I would like to start by saying thank you to all the parents, students and staff for their incredible patience and resilience this week as we launched into this unprecedented school year. I know principals and school staff members spent many hours above and beyond their normal work hours these past weeks to make sure devices and materials were distributed to students, parents had access to Parent Portal and Schoology and professional development and guidance for teachers was ready this first week. I know that teachers, despite significant anxiety about the learning curve of delivering remote instruction, have persevered with planning and designing lessons to be ready for students. I know that parents have overcome great challenges coordinating childcare, figuring out how help their children log on to lessons and supporting their children’s learning while managing the demands of their own work. Our Sun Valley Community of Schools staff is speaking with parents and educators daily to better understand the challenges in the field and provide assistance to solve problems.

While we all agree that operating schools remotely is less than optimal, I am optimistic that teachers will be able to deliver engaging and meaningful instruction until we are able to return students safely to the classroom. The District has provided schools with access to powerful online tools to support instruction such as Schoology and Zoom. Schools also have access to a list of engaging apps that are integrated with Schoology that support language arts and math instruction. The Local District Northeast and the Sun Valley Community of Schools staff is providing training and support for teachers on remote instruction including model lessons for all grade levels and content areas that teachers can use immediately in Schoology.

For parents, our Parent and Community Engagement Office is providing webinars for parents about Schoology and monitoring their child’s remote learning. Staff members are available to take parent calls and walk parents through the log on process.

When the pandemic has finally passed and schools are able to return to normal operations, students, teachers and parents will be empowered to use these new digital tools to enhance traditional classroom instruction. We will be able to take advantage of the best from both worlds, meaningful in-person teacher to student interactions and engaging digital content to transform public education to fully meet the needs of the 21^st century.

In these next weeks, as we continue to build our capacity around remote learning, please don’t hesitate to reach out our office for help or support of any kind if you need it.

Thank you again for your patience through this challenging time.

My name is Jaelynn Lopez, I am 8 years old and I am a proud Arminta Eagle. I've been an Arminta Eagle since I was in ETK, a total of 5 years. I am very excited for this school year although it will be a bit different. Ms. Wichman's Fantastic 3rd graders and I will get through this social distance learning together. GO EAGLES!

I am the new, proud principal at Roscoe Elementary School and I am very excited to return to Roscoe Elementary in this new role. Before becoming a principal, I previously worked as an assistant principal, TSP coordinator and a classroom teacher. I am honored to be a part of a school and district that strives for excellence. I pride myself on the strong relationships I have with the families and community I serve. I look forward to an interesting and incredible year!