COVID-19 UPDATES AND COMMUNICATIONS

Coronavirus Update 53 - Back to School Info, Published Tuesday, August 10, at 5:48 p.m.

Good evening Arcadia Unified Families and Community,

As we are just one and two days away from the start of the new school year, we wanted to share some additional information and important reminders with you. The success we shared together last year during the pandemic was due in large part to the excellent partnership, support, and shared vision we had with our students, staff, parents, and community. This partnership will continue to be essential for another successful school year filled with opportunities.

Superintendent Dr. Vannasdall and District Nurse Erica Newkirk, RN, CPNP Message

Please watch this short five-minute video with our Superintendent, Dr. Vannasdall, and our District Nurse, Erica Newkirk. The video covers several important back-to-school health and safety topics. These topics include the following: current state and county mask mandate, daily health screenings, free optional (not mandated) weekly COVID-19 testing that will be available for students and staff, and our COVID-19 Exposure Management Plan.

Free Optional COVID-19 Testing For Students and Staff

We are pleased to share that later this week we will be sending out information on the optional Arcadia Unified COVID-19 take-home test kit program. As part of the program, students and staff may request a COVID-19 test kit free of charge up to once per week. Test kits will begin to be available starting next week. Our upcoming communication will provide specific instructions on how to pick up the test and drop it back off for lab analysis. COVID-19 testing is not mandatory for students or staff. We are looking forward to providing this valuable service to our Arcadia Unified community.

Social-Emotional Support For Parents to Help Their Children

To further provide support to our parents and to assist you in helping your child, below are two videos created by one of our School Psychologists, Tim Crosby, who is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. The first video is “Helping Students with Separation Anxiety.” This video discusses strategies to support students who may be experiencing separation anxiety.

The second video is “Coping with COVID-19 for Children.” This video discusses strategies relating to children and adolescents dealing with anxiety about COVID-19. A third resource we want to remind you about is our “COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellness Support and Resources” page. We hope these may help you in providing extra support to those who may need it.

More Resources and Information

• COVID-19 Exposure Management Plan

• Guidelines for Sick Students and When You Should Keep Students Home

• New FAQs for the new school year

• Rancho Independent Study Program Information

• COVID-19 Dashboard for current AUSD cases

• Board of Education Meeting- You can view our latest Board of Education meeting via this link, which includes AUSD Staff Department COVID-19 Reopening Updates

• Why state law prohibits the same virtual learning option as last year

• New COVID-19 webpage for the new school year, which includes Coronavirus Updates 50, 51, and 52 that contain additional information about Back to School.

• School Reopening Protocols (Appendix T1)

Commitment to Communications

As always, we remain committed to updating our new, dedicated Coronavirus webpage with new resources and information. You can view this communication, our 53rd, (in English and Chinese) and all the previous updates we have sent to all parents and staff on our website. If you or someone you know needs additional language support, please let us know. We also encourage you to follow our Facebook page and Twitter page, where we will share additional non-urgent information and Arcadia Unified news. You can sign up for our Arcadia Unified Community Email List here, and/or encourage others to do so to ensure receipt of our communications. We can’t wait to see everyone back this week!

Sincerely,

Arcadia Unified School District