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Dear Fuente Nueva Families, 

As a community we recognize that this is a very anxious time for students, staff and families alike. The violence that occurred last week in our nation’s capital and the continued attack on our democracy may create additional stress in our daily lives. Stress that the students are sure to also be experiencing. This letter is in an effort to provide some encouragement for us all to support one another as we navigate this moment in our nation’s history. 

With images circulating and words such as riots, insurrection, and coup being used in our news cycles it is no doubt that some are experiencing big emotions in response. Using our words to share our feelings with those around us can be grounding and provide a space for deeper understanding. It is common for some parents to wonder if we should talk to our young children about big events like this. The answer is yes. They know way more than you think and if we don’t talk to them, they will fill in their gaps of knowledge on their own. 

This letter is to support families in having conversations at home. A great place to start is just asking your child what they know as often it is more than you think. For our youngest children we don’t have to feel pressured to fill in all the facts, just tell them what they want to know and the big ideas of what happened in age appropriate language. A recent article by NPR offers a few resources along with this list of resources that is being shared with teachers of students TK-12. 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me to set up a time to connect. Thank you for your continued partnership in educating our community’s youth. 

All the best, 

Beth

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Estimadas familias de Fuente Nueva,

Como comunidad, reconocemos que este es un momento muy ansioso, tanto para los estudiantes como para el personal y las familias. La violencia que ocurrió la semana pasada en la capital de nuestra nación y el ataque continuado a nuestra democracia pueden crear estrés adicional en nuestra vida diaria. Un estrés que los estudiantes seguramente también experimentaron. Esta carta es un esfuerzo para proporcionar un poco de aliento para que todos nos apoyemos unos a otros, mientras navegamos este momento en la historia de nuestra nación.

Con imágenes que circulan y palabras como disturbios, insurrección y golpe de estado que se utilizan en nuestras noticias, no hay duda de que algunos de nosotros estamos sintiendo grandes emociones en respuesta. Usar nuestras palabras para compartir nuestros sentimientos con los que nos rodean puede ser la puesta a tierra y proporcionar un espacio para una comprensión más profunda. Es común que algunos padres y madres se preguntan si deberían hablar con los niños pequeños de un acontecimiento tan grande como este. La respuesta es sí. Los niños saben mucho más de lo que cree usted, y si no hablamos con ellos, llenarán sus vacíos de conocimiento por sí solos. 

Esta carta es para apoyar a las familias en tener conversaciones en casa. Un gran lugar para comenzar es simplemente preguntarle a su hijo lo que saben, como a menudo es más de lo que usted piensa. Para nuestros hijos más pequeños no tenemos que sentirnos presionados para llenar todos los hechos, simplemente decirles lo que quieren saber y las grandes ideas de lo que sucedió en un lenguaje apropiado para la edad. Un artículo reciente de NPR (en inglés) ofrece algunos recursos junto con esta lista de recursos (en inglés) que se comparte con los maestros de los estudiantes TK-12.

Si tiene alguna pregunta o desea hablar más sobre esto, no dude en ponerse en contacto conmigo para establecer una hora de conexión. Gracias por su continua colaboración en la educación de los jóvenes de nuestra comunidad.

Atentamente,

Beth

(Español abajo)

A Note from the Director – November 2020

Dear Families,

Safety of our students and staff has always been the top priority for Fuente Nueva. As we move towards reopening for in person instruction safety is a part of every discussion we have. Most of us have experienced the sensation of having to learn a lot of new information while living through a pandemic. In addition, the guidance continues to evolve as scientists discover more about actions we can take for our communities safety. It is all quite a lot.

With each step we have taken to educate ourselves on how to create the safest environment in the time of coronavirus, I can confidently say that Fuente Nueva is taking every precaution possible. At the same time, we are committed to being flexible and transparent as we move forward.

The on-campus instruction plan is now available for your review. I encourage you each to take the time to read through the material and understand your role in helping to contribute to the safety of our students, staff and families. It is only together that we can be most effective in our goals.

Please, if you have ideas, thoughts, questions or concerns, my door is always open, and I encourage you to never underestimate the power of collaboration. Together we rise to the challenge.

Directora Beth

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Una carta de la directora – Noviembre de 2020

Estimadas familias,

La seguridad de nuestros estudiantes y personal siempre ha sido la máxima prioridad para Fuente Nueva. A medida que avanzamos hacia la reapertura de la instrucción en persona, la seguridad es parte de cada discusión que tenemos. La mayoría de nosotros hemos experimentado la sensación de tener que aprender mucha información nueva mientras vivimos una pandemia. Además, la guía continúa evolucionando a medida que los científicos descubren más sobre las acciones que podemos tomar para la seguridad de nuestras comunidades.

Con cada paso que hemos dado para educarnos sobre cómo crear el ambiente más seguro en el tiempo del coronavirus, puedo decir con confianza que Fuente Nueva está tomando todas las precauciones posibles. Al mismo tiempo, estamos comprometidos a ser flexibles y transparentes a medida que avancamos.

El plan de instrucción en el campus está ahora disponible para su revisión. Les animo a cada uno a tomarse el tiempo para leer el material y entender su papel en ayudar a contribuir a la seguridad de nuestros estudiantes, personal y familias. Solo juntos podemos ser más efectivos en nuestros objetivos.

Por favor, si tienes ideas o pensamientos, mi puerta siempre está abierta, y te animo a nunca subestimar el poder de la colaboración. Juntos estamos a la altura del desafío.

Directora Beth

Dear Families,

Dear Families, 

We are living in historic times.Our nation and the world are experiencing layers of emergencies and many of our mutual support systems are offline/unavailable right now. Fortunately, we are a strong and resilient community and together we are strong. 

Collectively we have the opportunity to help our youth make sense of the moment we are in. They are likely hearing/seeing a lot of very confusing messaging and they may be feeling scared. I suggest that above all, you take time to listen to your kids. Ask them what they are hearing and what questions they have. Help them connect this moment to other times in our history with which they may already be familiar. 

There is a lot going on right now, and it is important to stay hydrated, fed and rested.  Emotions are running very high. Perhaps this moment will lead to positive change in our world. Perhaps things will get worse before they get better. 

Whatever comes, we are not all going to experience events in the same way based on a lot of factors, including our races and personal/familial histories. Please be extra sensitive to one another so we may be sources of support and strength for each other in the coming weeks. 

On the parent resource tab we posted an incomplete list of resources to help you navigate these times. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if you need support. 

Truly,

Directora Beth

Hello Families,

First, I hope this finds you well during these stressful times. The few times I have seen the faces of the students, through a car window, on facebook or on a zoom meeting, it has been a delight. I am reminded why the educators at Fuente are working so hard. I am also reminded of the challenges you must be facing daily. We hope the program we are putting together helps support you in this time. Thank you for your patience as we have adjusted to this new effort.

We are excited to share that we have made some great progress this week in launching a distance learning program. Below is a description of our rollout timeline. To help you get a clearer picture we will be sending out a schedule for the first week soon. Throughout this process we will be following the CDE Distance Learning Guidelines which are updated weekly.

March 23-27- Connection and Access
This week we built on the work from last week to connect with families to ask if they have any needs such as school meals and internet services. A team sent home learning resources packets for every student that will be used in the coming weeks of remote learning. Teachers created simple websites to act as the delivery place of lessons and instructional online resources. We have signed up for the necessary zoom memberships for the school and teachers are getting themselves trained on how to use them for instruction. Teachers created a schedule for next week to provide connections with the classroom teachers, aides, the school counselor and directora.

March 30-April 3 One Connection and One Academic
The second week teachers will be providing one scheduled connection activity activity using video conference on Zoom. Teachers will also share one learning activity with students. Maestra Angela will join grade level meetings in second through fifth grade. Students will be introduced to class websites during their zoom conference. We plan to host an all school reunion on Monday and Friday morning and offer character education lessons. Finally, Maestra Ortega will offer art classes. We hope your student can participate in these opportunities as much as possible. The team is using this week to assess which types of activities are most doable for students from home. Teachers will be working on developing more learning opportunities online to supplement what resources are already in place. In summary, this is our test week for distance learning.

April 6-10 Distance Learning
Starting April 6 will transition to a distance learning program. A schedule is under development to provide consistent opportunities for teachers and students to connect. There will be both scheduled lessons and drop in hours. We will implement a schedule that incorporates one art, music or pe lesson per week as well as regular character education. Teachers will be posting academic activities in all subject areas. Extended day will offer enrichment classes and we may even pull off spirit week and a dance party! Each week teachers will assess and plan for the following week.
Beyond April 10
We are making plans for distance learning to continue beyond April 10th. The program will improve as we figure out what works best or as the local situation changes. By partnering with families we will find a nice balance of instructional offerings and support. We will continue to evaluate school reopening decisions in partnership with Humboldt County School Districts and the Humboldt County Public Health.

This is certainly a lot of information and it may be hard to see clearly what it all means. One step at a time we hope to make that clear for you. Next you will receive an email with instructions for the zoom meeting platform and an invitation to all school reunion on Monday at 8:30am. We will have tech support available throughout this distance learning program. This reunion will be used as a time to give families a chance to work out tech kinks prior to zoom meetings that are scheduled throughout the day Monday for each grade. The schedule will be coming to you soon.

Thank you all for your continued support. We are sending you all lots of love at this time. We miss the kids … big time! It is hard to go to school and see the empty rooms. Last night Scott our custodian texted me a picture and said the chairs are sad and miss the kids. We can’t wait to be together in person again, but for now we hope to get back to some of what is familiar through this distance learning program.

With gratitude,

Beth

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fuente Nueva is holding events 1/22-1/25 to empower our students to choose love and light where there is hate and darkness. We will explore concepts such as what it means to be an upstander versus a bystander, hurtful language and how to respond when you hear it, and the power of spreading love. Story teller Baba Jamal Koram https://www.griostoryman.com/, will be joining us to share his inspirational stories with our students. Activities will be held all week long, watch the classroom newsletters to learn more.