Welcome Back To School 2020 From Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell OUSD Superintendent
Dear Oakland Unified School District Community,
I am happy to say that the 2020-21 school year begins today, Monday, August 10! I want to welcome all students, staff and families back to teaching and learning in Oakland Unified School District Community, or “OUSD”. Although we are not able to see each other in person, we are all excited to connect again with our students and families virtually. We continue to work hard with our labor partners to reach an agreement about exactly what distance learning will look like, and we look forward to reaching a deal. We will update you as soon as that happens. Regardless, school begins tomorrow.
The start of school is one of my favorite times of the year, when we all get back together after a long summer, greet each other, give lots of high fives and hugs, and begin the process of education once again. Obviously, this year is very different from years past, as we begin school in full distance learning. Nevertheless, virtual greetings, high fives and hugs are in order!
For those of you who still need a computer and internet access for your student, please know that device distribution continues this week at school sites. If you still need one of these loaners, check with your school site leadership. Also, remember to complete the Tech Check Survey.
If you have yet to hear from your school, or if you have trouble accessing your student’s distance learning for any reason, please reach out to your teacher and/or your principal. For anyone who does not know the email address of these staff members, please know their email will look like this: [email protected]. If you can’t get in touch that way, you can reach out to your network superintendent. Here is a list of our network superintendents and the schools and principals they each work with. Attendance is required, and our teachers will be taking it. And to help guide you, here is additional information about the start of school we shared last week.
Our Nutrition Services team – along with central office staff and a cadre of volunteers – has provided our community with nearly four million student meals, hundreds of thousands of pounds of groceries, and countless other necessities over the past five months. The good news is that this service will continue on Mondays and Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for all students in our K-12 schools and in our Young Adult Program at 22 sites across the city.
If you have yet to register your student for school, please do so as soon as possible at your school site. If you don’t yet have a school picked for them, please email [email protected] or call the Enrollment Office at 510-879-4600.
I want to personally thank everyone, especially our students, for working through our challenging circumstances and for dealing with all the adjustments the pandemic has prompted in school and in our world, with patience, grace and dedication. I’m excited to start the process of engaging all of our young people in learning again. On behalf of all of us in the District, we look forward to connecting with your students and you tomorrow and in the coming days.
Together, let’s make this a great year for our students!