Dear Parents,

What a different setting we find ourselves in from three weeks ago! Who would have ever thought we’d find ourselves so digitally immersed! We hope each our Canyon Crest students and families are well. Please know that our number one job is to support families, so if you have any needs or concerns, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We so much appreciate our teachers and support staff who have turned their worlds a bit upside down to meet the learning needs of the children in their classes, and in less than a week! We herald them and their efforts in wanting the very best learning opportunities for each student. BIG HUGS, TEACHERS!

Our goal is to keep good communication going between home and school. We appreciate the feedback we have been receiving from parents – both positive and constructive, so that we can continue to improve this new concept of online teaching and learning. Things seem to be going well, for the most part, in our upper grades due much to the fact that our 3rd through 6th graders have already been trained on Google Classroom. We are finding that digital learning for our lower grade students, however, can be a bit more challenging for both students and parents. We have met as a staff, through the ZOOM platform, and talked through some of the ways we feel we can better meet family education needs.

First of all, we will be simplifying some of our K-2nd grade content, particularly in our DLI classes. We have come to find the challenge in the lower grades moving to Google Classroom and maneuvering through Spanish content is almost like learning two new languages for both parents and students! Our 1st and 2nd grade teachers will be sending home math assignments in English and/or providing tutorials for students in Spanish.

Secondly, we will be chunking assignments into daily increments rather than sending them weekly. Students should not be doing more than approximately 1-2 hours of assignments per day, although we recognize this can vary from student to student. We hope each child can go online and participate in the assignments the teachers have created, but also know that some families’ needs might be different. Please contact the school or your child’s teacher if you or your child needs assistance in getting online. We are ready and willing to help you!

Teachers are also working to schedule online video sessions with classes via ZOOM. This platform is easy to download (go to ZOOM.com and follow download directions), and provides students opportunities to visit with teachers and fellow students. The interaction with teachers and peers helps support our children emotionally and socially. It’s a great way to connect while also learning how to manipulate yet another digital platform! We have been using ZOOM to interact and communicate with our faculty and staff members, and are finding that we, as adults, also need social connection with our colleagues.

We so much appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to refine our online practices. We have only been at this for a week now, and know that as we share with others in our grade level teams, faculty, and district, we will be getting more proficient and comfortable with our digital teaching and learning, as will students and families. We recognize, too, the impact this has had on parents transitioning to the “world of school”, and know the challenges that come with assisting children in new curriculum and technology, especially when you have multiple children in the home. I feel confident that this will continue to get easier as we work through it together. Please keep the feedback coming. We appreciate hearing about the things that are going well, but also need to know frustrations you are encountering, so we can try and fix them. We are still early in the game with still lots to learn in all aspects.

The very best to all our Canyon Crest families. Please keep us informed if we can be of service in any way.

Sincerely,

Rene Cunningham, Principal