Teachers have returned to campus this week, and we are working closely to prepare for the next stage of instruction with some students returning to campus while some remain at home.

I want to offer some insight into staffing and our organizational structure for this next step, and help you feel a little more informed should you receive notification that your child’s teacher is out for either a short period of time, or that there is a more long-term change.  I feel like this year may present a few more challenges in this respect, and I want you to know we have plans in place to manage this type of situation.

Standard Practice: The standard practice is for all teachers to lead classes from campus for both groups of students, in person and virtual, using the 90-minute instructional cycle we have used throughout this first grading cycle. 

Short-term Absences: Any time a teacher has symptoms that may overlap with common symptoms of COVID-19, the teacher may be told to self-quarantine at home for 10-14 days.  This will likely mean that teachers who feel well, or who will feel well within a day or two, will be required to continue teaching from home for a short period of time.  In this type of circumstance, I would prefer to have our certified, regular teacher provide the instruction from home, rather than depend on an associate teacher who may not be proficient with the content or the delivery system for students in person and at home.  In-person students may be asked to stay in their neighborhood in such an event and work online with their teacher who will instruct all students remotely.

Long-term Absences: We also must plan for the event that a teacher cannot return because he or she, or a family member, needs care for a longer period of time.  In these events, we will begin looking for qualified candidates to hire.  Particularly during this pandemic, qualified candidates are becoming more difficult to find.  We have built the master schedule of courses so that most teachers have at least one other teacher assigned to the same course.  For instance, there are four teachers in 9^th grade who teach Algebra 1 REC, Algebra 1 PIB, and Algebra 2 PIB.  We will use existing teachers who already teach the course to support when teachers are out for extended time periods to ensure no curriculum is missed.  With some students remaining virtual during this time, we do not have to worry about overcrowding a physical classroom. 

Rest assured, our goal is to provide experienced teachers, delivering excellent instruction for all students.  We are standing at the ready to make that happen no matter the curves in the road ahead.

Excused Absences

As the grading cycle closes tomorrow, it is important that we have properly documented attendance.  Please review your child’s attendance record today.  Please provide an email to the neighborhood clerk for each day your child was marked absent and one of these things is true:

• My child was marked absent and he or she was sick at home.
• My child was marked absent because our wifi was down.
• My child was marked absent because he or she had an issue with their laptop and we needed tech support.
• My child was marked absent and he or she had a doctor’s appointment.
• My child was marked absent, but we were participating in a religious holiday as noted on the interfaith calendar for 2020.
• My child was marked absent, but he or she was on an approved college tour.

Neighborhood clerks listed below:

9A & 9B           Ms. Guzman   Mguzman5@houstonisd.org

9C & 9D           Ms. Chavez    Jchavez7@houstonisd.org

10A & 10B       Ms. Lewis      Sheila.Lewis@houstonisd.org

10C & 10D       Ms. Forbes     sforbes1@houstonisd.org

11A & 11B        Ms. McCourt     Melissa.McCourt@houstonisd.org

11C & 11D        Ms. Ramirez     pramirez@houstonisd.org

12A &12B         Ms. O'Banner   tobanner@houstonisd.org

12C &12D         Mr. Osborne     SOSBORNE@houstonisd.org    

Highlighted Events

• Sat. Oct. 17th- Band Rehearsal (LHS) 10 am - 2 pm
• Sat. Oct. 17th- Virtual College Fair Part 2 (Online) 10 am - 12 noon
• Mon. Oct. 19th- Students Return to Campus/Face-to-Face Instruction
• Wed. Oct. 21st- Teacher Work Day/ NO SCHOOL 
• Wed. Oct. 21st- College Corner Workshop (Online) 6 pm
• Fri. Oct. 23rd- Report Card Day
• Tues. Oct. 27th- SAT for 12th Graders (On Campus) @8:30 am
• Thurs. Oct. 29th- 11th Grade PSAT/NMSQT Testing (On Campus) @8:30 am
• Sat. Oct. 31st- Senior Trick or Treat Drive Through (Transit Center) 11 am - 1 pm