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| Dear #RPSStrong Family,
Before getting to the shout-outs today, I want to talk about health – mental health. This is an incredibly stressful time for us all. I've received messages from students who miss their friends, have anxiety about their grades and graduation, and are worried about their own loved ones getting sick – all while still dealing with many non-coronavirus challenges in their lives. I've spoken to parents and caregivers who are worried about losing their jobs, paying rent, and providing 24/7 childcare for their children. And I've heard from countless teachers and staff who have expressed how hard it's been to cope with the abrupt separation from their students while also dealing with their own family struggles. Sadly, things are likely to get even harder over the next several weeks.
Given this, I have an urgent request: if you need mental health support, reach out. And please do so now. As I've shared before, there have been times in my life when I've needed such support. No shame in that. The only shame is not asking for help when you need it. Towards that end, I want to draw everyone's attention to three resources:
- For RPS Employees: Mental health support is provided through our Cigna Employee Assistance Program. To access it, call 877-622-4327 or visit www.mycigna.com. “RPS” (without the quotes) is our Employer ID.
- For Richmond Residents (including all RPS families): The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) can provide support if you’re in crisis. Please call 804-819-4000 for assistance.
- For Everyone: If you are thinking about harming yourself, please immediately call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Finally, please take the extra step to check on your loved ones, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Even a quick text will do: "How are you doing? Want to chat?" Thank you for taking the time to do this. It could truly be a matter of life and death.
Now let's shift to messages of inspiration and love...
Shout-outs! – Please keep sending them to me at jkamras@rvaschools.net. They make my day, and I hope they make yours, too!
- We have several students at Barack Obama Elementary School who speak little to no English. We received word from one of our family's sponsors that the teachers of these students have called almost daily, asking about the children and sharing ways that they could access some of the many resources that have been provided. Even during this difficult time, Mrs. Elizabeth Pearson and Mrs. Megan Vasquez continue to let our Swahili-speaking students know that they are loved and thought of dearly!
- I would love to shout out the wonderful staff at Bellevue Elementary. I especially would like to acknowledge my girls' current educators: Ms. Shenandoah Williams (or Ms. S as my girls call her) and Mrs. Candice Smith. Ms. S brightened our day by personally calling to chat. Mrs. Smith brightened it even more so by creating a YouTube to read to her class. Also shout out to Dr. Hines for reading a book each night on FB.
- Shout Out to Huguenot High School Dean of Students, Ms. Nixon! She is making sure all the staff gets involved with the "email huggs"! The "huggs" can be a quote, a song, a picture, an inspirational message, or anything that lets each of us know we care about one another! We challenge everyone to join the fun!
- I would like to give a huge shout out to Ms. Luhmann, 2nd grade teacher at Miles Jones ES. She is awesome! She checks in with the students, sets up meeting times online that she can teach the kids and goes out of her way to make sure that she can be contacted, if needed. She is a wonderful asset to RPS and one of the very best teachers that I have encountered. We love Ms. Luhmann!
- Ms. Hardy is trying to help our parents meet basic needs (such as rent) via community outreach. She is also so concerned about our students’ basic needs.
- Ms. Walton of Southampton Elementary School is an extraordinary teacher! She is doing zooms with her kindergarten class...that’s right, kindergarten! The children are focused, learning and they LOVE Ms. Walton!
- I would like to shout out Mrs. Alexander and Ms. Lopez at Ginter Park Elementary for the encouragement, links for assignments, and the read-alouds. My daughter loves this.
- I would like to shout out Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Meeks from Albert Hill. They set up Zoom for the Science classes and even let the students play an interactive game. We appreciate the support.
- I would like to give a shout to my son’s teachers, Ms. Hartman and Ms. Schwartz, and the entire JL Francis staff. My son is a special needs student in a general education classroom setting and I have received so many educational resources that fit his learning needs. You guys rock.
- Shout out to Ms. Baughan...She’s an inspiration. She’s physically reading, through Zoom, “The One and Only Ivan”, and having the class read it with her and answer insightful questions about each chapter regardless of whether they own the book. We’re exploring Mali in Social Studies and learning about the efficacy of hand sanitizer and how rainbows are made in Science. Every Friday we meet as a classroom through Zoom to talk, share and learn. I could go on and on. In this incredibly stressful time, Ms. Baughan has still managed to make learning enjoyable. We love her so much.
- I want to give a shout out to Principal Gilstrap. Awesome job. Counselor Christmas is attentive, informative and pushes his students to excel. I literally would email him at 6:30 am and have a response by 7:00am.
- Barack Obama Elementary - the list goes on and on about the greatness you put out into our youth. Ms. Moore and Ms. Drye every morning give a greeting and a hug. The children will remember it. 1st Grade teacher Miss Richardson at the back-to-school BBQ said I will have your daughter reading by Christmas break (yep, my girl is reading). Your patience and the love you have for your students is amazing and you are appreciated. Ms. Thorpe stepping up and keeping our 4th graders on task despite the changes, you are appreciated.
- Shout out to Mrs. Allen-Miller, Woodville’s AP, for leading our first virtual staff meeting on ZOOM! We shared how we’re reaching our students and their parents. We also took selfies together with messages written to our students! It was amazing to see everyone and have great energy to grace our online presence! The staff at Woodville is truly missed!
- Please send a special shout out to the Security Staff. Security as a whole has been helping with the flow of traffic through our school food sites and creating a safe environment as we go through this awful pandemic.
- I want to recognize John Bennett, my son’s fifth grade teacher at Mary Munford. He has done an excellent job creating a class webpage with all needed resources, made himself available by phone/email for any and all questions each day, set up daily zoom meetings with his class and personally delivered (utilizing social distancing of course) needed materials for a science experiment. I am so grateful for his commitment to these students. He has made this situation so much smoother for our kids and us parents. He is an excellent RPS teacher!
- Shoutout to Ms. Resnick, a 5th grade teacher from Oakgrove-Bellemeade Elementary for organizing our Wave From Your Porch parade. Our students truly enjoyed seeing us.
- I want to send a shout out for Ms. Rowe at John B. Cary. She’s been a tremendous help with sending activities for the kids. Even though this is her first year teaching I have seen a tremendous change in my son’s engagement and learning and we’re going to miss all the videos she sent this year of the kids learning!!
- Shout-out to Communities in Schools for intervening and immediately helping families at our school so they wouldn't become homeless.
- Today our teachers and staff organized a [car] parade in the community. Wow! What an exciting time. It was great to see our team, students, families and community.
- Dr. Teresa Anderson is awesome. Thank you for her!
- Shout out to the entire Oak Grove Bellemeade Elementary School staff for an amazing teacher [car] parade. Seeing the students jumping up and down in excitement brought tears to my eyes. The parade would not have been possible without Ms. Resnick’s planning, thank you! It was also so encouraging that our principal, Mr. Gordon, went out of his way to make sure everyone knew he appreciated our presence. My heart is so full.
- I am writing you to let you know what one of the classes at Blackwell Preschool Center is doing. Teachers in room 114, Mrs. Simmons and Mrs. Belton, have been...setting up our class on "ABC Mouse" for free so that each student will be able to work on skills that are individualized for their abilities, setting up a check in on "Zoom" once a week to keep in contact with our students and their families, setting up an email system for our students so they can do "The Question of the Day,” keeping track of our students birthdays by calling, texting, and zooming throughout that special day to let them know that we are here and we love you.
- Val Schwarz (4th grade teacher at Mary Munford) has been an outstanding teacher and all around wonderful human and has not slowed down even with the disruption of COVID-19. We are in week #2 of her daily lessons, which include daily 2-3 pm Google classroom sessions. She is a superb and dedicated teacher and we are so fortunate to have her! Huge kudos to Ms. Schwarz!!! Thank you for all you are doing to keep the kids engaged and learning and the parents sane!
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Food – I continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for RPS, particularly for our food distribution efforts. To date, over 800 people from across RVA have signed up to help in some way! If you'd like to assist with our meals program – or anything else – please sign up here. Thank you!
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Specialty Schools / Open Enrollment – This is a reminder that the deadline to make your specialty school and open enrollment decisions is tomorrow, Friday, March 27 at 11:59PM. Even though schools are closed, results are still accessible through the EnrollRPS portal. You can email specialty school questions to rps_specialtyschls@rvaschools.net and open enrollment questions to
rps_openenroll@rvaschools.net.
The process of notifying students/families who have moved off a waitlist will begin on Monday, March 30. We expect this process to continue on a rolling basis through the end of May, or until all seats are accepted (whichever comes first). More information about how to accept a new seat offer is available on the Enroll RPS portal.
2020 Census – I know there's so much going on right now with the coronavirus that it's hard to think about something like the Census. But as the 2019 National Teacher of the Year – our very own Rodney Robinson – shares in the commercial below, making sure we count EVERY Richmonder is critical for education funding. Watch the video below and then do as Mr. Robinson says!
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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!"– Check out my math lessons at 2 pm every weekday. All you have to do is click here! For past lessons, click here. Thanks!
Wishtree Read-Aloud – Our celebrity reader for Chapters 16-19 is 1st District School Board Member Liz Doerr! Thank you so much, Liz, for making time to do this! To all our students/families: If you'd like to go back and watch Chapters 1-11, just click here.
With great appreciation,
Jason
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Note: Newly added questions are in red.
Coronavirus/COVID-19 in Richmond
Closure
- How long are we closed? For the remainder of the school year.
- Will we need to go to school in the summer, and will next school year start early or end late? Possibly. We're exploring these options now and we'll be seeking your feedback very soon.
- Are events run by external organizations that rent space at schools (like churches for Sunday services) cancelled? Yes. ALL activities are cancelled.
- When can students/families and staff pick up personal items from school buildings? Principals will be reaching out to their school communities about specific days/times when individuals can come to retrieve essential personal items.
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!
Academics – Online Learning
- Where do I find the "Learning at Home" section of the RPS website? Just click here.
- What should I do if I don't have internet access? Please call Comcast at 855-846-8376 (English) or 855-765-6995 (Spanish) to get 60 days of FREE internet.
- What should I do if the Comcast option isn't working for me? We are working to get wifi "hotspots" for families that can't access the internet. I'll have more information on this soon.
- What should I if I don't have a computer for my students? We are doing two things to provide support: 1) we're going to send home the computers we have at schools; and 2) we're going to purchase about 10,000 additional computers for students who need them. I'll have more information on this soon.
Academics – Graduation
- Will current high school seniors who were on track to graduate when we closed still get their diplomas this year? Yes! The Virginia Department of Education has just clarified that these students WILL graduate this year.
- What about graduation ceremonies? Prom? Unfortunately, we will not be able to hold these events when they were scheduled. That said, we're exploring rescheduling them for the summer or fall, as we know how important they are to our students and families.
Academics – Other
- Will students be held back a year because of the closure? No. But we may need to start next school year early and/or end late.
- How will grades be calculated for the 3rd marking period? We're looking at a number of options, which we'll share soon for feedback.
- Will students need to take SOLs? No.
- 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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Note: Newly added questions are in red.
Pay
- Who will be paid during the closure? ALL RPS employees will continue to be paid during the entirety of the closure. That includes full-time, part-time, and hourly employees.
- Are long-term subs included? Yes!
- What about contracted personnel, like 1:1 aides? We are working to make sure these individuals get paid as well. It's just a little tricker since they're not RPS employees. I should have more information on this soon.
- Will teachers still get "spread pay" this summer? Yes. Just as always, our 9.5 and 10-month employees will receive their “spread pay” during July & August, and our 11-month employees will receive theirs in July.
Other Matters
- Will we have a Transfer Fair on March 31 as scheduled? No. We are working on a virtual solution to help teachers and other staff pursue transfers for next year. As soon as we have the details worked out, I'll share them in my RPS Direct.
- What should I do if I need to renew my license? Though we are technically closed, you can still send in your licensure renewal paperwork to Deborah Dailey, our Licensure Specialist. Use this address: Talent Office – 15th Floor, Attention Deborah Dailey, 301 N. 9th Street, Richmond, VA 23219. You can also email Deborah at ddailey@rvaschools.net.
- What should I do if I have a question about my 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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