Gilroy Update From Dr. Flores - May 8

Press release from the Gilroy Unified School District:

May 8 2020

Dear GUSD staff and families:

We are less than a month away from the end of the most interesting school year I have ever experienced. June 5 is the last day of school in the Gilroy Unified School District. These last seven weeks have flown by and from now until the end of the year will only seem faster as we begin the end of the year wrap-up and celebrations.

This week, our country celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week, and it has been fun to see the ways school communities have celebrated our amazing staff throughout the week. May 13 is the Ca. Day of the Teacher and we will be celebrating all of our certificated staff that day. I am especially grateful for our staff members this year for all that they have done to move teaching from a physical classroom to a virtual platform. There was a lot of preparation and learning that went into launching distance learning on April 13. To date, staff members have attended 41 online training sessions totaling 2,070 minutes over and beyond the time they are spending with your children in virtual classrooms. These numbers speak volumes about the dedication of our staff members as they continue to be ready to serve our students and families at their best. They have changed their teaching models so quickly and efficiently. I am so proud of them.

Here are some updates for you:

Busses with WiFi capabilities stationed at GUSD schools

I’m excited to share with you that beginning Monday, May 11, we will have busses with WiFi capabilities stationed in the parking lots of four of our school sites for students to have increased internet access. Busses will be stationed in the parking lot at Antonio Del Buono Elementary, South Valley Middle School, Gilroy High School and Rucker Elementary School to support distance learning needs. Busses with hot spots will be in parking lots on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:00 am-10:45 am, and from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, as well as on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 am-11:30 am, and from 12:30 pm-4:00 pm. WiFi access is free to students who need it.

Christopher High School is now a COVID 19 testing site.

On Wednesday, May 6, the City of Gilroy, in partnership with Santa Clara County and the Gilroy Unified School District opened Christopher High School as a COVID 19 testing site. Testing will be conducted by OptumServe, a private company and is available to anyone in South County who meet the criteria set forth by the State of California. Access to the campus is limited to the gymnasium and student parking lot. The entire campus will be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly prior to our staff and students returning in the fall. To schedule an appointment, individuals can call 1-888-634-1123 or visit lhi.care/covidtesting. The screening and testing criteria are based on State guidelines and may be updated to reflect the latest guidance. These new sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and each site will have the capacity to serve up to 132 individuals daily. You can read the full press release here: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-05-04-2020-increased-testing-access.aspx

Changes in Food Distribution

I’d like to remind you that we have changed the days pdf that meals will be distributed to children in Gilroy at our school sites. Meals will continue to be provided at seven school sites (Solorsano Middle School, South Valley Middle School, Antonio Del Buono Elementary School, Eliot Elementary School, Glen View Elementary School, Rod Kelley Elementary School and Rucker Elementary School) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm. Food distributed will still be for all seven days of the week. Monday meal bags will contain meals through Wednesday morning. Wednesday meal bags will contain meals through Friday morning. Friday meal bags will contain meals through the following Monday morning. As always, adults may pick up as many meals as are needed for the children in their home. Children don't need to be present for adults to receive food.

2020-2021 Registration Open

Registration for the current school year and for incoming students for the 2020-21 school year is now underway. There are two ways to enroll: online (for families with internet access) or paper registration (for families without internet access). Click here for more information and to begin enrollment now. If you have questions about the registration process, please email registration@gilroyunified.org or call 669.205.4013.

Closing Comments:

This week, we recognized two members of our instructional team as GUSD Behind the Scenes All-Stars: Cynthia Van Laar, SLP at Luigi Aprea Elementary and Susanna Lee, science teacher and TOSA at Christopher High School. Read about their contributions to the success of our district here: https://www.facebook.com/236268986966663/posts/599189160674642/.

I’d also like to extend my sincere congratulations to three District Office staff members who have been chosen by ACSA (Association of California School Administrators) as top in our region. Congratulations to Paul Winslow, Human Resources Administrator of the Year; Dan McAuliffe, Business Services Administrator of the Year; and Lucy Huerta, Confidential Employee of the Year. The ACSA Region 8 awards event scheduled for today, May 8, was cancelled, so we send them our congratulations virtually.

Additionally, many congratulations to our Director of Secondary Education, Dr. Deborah Padilla, who has been honored as the 2020 South County CalSOAP Educator of the Year. Dr. Padilla has been instrumental in launching our distance learning model, managing the distribution of Chromebooks to our students and continuing to provide educational supports to our teachers and families since our schools closed. She is a tremendous mentor for our administrative and certificated staff members, and I am grateful she is being recognized for the wonderful work she does.

I am often reminded of a quote that is attributed to a six year old, and it rings true for me now more than ever, “My teacher thought I was smarter than I was – so I was.” Thank you to all of you who are teaching your children at home, and creating opportunities for them to learn virtually with our staff members as well.

Take care of each other,

Dr. Deborah A. Flores, Ph.D.

Superintendent, Gilroy Unified School District

This press release was produced by the Gilroy Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.