Alpine Union School District

Dear AUSD Families, I hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy. With the start of school on the horizon, I wanted to share some important updates regarding support for our families during Distance Learning. On March 13, the day in which we closed schools, we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing all of our efforts on being as responsive as possible to the needs of our students, families, staff, and the Alpine community. From providing wifi access at each of our school sites for anyone in the community, to providing 1000s of Grab and Go meals to any school-aged child, and providing social and emotional support to families and students, we have been relentless in our pursuit of trying to meet the needs of our community. As we launch the school year with Distance Learning we have created several programs to support our families. First, we realize that Distance Learning is not the optimal way for all students to learn. Second, we recognize that most parents’ work schedules are not compatible with providing full-time childcare, and many parents desire to have their child have some socialization with other children while managing health risks. Third, we also realize that parents want to have a safe place for their children to be if they can’t physically be in school learning face-to-face with a teacher. To support the needs of our families, we have been working to expand our Extended Student Service (ESS) child care program to accommodate students while following the required health guidelines and protocols. We have changed our ESS program to accommodate students from 7:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. to support our working families. Students in ESS will be able to participate in Distance Learning while being in a stable cohort of students following all required health guidelines. To ensure stable cohorts, children will need to enroll for the full week. We have made our ESS program one of the most affordable in the county. The cost will be $100 a week, which is $1.90 an hour. Due to the health guidelines, which limit the number of students in a cohort, spaces will be limited. However, we are working to hire more ESS staff to expand our program. More information can be found on our website or by contacting Lindsay Walker, ESS Coordinator, at lwalker@alpineschools.net. While we work to expand our ESS program as fast as possible, we have also designed the Alpine COVID-19 Learning Pod so parents can meet the childcare and learning needs of their children. An Alpine COVID-19 Learning Pod is a unique learning structure designed to offer a place on an AUSD campus for a stable pod or cohort of students to meet during the day with a parent supervising the students and an AUSD staff member supporting the learning of the children in the pod. All public health guidelines and protocols will be followed. In short, the focus is on creating a safe setting to complement distance learning instruction from schools, with supervision responsibility provided by a network of parents, and technical and instructional support provided by our District. As with our ESS program, a pod will consist of no more than 12 students. As a District, we feel it is important that there is equity and equal access to all educational opportunities. In order to support that effort, the District will allow families to apply to use District facilities at no cost as an Alpine COVID-19 Learning Pod. To do so, parents may submit a Facility Use application to utilize designated spaces on campus. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The organization of the Learning Pods is strictly voluntary and parent-directed. If you have questions or are interested, please email Mrs. Ripke, principal of CELC, at tripke@alpineschools.net. We hope these options provide opportunities for our parents to return to work and for our students to excel with their Distance Learning. We remain committed to having our students return to campus for face-to-face learning when safe and possible. In the meantime, we are also pursuing the waiver process to allow us to begin to bring students back to campus for learning. Lastly, I want to thank our Board of Trustees for their devotion to our community and their constant focus on finding innovative and creative ways to support our students and the community of Alpine. Alpine truly is a special place, and our schools will remain focused on providing a world-class education with a hometown feel. Sincerely, Dr. Rich Newman Proudest Superintendent on Earth

about 4 years ago, Richard Newman

Grab and Go Meals - Parents are now required to show their child's student ID number. For help please reach out to your school office.