August 14, 2020
To Staff and the Twin Rivers School Community,
There are times in life that age-old expressions seem to convey a particular accuracy and purpose. To my mind, the saying “It takes a village to raise a child” captures the immediate and collective responsibility between schools and homes, educators and families, as we head into a school year where teachers and students will be working remotely.
Moving classrooms into students’ homes will require educators and families to work as a village. As we move into this school year, let’s commit to reach out to one another when we have questions or concerns, and collaborate to provide the resources needed so that we can help our students continue to learn. Let’s be there for each other.
Students, Parents and Families – Reach Out, We’re Here! The first day of school is Tuesday, August 18. Please don’t hesitate to contact our school for any questions or concerns. You can also visit your school’s website for important information.
Key Updates
Engagement & Outreach:
- Backpack distribution began at school sites on August 10-11 and many have distributed 80% to 90% of materials to enrolled students as of Thursday. Schools are now contacting students who did not pick up their backpacks and other school materials. If you missed your scheduled pick-up time, please visit your school website or call your school office to find out when you can reschedule.
- A few highlights of the backpack distribution so far:
- Frontier with 91% of backpacks distributed
- Madison at 92%
- Strauch at 93%
- Pioneer at 96%
- Rio Linda and Grant distributed over 800 backpacks at each site in the first two days
- Middle schools are at approximately 75% distribution
- Rio Tierra distributing 82%
- MLK distributing 81% of materials to students.
- A few highlights of the backpack distribution so far:
- Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten Families – Contact your school sites about backpacks with materials for your children. Your teacher will help you and your child unpack the backpack as materials are needed for lessons.
- Back to School Night will take place virtually this year. Please be sure to check with your school on dates/times.
- Parent Training – Please be sure to visit our Family and Community Engagement (FACE) page for the latest workshops and training for parents.
- Aeries Parent Portal is LIVE. The portal is the host for communicating a wealth of information and monitoring of your child’s progress.
- Please log on and verify your information at https://parent.twinriversusd.org or get the app iOS / Google Play.
District Operations:
- Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of our students and staff as we prepare our schools and district offices for a full return to normal operations, with guidance from public health officials. To ensure the safety of everyone, COVID-19 monitoring protocols and procedures are in place at all sites and district offices, following best practices provided by federal, state and local health officials. Currently, a limited number of employees are physically working throughout the district.
I’m excited about the new school year and urge you to stay current by visiting our district website at www.twinriversusd.org and these webpages: A Virtual Start to a New School Year and COVID-19 Updates.
Continue to stay safe. Our best approach to minimizing the impact of COVID-19 is to follow all the public health guidelines and state directives—wear masks/shields, comply with social distancing requirements and wash your hands frequently.
Take care, everyone. Once again, reach out if you need additional support—we’re here.
Warm regards,
Steve Martinez, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Twin Rivers Unified
Every Student, Every Day. Leaving No One Behind!
