rvaschools.net. I want to make sure you have all the information and support you need during this difficult time!
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