Welcome to the 2020-21 School Year, Carlsbad Unified!
With the start of the new school year we are relaunching our monthly newsletter, Carlsbad Unified Connections, to share our stories and keep you informed. We will be spotlighting our outstanding schools and updating you on important issues being considered by the Board.
School opens on Tuesday, August 25, but, as you know, campuses will remain closed until further notice in compliance with COVID-19 public health orders.
Like in every new school year, students and staff alike are feeling the excitement, apprehension, and the promise of a fresh start. But Back To School this year is not normal; we are experiencing the uncertainties and disappointments of this pandemic year. It has been challenging to predict what this year will look like and to plan an instructional program that meets the academic and social-emotional needs of our students.
But we are Carlsbad Unified. So we will strive to create opportunities to inspire and motivate our students. Remember that -- as Plato said -- necessity is the mother of invention. Knowing that the best inventors in history were galvanized by the most challenging times, we will challenge ourselves and our students to become such inventors and to find the good that can come out of hard times.
The urgency of this public health crisis spurred exemplary work by our teachers and administrators in their Summer Institute collaborations, transforming our instructional program from the emergency remote learning of the Spring into innovative, structured, and rigorous Distance Learning 2.0 plans for the Fall.
In Summer Institute Session 1, a Planning Task Force developed a flexible framework for teaching and learning in an online or hybrid environment, and reviewed and recommended the necessary instructional tools. In Session 2, an Instructional Plan Development Work Group designed creative ways to engage students in distance learning with academic rigor, daily interaction, and conceptual schedules that look much like a student’s regular school day. The Work Group built four weeks of standards-based lesson plans for each grade level and class, which will support our teachers as they begin the year. I appreciate the contributions of these dedicated professionals.
Additionally, I appreciate the partnership of the Carlsbad Educational Foundation (CEF), which will be offering fee-based childcare on many of our campuses this fall. See CEF Kids Care.
View our COVID-19 Safe Reopening website for further information about registration, meal service, instructional materials, and other topics. Our principals will also be communicating important information in the coming days. We will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our students, teachers, and staff as we follow the guidance of federal, state, and local public health officials.
Together, we will make extraordinary things happen in these extraordinary times.
