Redding School District

There are a lot of folks gearing up for March Madness, College Basketball reference here, but within our district, it is March Masterpieces of successful instruction.  Thanks to everyone who is digging in and figuring out ways to better serve those students who are still showing learning loss.  They appreciate your diligent focused work to improve what we do every day.

I am currently developing a Story but I think that I would like to use this week to give some information about topics that might be on people's minds.  So, if you will allow, I will cover some future topics.

• Last Day of School 2020-2021 Friday, June 4, 2021 - As you all are aware, we had a snow day on Wednesday, January 27,  2021.  The State of California requires that schools have built-in snow days for closures such as this on their adopted calendars.  We do have a snow day on our calendar.  This obligates us to push the last day of school back to that calendared snow day of Friday, June 4, 2021.  That is a change, so please make note that all duty day calendars are extended by one day to accommodate the snow closure.  Talk with your supervisor if you need more information.
• Kindergarten Round-Up Student Enrollment -  All schools have begun to advertise enrollment for the 2021-2022 school.  This is the time for all of us to get out there and talk up our schools and get kids enrolled.  Because of our opening circumstances for this year we had fewer students enroll, in my opinion, because of those circumstances.  Let's all get out there and let parents know that now is the time to sign up for the coming school year even if you aren't a Kindergarten parent.
• Summer School June 8 to July 2, 2021 - Redding School District Board of Trustees approved an extended summer school program from 7:45 to noon for our students entering 1st through 8th grade next school year.  The program will be held at Juniper with a focus on closing learning gaps, increasing academic achievement, and providing enrichment activities.  Be looking for job-specific postings in the upcoming weeks.  Schools are making lists of students whom we will encourage to join us for the four-week program.  It is an opportunity to help some students close a learning gap.
• Sports and Competitions - Our middle schools across the partnership have opened up baseball, softball, tennis, and track all at once.  Whew!  This is wonderful for kids and exciting but challenging to pull off this many sports starting all at once.  Thanks to our grounds crew for preparing the fields for competition, our leaders for having the vision, coordinators for planning schedules, and the coaches for stepping up to help our students have sports. 
• Our Redding Ruckus Robotics VEX IQ Tournament is a local event this year held on Saturday, March 27, from 9 to 11 am.  We decided to have our tournament with our Redding schools only.   Although it will be smaller in teams, it will still be exciting and fun.  See the live stream link below and the attached flyer. Thanks to all the volunteers and coaches who have made this possible.
  • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9b29ZirdVMxd_96Z3kth0w
• Vaccinations & Testing Updates - See the link below to the Shasta Ready Covid Vaccination Website.  It has information about where there might be shot clinics for first shots and second shots.  If you haven't signed up before and have now decided to get vaccinated, you are still eligible to sign up at any first shot clinic.    https://www.co.shasta.ca.us/ready/covid-19/vaccinations  
• Vaccinations Rules after 2nd dose: You do not have to quarantine if exposed to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 if you are
  • fully vaccinated (i.e., greater than 2 weeks following the second dose in a 2-dose series or following one dose of a 1-dose series.)
  • within 3 months following receipt of the last dose in the series
  • asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure.
• Testing - Please remember that the CDPH recommends that you have COVID testing every two weeks.  https://www.co.shasta.ca.us/ready/covid-19/get-tested  
• Graduations - Though our plans are not fully developed because we are still waiting for health guidance, it is our hope to have as In-Person graduation as is possible.   It might be limited in its scope in regards to attendees but we are planning for a more standard event for our students and families.
• Proposed 2021-2022 Calendar - We will be taking the 2021-2022 proposed calendars for all three districts to the April meetings.   I know that many of you are wondering about the start date of next year.   Wednesday, August 18, 2021, will be our first day of school for the coming year if the proposed calendars are adopted.

Enjoy your weekend,

Rob