A MESSAGE FROM NICK
Dear friends and partners,
To say that the 2019-20 school year was unprecedented would be an understatement. For the first time in LA Unified history, school was in session while campuses were closed. And although it was difficult at the time, I believe our decision to close was the right one that minimized the spread of COVID-19 and saved lives.
And although we physically closed, our work did not stop. Over the last few months, we’ve provided supports to students and families in ways we never imagined we’d need to, including by running the nation’s largest food bank, bridging the digital divide, and providing new summer learning programs to every student. And this is on top of transitioning overnight to distance learning, training tens of thousands of educators in virtual instruction, and supporting this unimaginable effort for employees and families. The transition was not perfect, but the resilience of our school communities was remarkable.
This crisis has also exacerbated existing crises and the past months have exposed underlying inequities in our system, including racial disparities in the impact of this pandemic and beyond, and have challenged all of us to take action toward justice.
I’m proud that, throughout all of this, my office has provided support to families and schools and continued to push for improvements in the District. LA Unified will start online on August 18, but I will continue to fight to improve the quality of distance instruction. I know we need to do better by our students—and although there is no substitute for face-to-face interactions, I will continue to push for higher expectations and to do all we can to catch students up, meet their social-emotional needs, and get them back in the classroom as soon as we can do so safely.
Amidst this uncertainty, my commitments to you remain unchanged: I will continue to put students and families at the center of our decision-making, ensure that school communities have transparent updates and the support they need, and cut red tape to foster innovative solutions in this unprecedented moment.
Scroll down for a look at what we’ve overcome and accomplished together, apart.
PART 1: LAUSD AT A GLANCE
The size, scope, and wide range of communities we serve exacerbated the challenges we faced in transitioning to distance learning.
PART 2: A CRISIS UNFOLDS
Despite these challenges, we hit the ground running to continue meeting the needs of our families and school communities during this unprecedented moment.
PART 3: MEETING THE NEEDS OF OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES
As the magnitude of the pandemic’s impact began to unfold, we relied on the core values we’ve always upheld to guide our response.
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PART 4: BY THE NUMBERS
Transparent and frequent communication: I continued to prioritize transparency and provide relevant updates so that families and school communities had the information and guidance they needed to navigate this crisis.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Farnaz Simantob, Portola Middle School parent, has always been an active parent in the West Valley community, and the past few months have been no exception. As an LAUSD parent and psychologist, I was thrilled to have Farnaz join my first virtual conversations on fostering student well-being and resilience during this difficult time. She also put her mental health suggestions into action, organizing a virtual talent show for Portola students to showcase their performances and give kids a creative outlet during this difficult time.
Centering student voices: I believe that the lived experience of our students is not only valuable, but should be central to our policies and decision-making.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Kalkidan Alemayehu, Palisades High 2020 graduate, will be attending UCLA in the Fall. Her family emigrated from Ethiopia 10 years ago in hopes of an equal opportunity for a better life--and the barriers Kalkidan had to overcome for a quality education spurred her passion to advocate for systemic change in our public schools. She shared her story with me during a virtual town hall about pursuing racial justice and supporting students of color in our schools. Like so many of this year’s LAUSD graduates, Kalkidan’s leadership, resilience, and determination give me hope for a brighter future.
Supporting the social safety net and helping our community: From the outset of this pandemic, we made a commitment to continue meeting the needs of our families and school communities, even from a distance.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Evelen Guirguis, Food Services Manager at Marina Del Rey Middle School, has been feeding LAUSD students for 25 years, and when we closed schools, she was one of so many dedicated employees on the front lines of this crisis making sure our families still had access to meals at our Grab and Go Centers. Not only that, but as our office held weekly family-friendly virtual activities, Evelen was kind enough to co-host two virtual cooking lessons to bring the famous LAUSD coffee cake and chalupas to our viewers at home!
Highlighting Innovative Instruction and Sharing Best Practices: We provided support to our educators in the transition to online teaching, and worked to share their stories and help replicate their successful strategies.
Lucy Knight, Kentwood State Preschool teacher and Ericka Griffen, Marina del Rey Early Education Center teachers, shared their creative ways to make early distance teaching work for our youngest students in our “Supporting Early Learners” virtual conversation.
Tony Aguilar, Maribel Luna, and Annmarie Serrano, LAUSD Division of Special Education, and Shawna Draxton, Executive Director of WISH joined us to discuss the challenges and strategies for meeting the needs of students with special needs during distance learning.
Margaret Kim, Local District Northwest, Karen Long, Local District West, and Ani Packard, Division of Instruction shared some of the innovative new virtual summer programs the District offered to keep students with both academic and enrichment opportunities over the summer break.
Jamie Agius, Palisades High Science teacher joined us for a virtual class on making DIY masks at home and shared her work using 3D printing technology to make masks for hospitals.
Jan Blunt and Michele O'Quinn, Loyola Village Elementary and Local District West dance instructors, led us in a virtual dance class to learn new choreography in a few different styles without leaving home.
Nicole Gerron, Mark Twain Middle School History teacher shared detailed tips on engaging her students from a distance in our “Making the Most of Online Learning Platforms” virtual conversation.
Celebrating Student Achievements: From virtual graduations to student spotlights, we did our best to commemorate the accomplishments of our students during this unprecedented crisis.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Hayzell Estrada, a fifth grader at Stanley Mosk Elementary figured out that an innovative headband design can help make goggles and masks more comfortable, especially for healthcare workers wearing their PPE for long hours. Not only did she design the idea, Hayzell is also sewing the headbands herself to donate to local hospitals. Her innovation and commitment to others is an inspiration to us all!
Keeping Our Commitments to Schools: Our families and school communities should be central to our decision-making, and we continued our progress toward that vision while supporting the transition to distance learning.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Paul Hirsch, Principal at STEM Academy of Hollywood, transitioning to COSA for Fairfax Community of Schools, has done amazing work to provide an innovative, STEM-based academic program for his students, and the past few months have been no exception. Not only did he support his students and staff in transitioning to distance learning, he kept everyone engaged with weekly Zoom assemblies, worked with our office to donate the PPE from their school medical lab to the medical staff at a local hospital, and coordinated a surprise car parade to drop off congratulatory lawn signs from our office to every graduating senior’s home--which I was thrilled to join! We are excited to have Paul transition into leading the “Fairfax Community of Schools” as we move toward a more decentralized model of local control and flexibility.
