ALVORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Together. The photo below captures the Norte Vista boys soccer team just before their CIF Championship game on Saturday evening. For the second consecutive year, the Braves made it to the CIF Southern Section (CIFSS) finals and the California State Championship tournament. The boys would have preferred to enter the State tournament as the CIFSS champion in their division, but after a sudden death goal in overtime by our opponents, the Novi faithful applauded the incredible run the boys have had so far this year under veteran head coach Matt Beliveau and cheered them on as they enter the highest level of the championship, which begins this coming week. Good luck in the tournament boys!

Together has been a theme that has served our entire school community well during these divisive and highly politicalized times. While everyone does not agree on the State's policies that have shaped California schools' safety measures, we do all agree that keeping our schools open is our priority. The soccer game Saturday was a reminder that "normal" is right around the corner. More and more traditional school events and activities will be reinstated as we emerge from the holiday/flu-season surge and transmission rates continue to decline. We eagerly await tomorrow's announcement from the governor regarding the current requirement that all students and staff must wear masks indoors in K-12 schools.

It is widely anticipated that California's new masking guidance will mirror the newest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which on Friday announced that schools should only mandate masks when local COVID cases and hospitalizations are high. We will continue to work closely with Riverside County public health officials, which monitors local conditions, once the new masking recommendations are announced tomorrow. In the meantime, we will begin the process of updating our current COVID-safety plan to reflect California's anticipated new guidelines.

We will continue to utilize our COVID Help Center by contact-tracing and working closely with County public health officials to support schools and families.

We will continue to provide free home-testing kits.

We will continue to provide free PCR and rapid COVID-testing at the Arlanza Public Library.

We will continue to socially distance, whenever possible and as necessary.

We will continue to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), as necessary.

We will continue to disinfect all classrooms and campuses nightly using the Clorox® Total 360® System electrostatic sprayer.

We will continue to follow best respiratory hygiene practices in classrooms and on campuses.

We will continue to use air scrubbers in classrooms and other campus spaces to provide clean air at the source using medical-grade HEPA filtration.

We will continue to use hands-free water fountains.

We will continue to use the plexiglass table shields and barriers in common spaces such as office spaces, cafeterias, and where staff congregate.

We will likely not continue to use desk shields in classrooms.

We will likely not continue to mandate indoor-masking (depending on State's requirement).

We will likely not continue to restrict activities and events to the same current degree, if it can be determined that we can safely conduct them.

We will likely not continue to restrict parents and special guests on campuses, if it can be determined that we can safely manage their attendance.

It is likely that masks will remain in schools, but be optional. That could take effect very soon. However, despite improving conditions, we must be mindful that we have many students and many employees who are at a higher risk or who may share a home or care for someone at a higher risk. We want to be respectful of everyone who chooses to wear a mask or take other precautions.

In schools in other states around the country where schools have already transitioned to optional masking, one huge hurdle has been peer pressure and isolation, even bullying in some cases. Masking has become political, as everyone knows. As we transition to optional masking, we want to ensure that we don't solve one problem and cause another. Communication is the key.

It's important to discuss with your children how your family’s values as it relates to the masking option may differ from another family's values and how critical it is that we all respect each other's decisions.

Please do your share to help us plan for staffing and course scheduling in 2022-23. Please take a few minutes to let us know if you intend to return to us next school year. To complete the form, you must be signed up for ParentSquare, our new communications platform. It takes less than 1 minute! Sign up here.

Below are the how-to-videos for confirming your Parent Square Account. Watch in English here

or in Spanish here or find them below.

Additional ParentSquare resources for parents and students can be found here.

Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson is inviting high school students to enter the Mayor’s Art Contest to create work that “will celebrate Riverside’s past, present and its future." Learn more about it here.

The deadline is April 1 and winners will be named April 21.

In 2021, four Alvord students, Shayda Abdurman from Hillcrest, Allison Fischang from La Sierra, Steve Deras from La Sierra, and Vivian Shepherd Mayen from Norte Vista, were among the remarkable teens selected in this annual event organized by the Riverside Youth Council. Awards are given by the Youth Council, Mayor, and City Council to celebrate Riverside students' various accomplishments.

To be nominated, the student should excel in one or a combination of these areas: academics, visual & performing arts, athletics, community involvement, leadership, courage to overcome, or any other remarkable trait(s) that deserve recognition.

Nominees must be in grades' 8 to 12 and live in the city of Riverside. You are welcome to nominate as many teens as you would like. Once you have completed the survey for a student, you can use the same link to start a new form for as many additional students as needed.

Nominations for the 2022 school year will be accepted until March 6, 2022. Any person can nominate a remarkable teen. Complete the nomination form here.

For more information about the program, please email Officer Scott Greenhalgh here.

Cases were down for the fourth consecutive week. Due to students and employees testing before they returned last Monday, we only had four cases requiring contact tracing.

Monday - Friday:

• 61 students (down from 77 the previous week)
• 2 staff members (down from 10 the previous week)

Students Identified Through Contact Tracing:

• 4 cases required contact tracing
• 44 students were placed in quarantine (ranging from isolation to modified quarantine)

Overall, as of the Friday before the break, including the first semester, we have had 385 staff members and 3,189 students report a positive test for COVID-19. Stay current with our case rate by regularly tracking our COVID-19 Data Dashboard and FAQ here. Cases recorded on the Dashboard are confirmed by Riverside County Public Health officials and remain on the Dashboard for 14 days.

This past week in Riverside County, there were 454 new cases (0.1% increase), equating to 20.4 cases per 100K (7-day average), 24 new deaths (0.4% increase), and a 5.7% test positivity (7-day rate), a 2.6% decrease from the previous week. Since many people are now testing at home with antigen rapid tests, the positivity rate is estimated to be much higher since all cases are not reported. There are currently 258 COVID-19 hospitalized patients, 18 fewer patients hospitalized from the prior day total (6.5% decrease)..

This data is as of February 27, 2022, as reported on the State's tracking web site.

On behalf of your Board of Education, thank you for testing your children before returning to school this past week. It helped slow the spread. And while it seems like it's taking forever, we are moving closer and closer to normal school as the outlook is improving significantly.

Stay tuned this week for more potential changes to our COVID policies and practices as new information and guidelines pertaining to schools are announced tomorrow by public health and state officials.

Be well. Test weekly. Stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Allan Mucerino

Our two after-school programs are HALF-Time (K-5) and PRIME-Time (6-8). They are available M-F from school dismissal until 6:00 PM. The programs provide FREE academic support, homework assistance and enrichment activities like art, crafts, music, sports and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with a nutritious meal. Please register your Kindergarten through 8th grade students soon as space is limited. Sign up here in English and here in Spanish.

Email: 2Superintendent@alvordschools.org
Website: https://www.alvordschools.org
Location: 9 Kpc Parkway, Corona, CA 92879, USA
Phone: 951) 509-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/alvordunified
Twitter: @AlvordUnified