Weekly COVID-19 Update: Friday, September 11, 2020
From: Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Date: September 11, 2020
All Coronavirus (COVID-19) SSPI Communications
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From State Superintendent Tony Thurmond
Dear School Communities and Education Partners:
As many students throughout the state continue to attend school online as a necessary safety measure to protect their physical health during the pandemic, we need to remember that taking care of mental health and wellness are equally important. These are traumatic and challenging times for young people as they are required to socially distance from friends and family members and live a daily life that is far from what they and all of us were used to pre-COVID-19.
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
and during this time of physical distance, it is important to let our students know that they are not alone and that there are resources available to help.
Announcements & News Releases
Securing Devices and Connectivity for Students
In an effort to support our schools, we have partnered with a few major technology companies and internet service providers to put together programs to make it easier for schools to acquire necessary equipment and services for their students. If you have not gotten orders placed yet, we encourage you to start the process now as devices are in high demand across the country. Please visit the CDE Securing Devices and Connectivity for Students web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/techdevices.asp for more information. This web page will be updated regularly.
California State Board of Education Approves State Seal of Engagement Award (September 10, 2020)
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel76.asphttps://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel76.asp
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Convenes School Leaders to Review State Public Health Guidance (September 9, 2020)
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel75.asp
LivingWorks Virtual Youth Summit Shines a Light on Mental Wellness and Suicide Prevention (September 9, 2020)
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel74.asp
High School Voter Education Weeks (September 9, 2020)
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr20ltr0909.asp
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Issues Statement in Response to President Trump’s Threats Directed at California Schools (September 1, 2020)
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel73.asp
Program Updates
Educator Excellence and Equity Division
LivingWorks Youth Summit
The California Department of Education, San Diego County Office of Education, and LivingWorks have partnered together to deliver LivingWorks Start suicide prevention trainings to staff and students statewide. The program is designed to help participants develop skills to keep others safe.
We are excited to announce the LivingWorks Youth Summit for middle and high school students. This one hour event will be live-streamed on Tuesday, September 15 from 1-2 p.m. and will include critical information and entertainment to engage youth. The lineup includes: Emma Benoit, a teen suicide attempt survivor; musical performances by Tate McRae and Fuego; and a cardistry routine by Shin Lim. The Youth Summit emcee is Caitlin Reilly, a famous comedic actress, YouTuber, and TikToker! For more information and to register, please visit the LivingWorks Youth Summit web page at https://www.lwyouthsummit.com/. Use the password “start” to register.
English Learner Support Division
Parent Newsletters
The English Learner Support Division (ELSD) is publishing two newsletters during the COVID-19 school closure: The Distance Learning Parent Newsletter and the English Learner (EL) Updates Newsletter. These formerly weekly newsletters are published monthly starting with the June 2020 issues.
The August EL Updates Newsletter covers funding, COVID-19 guidance, parent notification, distance and hybrid learning, accountability, assessment, immigrant resources, and webinars. The August Distance Learning Parent Newsletter focuses on resources for parents to help them start the school year off strong during distance learning.
To read the newsletters, go to the CDE EL Updates Newsletters web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/elnewsletters.asp.
Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG): English Learner Roadmap (ELR) Implementation
The two EWIG ELR grantees, Californians Together (CalTog), and the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) continue to provide professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators focused on the EL Roadmap. CABE’s Multilingual California Project (https://mcap.gocabe.org/) and CalTog’s English Learner Roadmap Implementation for Systemic Excellence (EL RISE!) (https://californianstogether.app.box.com/s/3neu9gbzqfe31nhdwz444xjtvxj53jl6) are available to bring research-based strategies and resources to administrators and educators in order to dramatically accelerate and improve multilingual academic opportunities and outcomes for English Learners across California. See the Upcoming Webinars section below for details on EL RISE! webinars.
For more information, please visit the CDE Educator Workforce Investment Grant: EL Roadmap Policy Implementation web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/elroadmap19rfa.asp.Webinars - Recap and Upcoming
Webinar Recaps
Continuity of Learning and Attendance Plan that Embraces our English Learners (August 18, 2020)
This is the first in a three-part webinar series hosted by the EWIG ELR subgrantee, Californians Together, and its partners, known collectively as EL RISE!. This series is designed to address immediate needs of school leaders and administrators in opening schools with a focus on meeting the needs of English learners in distance learning.
Webinar recording available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Modclw9qbks.
Presentation slides available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nDlQXYppFFa2NaIAwmyPRAFu2YqRn3hi/view
Reopening School Districts: Embracing Our English Learners (August 25, 2020)
This is the second in a three-part webinar series hosted by the EWIG ELR subgrantee, Californians Together, and its partners, known collectively as EL RISE!. This series is designed to address immediate needs of school leaders and administrators in opening schools with a focus on meeting the needs of English learners in distance learning.
Webinar recording available at https://californianstogether.app.box.com/s/imjvkpzd494xyglw3zunltce4dnro1p9
Presentation slides available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jnL_QvkCyDdtb_BnmbS86ZQ76V2ul4G3/view
Upcoming Webinars:
EL RISE! Communities of Practice Webinar Series for Administrators
The EWIG ELR subgrantee, Californians Together, and its partners, known collectively as EL RISE!, are hosting a three-part leadership webinar series designed to address immediate needs of school leaders and administrators in opening schools with a focus on meeting the needs of English learners in distance learning. All webinars will be archived for asynchronous access.
Webinars in the administrator series:
- Developing Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans that Embrace our English Learners (August 18, 2020—see above for links to materials and recording)
- Reopening School Districts: Embracing Our English Learners (August 25, 2020—see above for links to materials and recording)
- Supporting Families and Knitting Strong Home-School Partnerships in Pandemic Era (Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 4-5:30 p.m.)
Registration: To register for this webinar series, fill out the EL RISE! Google form at https://bit.ly/3g8jGxr.
EL RISE! Beginning the Dual Language Journey in Distance Learning Contexts: Fall Webinar Series for Kindergarten and Grade One Teachers (Part I: September 3, 2020, Part II: September 10, 2020—materials and recording coming soon)
EL RISE! Meeting the Needs of English Learners in Distance Learning
The EWIG ELR subgrantee, Californians Together, and its partners, known collectively as EL RISE!, are hosting a three-part teacher webinar series. This fall webinar series for kindergarten through grade six educators is designed to address the immediate needs of teachers in meeting the needs of English learners in distance or hybrid learning contexts. Teachers may select one, two, or all three webinars for participation.
- Welcoming, Inclusive, and Affirming Classrooms for English Learners (September 2 and 9, 2020—materials and recording coming soon)
- Critical Conditions for English Learners in Distance Learning (September 16 or 23, 2020, 2:30-4:30 p.m.)
- Creating and Sustaining Family Partnership in Distance Learning (September 24 or 30, 2020, 2:30-4:30 p.m.)
Registration: To register for one or more of the webinars in this series and get a detailed description of each event, please visit https://bit.ly/3fAt6Rj and fill out the Google form.
Early Learning and Care Division (ELCD) Weekly Guidance Update and Q&A (Fridays from 10 to 11 a.m.)
The CDE-ELCD is hosting weekly webinars to provide guidance updates the ELCD is developing to implement the 2020–21 budget actions, including guidance recently released and guidance being developed. The ELCD will also be addressing questions that have come in from contractors as well as live questions during the webinar.
Our webinar on September 11, 2020, provided updates on the following topics:
- Recently released and ongoing CDE guidance work
- Program Quality Implementation Updates
- Fiscal Updates
Registration: No registration is necessary for this webinar series. The ELCD releases connection information for the webinar series to subscribers of its distribution list. To subscribe to the ELCD distribution list, please sign up at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/emailindex.asp.
Previous webinars regarding guidance during COVID-19 can be found on the ELCD COVID-19 web page located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/elcdcovid19.asp.
