COVID-19 Update, March 18, 2020
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There are no large, new developments from the State or Regional meetings we attend for COVID-19 today. We are continuing on the path laid out in previous updates. We do have a couple of district updates for today.
Food Service
Today we served 1,110 lunches and breakfasts to the children in our community. We have doubled service numbers since Monday, and we expect that number to continue to grow in the coming days and weeks. We will be adding a delivery option next week too.
Lunch and breakfast are available for any child age 1-18. Weekday service is from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm this week at each K-12 school site. The schedule will likely change next week, but this will be the schedule through this Friday, March 20.
We will communicate any changes to the schedule as well as the delivery plan later this week.
Learning Enrichment
Resources are being gathered and will be posted to the district website Friday afternoon. This will be a soft launch of learning enrichment. There will be online resources available as well as downloadable packets for this soft launch. We are continuing to work on more resources and more opportunities for K-12 with additional planning and work this and next week with our teachers and staff.
We are not going to replace school with online school. We have been directed against that by the state superintendent. There are many factors to consider with a move like that, not the least of which is equitable access to the internet and computing resources for all families. We will be addressing some of that later this week with an opportunity to check out a Chromebook from the district. Stay tuned for more information in the next few days.
Additionally, many students in our district are entitled to additional services that cannot be delivered online. We want to get our kids back to some form of learning, and we also know we cannot replicate the school experience equitably for all children online. We will provide enrichment and review activities though, which can be adapted and used by students and families to continue some form of learning. Our staff will be working on these things largely remotely over the next week and beyond.
Remember to take care of yourself and practice self-care. Awareness of self whenever we are embracing change we are in need of additional energy. Our energy during this pandemic is constantly being assaulted by new information and new realities. Building a reservoir of activities and strategies for our own self-care is crucial. Three strategies are:
Relax - Breathe. Exercise. Walk. Move.
Rethink - Keep things in perspective. Decrease your cognitive distortions, eg.; fatalistic thinking. Ask yourself, “What can I do to make a difference today?”, “What can I control today?”
Redirect - Do something that brings you joy. Get in touch with the right side of your brain (your creative side) - Examples: draw, paint, make or build something, cook, sing, dance, garden, create.
We continue to monitor the information from the Health District and State sources, and we will communicate any corresponding change in the district approach. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding in very uncertain times. Take care of yourself and your family. It is an honor to serve the communities of Marysville and Tulalip.
Sincerely,
Jason Thompson
Superintendent