Letter to Families - Sent March 15 Link to this section
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March 15, 2020
Dear SFUSD Families:
As a reminder, schools are closing to students for 3 weeks beginning tomorrow, Monday, March 16 through the end of regularly scheduled spring break (which ends Friday, April 3). Staff will be working part of this time and using the time to prepare and train on how to educate and support community health during this epidemic.
Schools are an essential service and crucial to our communities. We are facing an unprecedented health crisis in our community, and new information is surfacing rapidly. It is times like these when our SFUSD core values become most visible. We will get through this.
Please take a few minutes to read these reminders and updates as you head into this 3-week break.
Social Distancing
Students should stay home and minimize social contact as much as possible to keep caregivers and adult family members safe. Children have not been shown to be a high-risk group for serious illness from this virus. However, they can transmit the virus to those most vulnerable. Public health officials recommend that families make arrangements for childcare during closure that avoid leaving children with elderly people who are more vulnerable to the impact of the virus.
Free Meals for Students
Beginning Tuesday, March 17, SFUSD will provide free breakfast and lunch to all children 18 and younger at pick-up sites across San Francisco. View a map of pick-up sites or download a flier (translations available).
As of now, the free meals for students will be available through Friday, March 27. SFUSD is exploring options to continue this service through regularly scheduled spring break, from March 30 through April 3. Donations can be made online at sfusd.edu/schoolfood to support our meal programs.
Childcare Resources
Beginning Monday, March 16, the Recreation and Park Department and the San Francisco Public Library will begin to operate libraries and indoor recreation facilities as emergency child care facilities for children of parents on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak and low-income families. Please check www.sfusd.edu/childcare for updates regarding childcare options.
How You Can Help
Our school district serves more than 54,000 students across 133 school sites. If you would like to help our efforts of continuing to provide nutritious meals to students and ensuring our schools are safe and clean, you may donate to our COVID-19 Response Fund. These donations will help provide emergency funding for cleaning supplies, additional custodial staff, and student nutrition, including daily meals and mobile refrigeration. Text "4SFUSD" to 44321 or donate online at: sparksfpublicschools.org/donate. Your support is immensely appreciated.
Student Learning and Emotional Support
Ongoing developments regarding COVID-19 may be overwhelming, especially to younger children. Parents and caregivers can help children understand the situation better by discussing children’s questions and concerns. It is also essential that as adults we manage our own anxieties. Here are some helpful tips and resources from SFUSD’s School Health Programs Department. We will be sharing more detailed information as soon as possible about how families can support student learning during school closures.
To help ensure you are receiving district and school notifications, activate your Family Portal (ParentVUE) account and update your contact information. We are mailing home activation codes with instructions on how to sign up the week of March 16th. Please fill out our help form at bit.ly/familyportalhelp if you have questions.
An informed community is a safer community. Take care of each other and treat others with dignity and respect. This virus is in our community and it affects all of us. We should respond with knowledge, compassion, and justice while protecting ourselves and one another.
Please continue to check www.sfusd.edu/covid19 for all of our COVID-19 resources and updates.
Sincerely,
Dr. Vincent Matthews
Superintendent of Schools
This page was last updated on March 16, 2020