Classroom Updates

Dear Vista Families,

Thank you for your continued support and participation in accessing our online learning resources!

As you know, our classroom teachers are providing digital lessons and resources through Google Classroom. As we continue we want to make you aware that there will not be any live videos. This is to ensure the highest level of security for our staff, students and community. Moving forward all messages from staff members will be recorded.

Our classroom teachers are continuing to provide additional information through their weekly communications via email and phone calls home. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them for further clarification.

Because we were unable to celebrate our 3rd quarter Honor Roll and Principal’s List students we have attached certificates that you can print at home. We are so immensely proud of ALL our Tigers!

HR-PL Cert April 2020.pdf

We know that our Vista Tigers are continuing to show their Tiger’s ROAR even though they are not on campus and we want to hear what they are doing! How has your Vista Tiger shown ROAR? Please submit using our digital google form detailing how your kiddo has shown ROAR so we can continue to highlight our kiddos during our virtual morning announcements.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LEZSRh0MWjCiLQnBMMXHI7D6o-bEE37EZ28AaFzx7Nk/viewform?ts=5e84e439&edit_requested=true

It is our goal to continue to work together to provide academic and emotional support, instruction, and resources for our students during these difficult times.

Thank you for your partnership!

April 1, 2020
Dear Laveen Parents:
We know you are concerned about the impact school closures will have on your child’s
grades and placement for next school year. Yesterday, the Arizona State Board of
Education (SBE) met and approved measures related to these topics. In addition to giving
high schools flexibility in awarding credit for classes and graduation diplomas, the SBE
also formally requested a waiver from the U. S. Department of Education to cancel
statewide student achievement testing this year for all schools. Information about
student grades, report cards, and promotion are summarized below.
Student Grades
Currently, Laveen teachers are providing feedback to students on completed online work
assignments and projects. This feedback includes grades shared through Google
Classroom. Starting April 6, teachers will formalize this process by also recording some
student grades in the gradebook. Some assignments will continue to be graded for
participation, but others will be entered for an academic grade. Teachers will be entering
at least one academic grade for each content area, each week.
The purpose of recording these grades is to standardize the records, provide teachers
with a common format, and provide students and parents with feedback. Parents can
access these grades through ParentVUE. Please ask your child’s teacher for an activation
key if you are not able to access ParentVUE.
Report Card
While we expect our students to participate in these remote learning activities to the
greatest extent they reasonably can, students will not be penalized if they are unable to
fully participate or are limited by the online format. We will not be posting an academic
grade for the 4th Quarter on the report card. The final grades for the year will be
calculated based on the first three quarters of the school year. However, a student’s
online participation and work during Quarter 4 may be used to improve the overall grade.
We encourage parents to talk with your child’s teacher about any additional learning
opportunities students may engage in to help boost their final grade. Report cards will be
mailed out by May 21, 2020

Page 2

Eighth Grade Promotion
Although we will not be able to host any promotion ceremonies, our eighth grade
students will receive a promotion certificate with their final report card in the mail.
Additionally, in conversations with Phoenix Union High School District, it is their intention
to accept all eighth grade promotions into high school for next year. While we expect the
same with all high schools in Arizona, eighth graders attending a high school outside of
Phoenix Union, should inquire with that district or high school for information related to
their plan.
I believe the State Board of Education’s approach reasonably addresses these concerns
as it does not penalize students for the statewide school closures and provides our schools
with the flexibility they need to do what is best for students. We greatly appreciate your
support of our schools and your willingness to partner with us as we work through
unprecedented challenges to provide students with continued learning opportunities.
Sincerely,

Dr. Bill Johnson
Superintendent

Dear Laveen Families:
This morning Governor Doug Ducey and State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman announced the
extension of Arizona school closures through the end of the school year. The extension
follows updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and an
announcement from the White House extending physical distancing guidelines until April 30,
2020. This afternoon, Governor Ducey announced his Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Connected
executive order, which provides for the continuation of distance learning, meals for children,
and child care provided by public schools
At this time, we do not foresee the extended school closure or the executive order impacting
our current practices. For almost a week, our teachers have been providing daily instruction
to their students. Our schools have worked directly with the families that they serve to
provide necessary devices and instructional materials. We believe this instruction will not only
continue, but increase in quality as our staff and students become more accustomed to this
alternative delivery. I hope your child will continue to participate in these lessons as it will
help keep our students on track as we enter a new school year. If there is anything we can do
to further support your child’s learning during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out
to your child’s teacher or school principal.
We anticipate our free breakfast and lunch program to continue and childcare to be offered
to those families who need it. Our staff will continue to run school and district operations
remotely or on modified schedules to best serve our community.
Please know that during this period of closure, our staff remains committed to serving our
students and their families. All teachers are available to communicate with families each day.
Our administrators and front office teams are also available by phone and email to assist you
during regular business hours.
Thank you for your continued flexibility and patience as we work together to make the best
of this unprecedented and very challenging situation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Bill Johnson, Superintendent

Hello parents and happy Friday!

Dear Vista Families,

Thank you for your support and participation in accessing our online learning resources as we continue to provide learning opportunities for our students during this period of school closure.

As you know, our classroom teachers are providing digital lessons and resources through Google Classroom. However, to offer additional support, we will also be allowing our families to take home the hard copy textbooks for both Math and English Language Arts.

It is not a requirement that families pick up these textbooks, but it is an additional resource that will support online learning and will also provide students the flexibility to work through paper/pencil.

We will begin making these materials available to families on Thursday, March 26th and Friday, March 27th beginning at 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m..  Families can pick up in K-3 the Wonders reading text and the math consumable text. In 4-8, families can pick up the math consumable except for students in Algebra and Geometry.  For ELA, our resources will continue to be available online so for those families who are able to access the curriculum online that would be ideal.

In order to ensure the safety of our families gathering the materials, we will be opening the side gate by the front of the campus and allowing only one member per family on campus at a time.  The materials will be located outside your child’s classroom. Please quickly gather the materials and return back to the front of campus. Families will not be allowed inside the classrooms at this time.   If you are unable to come either Thursday or Friday to pick up the materials, please email both Mrs. Epacs and Mrs. Hamburgh to set up a time for you to come pick up the materials from the front office.

Our classroom teachers will be providing additional information on how these texts may be used through their weekly communications via email and phone calls home. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them for further clarification.

It is our goal to continue to work together to provide academic support, instruction, and resources for our students during these difficult times. Thank you for your partnership.

Sincerely,

Jessica Epacs

Hello Vista Families!

I know you have received a lot of correspondence from our staff regarding online resources and learning. First I want to thank you for your patience. We are learning as we go, and our priority is being as accessible to our students as possible. Below you’ll find some updates I’d like to share.

• Thank you for your patience and support as we implement new opportunities for online learning. These have been trying times for all of us as we are quickly learning to adapt to these new changes. Our goal is to work together with our staff and families to provide the needed academic supports for our children.

• The Arizona legislature has been providing guidelines for schools to follow in these difficult times:

•  SB1693 and HB 2910 were just passed Thursday evening. These bills state that public schools must offer general education opportunities as determined by the public school for the duration of the statewide closure. Additionally, public schools may deviate from the statutory requirements relating to special education programs, but shall attempt to ensure that each student who receives special education services has access to these educational opportunities. School districts will be required to attest to the State Board of Education and/or the Arizona Department of Education the manner in which we complied with this new legislation.

• We will track student participation rates and collect evidence of student learning for our records; however, it is not our intention to penalize a student who is unable to participate. We will reach out to those families who are not participating to determine what additional assistance is needed.

• While teachers are offering online lessons/instruction during specific times, the lessons provided through Google classroom should be available for students to access at any time.  Additionally, teachers will be available via email Monday through Friday during the normally scheduled school day hours.

• Our special education teacher will also be reaching out to provide services and support to already identified students, to the extent that they are able to in this new online format we have found ourselves in.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your child’s teacher. We are here to support you during these times. Have a great day and I will continue to update you as we navigate this new experience together.

Sincerely,

Jessica Epacs, Principal

Dear parents and guardians,

Dear Vista families,

Thank you for your patience as we make swift adjustments to our entire school system in the wake of these unforeseen circumstances.  I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for your kindness, positivity and grace. I have received so many kind emails from students, staff and parents.  I am eternally grateful for the wonderful Vista community we have. 

The purpose of my message today is to share how Vista is adapting and committed to meet the academic needs of our students during the mandated school closure. 

Starting Monday, March 23rd every classroom teacher will provide daily, direct instruction via an online video format. Teachers will deliver new content as well as review material. We expect teachers to provide between 30 and 120 minutes of daily instruction depending on the grade level.  As always, we are committed to academic excellence and our home to school partnership. Please ensure that your student has online access and is able to login to complete their work as each teacher will be assigning grades for each subject area including special areas.      

On a daily basis, teachers will be posting the assignments for the day on their Google Classroom.  In order to follow guidelines for appropriate screen time, the assignments will be in various computer based visual forms, but will require the students to complete additional tasks.  Students will be receiving both academic and effort grades in reading, writing, math, science, social studies and their special areas on a weekly basis. 

Teachers will ensure they have a two-hour window open on a daily basis to be easily accessible to families and to provide students feedback on the tasks they are completing.  Teachers will be communicating with families when that two hour block will be taking place on a daily basis.  

As previously stated, we truly appreciate your partnership, flexibility, and positivity during this time.  We are hoping to return back to our regular schedule soon, but until then, we, as a staff, will remain dedicated and committed to serve our Vista community.  If there are any questions or support that families are needing (academic, emotion, social, etc.) please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.  

In partnership,

Jessica Epacs

Hello Families:

I am reaching out to all my students and their families to provide some information on what to expect throughout our closure. Schools are expected to be closed through March 27. Please take a moment to read the following information. Please respond that you have read it so I know that it reached you.

Academics and Educational Resources:

Teachers have been working to develop lessons and resources that you can work on at home with your children. In addition to all curriculum materials being available online, we have developed an Online Resources website, where you can find various resources to help your child keep up with academics. This can be found under the “Students” tab on our district website, www.LaveenSchools.org.

Please remember that your child will need to log in to our curriculum platforms in order to access the material. If you do not have your child’s login information, please contact me and I can provide it to you. One single sign-on through Google gives students access to all of our digital curriculum programs  Watch this video for details on logging in.

Please be aware that all Laveen schools have strict internet filtering when a student connects from our server. Once you use your personal device, this filter is not available. Please monitor your child’s internet usage as they will be able to explore whatever sites your home computer allows. Be sure to watch this informational video, also on the website, for parents on how to filter home internet, Internet Filters to Keep Kids Safe Online

Internet Connectivity

If you do not have wi-fi or are unable to access the internet at home, Cox Communications is offering one free month of internet access to qualifying low-income families through their Connect2Compete program. T-Mobile is also offering an EmpowerED data plan.

Free Meals for Children

Despite school closures, Laveen schools are providing free breakfast and lunch to all children. Families may visit any Laveen school (except Vista) for a grab & go bag. Breakfast is available from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and lunch is available from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday- Friday.

Children must be present to take a meal. Adult meals are not available. Families do not need to register for meals and there are no income requirements.  Children do not need to be Laveen students. The district plans to expand this service to off-site locations in the coming days.

Child Care: 

We know that some parents cannot work without childcare. For families needing this service, Laveen’s Kids Club will operate a day camp program that provides structured activities in a safe, supervised environment for children in grades preschool – 6th. This will take place at two locations, Desert Meadows and Paseo Pointe. The cost is $35 a day or $120 per week (preschool is $125 per week). A three-day plan is also available. The hours are 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Our Kids Club staff is cognizant of the importance of a clean environment and incorporates cleaning with a bleach solution as part of their regular protocol. Children and staff showing any signs of illness will be sent home. Please visit our Kids Club page for details.