Principal's Monthly Message
 November
2009
Dear
Puma Families:
Welcome
to November... I mean flu
season. By now, most of you
have read the email that I
sent out last month (October
14 Lyris) in regards to
students being ill and
missing school. Much of
what I write in this monthly
message will be in the same
vein. Absences at this time
are up from previous years
but they have stopped
climbing. I have never been
overly alarmed, but the
numbers I was seeing
necessitated me to keep an
eye on things, while
communicating my concerns
with parents. I don’t
pretend to be a doctor and I
can’t even say I play one on
TV.
After
sending out that Lyris
message last month, many
parents sent follow up
emails to me asking for
clarification on make-up
homework procedures. After
speaking with some staff
members and reviewing
district policy, here is
some information that should
clarify some concerns.
Last year, as part of the
district’s new homework
policy, this very same
subject was discussed.
Board Policy 6154 states,
Students who miss school
work because of an excused
absence shall be given the
opportunity to complete all
assignments and tests that
can be reasonably provided.
As determined by the
teacher, the assignments and
tests shall be reasonably
equivalent to, but not
necessarily identical to,
the assignments and tests
missed during the absence.
Students shall receive full
credit for work
satisfactorily completed
within a reasonable period
of time.
Over
the next few weeks, I am
going to be discussing with
staff their interpretation
of “reasonable”. At this
time, as students miss
school and attempt to
catch-up, be sure to have
students talk with teachers
to discuss expectations,
timelines and guidelines for
turn in. As the parent, if
you feel the need to get
involved for clarification,
please do. A general rule
of thumb shared by most
teachers is that you get as
many days to make up work
equal to as many days
missed. However, for
extended absences, this may
not be enough time.
Students need to be held
accountable for curriculum
missed, but it does not need
to be made up exactly the
same way it was completed by
the rest of the students.
As students get physically
healthy and return to
school, parents and teachers
both need to realize that it
takes some transition time
for the student to get back
into their normal routine.
I don’t want students coming
back to school and
immediately feeling
overwhelmed and stressed
out.
It is
safe to say that probably
all of the schools in our
district, as well as all
schools in California are
experiencing students with
the H1N1 flu virus. In most
cases doctors are not
formally confirming the
presence of H1N1. As a
school and district, we
continue to treat this as we
would the seasonal flu, and
as such we do not report out
information regarding
student illnesses. This is
in alignment with the advice
we have received from the
CDC and the Contra Costa
County Department of Health.
Should we be directed
otherwise we will certainly
comply. In the meantime we
are continuing to emphasize
the importance of hand
washing, covering the mouth
when sneezing/coughing, and
keeping students home if
they begin to demonstrate a
fever or other flu-like
symptoms. When you call
students in ill, please
follow the prompt and the
information being asked
for... including the
temperature of your child.
We have been asked to
collect and document
information by Contra Costa
County. If your child has a
confirmed case of the H1N1
virus, please share that
with us. We are not closing
schools when students have
been diagnosed. We are
simply tracking and
documenting our cases and
sharing that information
with the necessary
individuals.
Again,
if your child is displaying
flu-like symptoms (including
a fever greater than 100°F),
keep him/her home while they
FULLY recover. If students
have a fever greater than
100°F
on campus, that student will
be sent home. Please keep
students home for an
additional 24 hours after
the fever has broken.
Again, students SHOULD NOT
return to school unless they
are fever-free for 24 hours
without taking any
fever-reducing medication
(Tylenol, Advil, etc.).
I don’t
want to cause alarm by
sharing this information. I
just want you to know that I
take the health of all the
students on this campus
seriously. This will be a
flu season like no other and
we will communicate with our
community as necessary.
With the first quarter
already behind us, I look
forward to a healthy rest of
the school year.
Finally, I just wanted to
remind everyone about the
community forum scheduled
for Monday, November 16th
at California High School.
The event will be held in
the library at 6:30 p.m. and
will give parents and
community members an
opportunity to listen to
Superintendent, Steve Enoch
discuss topics such as; (1)
continuous academic
improvement, (2)
superintendent’s 21st
Century Advisory Committee,
(3) creation of a high
school forum series, (4)
standardization of
technology infrastructure
for the district, schools
and classrooms, (5) STEM
(science, technology,
engineering, math)
expansion, (6) possible
expansion of world language
instruction into the
elementary schools, (7)
optional instructional day
consideration for senior
students, and (8) some
comments and thoughts about
facility development. I am
encouraging staff to attend
and I hope you can make it,
as well.
Enjoy
the Thanksgiving holiday,
Jason M. Law
Principal, Pine Valley M.S.
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