Good Evening Christina School District Staff and Families,

Today, the Governor announced that the State Gating criteria has moved to Red.  While he emphasized that Schools are safe and we have not seen spread in the schools, he is also recommending a pause to in-person learning ahead of and following the Winter Break.  Our concerns are in Operational Management of our buildings, not a demonstrated health or safety concern in our schools. It is absolutely essential that our staff and families follow the Governor’s stay at home recommendations and protocols around social distancing, wearing masks, and not attending social events or social situations. In this way, we protect ourselves and others from the places where community spread has been seen.  

The Christina School District will continue with Remote Learning for all students in Cohort A and B through Friday, January 8th. All students in grades Preschool through 12th grade will return to in-person learning according to their cohort schedule starting on Monday, January 11th. Our offices will be open as usual throughout this period of time.

Please note, the Christina School District is closed for hybrid and remote learning in observance of the winter holiday from Thursday, December 24th through Friday, January 1st.  The safety of our students and staff remains our number one priority.  

We continue to encourage you to monitor your child for any symptoms of COVID-19.  If a student or staff member is sick with any of the following symptoms, stay home: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, chills, shaking with chills, loss of smell or taste, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, or headache or congestion, or runny nose without a known cause such as allergies. Your school nurse is available to support your family by reviewing symptoms to watch for, answering questions you may have, assisting with follow up communications and providing further information on available testing sites. COVID-19 testing is free in our local community.  The Christina School District will be offering testing for our students and staff. Check your email and social media for upcoming dates.

DPH encourages all Delawareans – whether you are experiencing symptoms or not – to consider getting a free test. That will help our state more accurately track the spread of the disease and keep our communities healthy. 

• Visit https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/testing/ for information on free COVID-19 testing in Delaware.
• Visit https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/ for the latest updates on COVID-19 in Delaware.
  
  

Individual decisions on quarantining are made by DPH epidemiologists in consultation with the affected individual, and may depend on whether the individual was wearing a mask. 

• Click here to learn more about DPH protocols around positive COVID-19 cases in schools.
  
  

At this time, we have no information that would lead us to believe that any community spread has happened in any of our schools.  In fact, the use of quarantine is a key tool being employed by Delaware Public Health to combat community spread. As we continue into the holiday season, please be mindful that hand washing, wearing a mask and keeping a safe distance is critical to keep the virus from spreading in our community.  Please use the resource links below for more information on CDC guidelines and ways to keep your family safe.

These CDC guides may be useful:

• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html

 
Again, all students in Cohort A and Cohort B will continue Remote Learning until January 8, 2021.  Students will return to school on Monday, January 11th.  Students should continue to log in at their regularly scheduled times for remote instruction. If you do not have technology, packets will still be available at your school.     

Our offices will remain open and will operate as normal during this time. Please note, the Christina School District will utilize the following schedule for winter break:  

• Thursday, December 24th - Friday, December 25th - Schools and Offices Closed
• Monday, December 28th - Wednesday, December 30th - Schools Closed/Offices Open
• Thursday, December 31st - Friday, January 1st - Schools and Offices Closed 
• Monday, January 3rd - Schools Open Remotely/Offices Open 

All District and school staff will continue with their standard work schedule and may work from the building. Staff should remember to maintain appropriate social distancing while working, wear masks when in common spaces or meeting with others, and continue to wash hands regularly. 

Please contact your child’s school if you have any questions or concerns. For more information and updates, visitwww.christinak12.org. The safety of our students and staff remains our number one priority.

Sincerely,
Dr. Dan Shelton, Superintendent
Christina School District

Dear Christina School District Staff and Families,

Christina continues to observe the strength and resiliency displayed by our staff and families. Together we are facing a global pandemic that is affecting our families, students and community and we all play a part in helping to keep each other safe and healthy. We cannot thank you enough for the part each of you plays in our success in educating our students. 

Decisions to keep our schools and offices open are based on current health metrics and trends for New Castle County along with each of our individual schools. The daily positivity rate for New Castle County is 8.06% and has been on the rise. If local public health metrics continue to rise, our district must be prepared for the possibility of a transition from hybrid to remote learning. We are working closely with Delaware Public Health (DPH) and Governor John Carney to monitor the situation daily. Please note that these difficult decisions could happen at any time and may be related to COVID-19 numbers, but also could be due to the situation in our schools as a result of quarantines.  At this time, the District and the State are seeing an increase in quarantine. This is a mitigation strategy being used to curb the spread of the virus. In other words, it is not an indication of community spread, but an indication that we are being proactive in keeping our community safe.  We will continue to prioritize the safety of our staff, students, and families, as well as provide frequent and ongoing communication regarding our hybrid status.  

We know you must be wondering – How can I keep my family safe? When will things ever get back to normal? Well, no one has all the answers, but there are a few simple guidelines that can be followed to keep everyone safe: wear a face mask, wash your hands frequently, and practice social distancing as much as possible. The number one mitigation strategy is to not attend social events or gatherings of people outside of the family you live with. This may be hard, especially around the holidays, but not gathering in groups and wearing a mask when you have to be outside of your home is the best way we can stop the spread of the virus.

We will continue to communicate with you frequently and review the updated COVID-19 numbers and the evolving conditions of this pandemic. If we shift back to remote learning for a period of time, it will not change the classes or the schedules for remote learning or for the Virtual Academy. The only change will be the shift to learning from home five days per week in the remote model for our Hybrid students. 

We are adding a link to the COVID-19 Data Dashboard to our website. More information can be found here.   

https://myhealthycommunity.dhss.delaware.gov/locations/state

These CDC guides may be useful:

• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/thanksgiving.html
  
  

The well-being of staff and students remains a priority. If we all work together and do what we can, we will succeed at keeping our community safe. Together, we can minimize the impact of community spread. For more information, visit www.christinak12.org. If you have any questions, please email us at info@christina.k12.de.us.

Respectfully,
Dr. Dan Shelton
Superintendent, Christina School District

Dear Christina Families,

It was a pleasure to see so many of you join our recent zoom meeting for the “Reopening Information Night.” As always, we are grateful for your feedback during this critical time.

Our teachers, support staff, principals, and district leadership have been focused on preparing for a safe return. From the district and school campuses, transportation to nutrition, efforts to implement new protocols and procedures have been ongoing. Here are a few updates.

Virtual Academy:

As of today, October 29, 2020, at 11:00AM, all Virtual Academy enrollment is complete.  Students in the Virtual Academy, both at the Elementary (grades K-5) and Secondary (grades 6-12) will remain in the Academy for the duration of the school year.  Elementary and Middle School students who have enrolled in the Virtual Academy will begin with their new virtual classroom and or schedule on Thursday, November 5th.  High School students will start on November 16th.  Please contact your child’s principal if you have not received information regarding the Virtual Academy.    

Hybrid Learning

As of today, October 29, 2020, at 11:00AM, all Hybrid Learning Cohorts are complete.  Students in Hybrid Cohort A will attend in person learning on Monday’s and Tuesday’s.   Students in Cohort B will attend in person learning on Thursday’s and Friday’s.  Due to the required Health and Safety protocols, we cannot accommodate changes to your child’s cohort.  These cohorts have been developed with social distancing requirements both in the classroom and on the school bus. However, we will work with families to adjust cohorts that involve siblings residing in the same home. You can contact your child’s principal to make a written request for a change in cohort.  If you determine that the Hybrid model is not the best option for your child(ren), you can request to enroll in the Virtual Academy by joining the wait list. The wait list can be found here.  The next potential opportunity for families and students to move into the Virtual Academy will be at the start of the third marking period, January 25, 2021.   

For your convenience and additional information, below you will find the links to our Presentation, Questions and Answers and Start Dates at Glance.

• Reopening Presentation: Reopening Information Night Presentation & Video
• Questions and Answers: Information Night Q&A
• Start Dates at A Glance: CSD Start Dates
• Reopening Website: https://www.christinak12.org/reopening

 

Our schools are working diligently to help our community slow the spread of the virus while keeping all of our staff members safe. CSD staff and students are and will be consistently reminded to always practice good health habits such as frequently washing hands, wearing face masks, and physically distancing. Additionally, students and staff are consistently reminded you MUST stay home when feeling ill or being exposed to someone with a positive test for COVID-19. 

We know these practices are essential to the process of reducing the risk of transmitting the virus and we recognize slowing the spread is a partnership with our families; and we thank you for doing your part to help keep our schools and communities safe. For more information, visit www.christinak12.org. Please email us at info@christina.k12.de.us if you have any questions. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Dan Shelton, Superintendent
Christina School District

October 21, 2020

 

 Dear Christina Staff and Families,

 For the last few months, we have been working diligently to craft our plans for each phase of our re-opening.  I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those that gave up many hours this summer as part of our working groups.  We truly understand that this is a tremendously hard and frustrating time.  We understand that our Staff and our Families are dealing with many challenges beyond what may school look like.  As we have shared ideas and drafted plans for how we will get from schools that were completely closed in March of 2020 back to schools that will be back open for students there have been many very strong opinions around that work.  There is one thing that is absolutely a non-negotiable.  We have to provide a safe learning environment for all.

 We want to ensure that our students have the best possible opportunity to learn and that our staff and students are provided a safe learning environment.  We know that some families may not wish to return as they or someone in their family may have underlying health conditions or there just may be anxiety around the unknown.  We have created a virtual academy for those families.  It will most resemble what we have been doing in remote learning.  Some of our families say it is what they wish to continue doing.  As our enrollment in the Virtual Academy has increased, so have the programs that we can offer such as our immersion programs and related arts.  We heard you that it was frustrating to have to make decisions when you did not fully understand what the models will look like.  Unfortunately, we are in a chicken or the egg scenario.  Without knowing how many students would enroll, we could not commit to programs and services and without knowing, many families were reluctant to sign up.  As we get closer to our re-opening, we have had commitments from many of our families and now have a much clearer understanding of what we can offer.  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we went through the process of staffing the Virtual Academy.

 Once we had a clearer picture of the Virtual Academy we then were able to determine what we could and could not do in the Hybrid.  We worked closely throughout the process with our employee groups and the working groups to try and inform our plan.  Last week, after multiple revisions we released a plan for hybrid learning.  Many have asked, why do we have to change at all, ‘my child is doing well in remote learning.’  This is true for about 60% of our families who are accessing their school most days.  For the other 40% they are not accessing remote learning consistently and for over 10% of our students, they have not done any remote learning at all.  We must do better for all of our students.  This plan is not how we hope to operate for the rest of the year.  This is step one to re-opening.  We have to get some kids back before we can get all.  We will continue to move closer to a full reopening as the year goes on, assuming we continue to have an environment and community that is healthy. 

 We heard feedback from multiple stakeholder groups once again after our release last week and we believe came to agreements with our employee groups that allowed us to modify the plan to serve our students, families and staff (https://www.christinak12.org/reopening).  This will not be the last change.  We know that there will be changes that will require us to pivot again.  We again, appreciate your patients and invite you to the Reopening Information Night that will be held later this evening at 6:30PM. We will explain the components of the revised Hybrid plan and answer questions.

I again want to thank our Faculty and Staff for the work they have done to prepare our schools for reopening.  I want to thank our families for their patience and their grace as we are all navigating this new world together.  We know that there will be bumps in the road.  We will all get through this together.

 I look forward to speaking with you tonight at 6:30PM. Use this link to join the meeting. ChristinaK12.org/Zoom. Unfortunately, we will have a limit of 1,000 participants on the Zoom Webinar, but you can still view the live presentation on YouTube using the link https://youtu.be/bXnZdY8SoU8

 

Sincerely,

Dan Shelton, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Christina School District

 

October 14, 2020

Dear Christina Community,

We want to provide you with an update regarding our progress toward reopening our schools. We have been monitoring the following to ensure our district’s preparedness: health guidelines, the number of students who are opting for virtual-only, staffing, and most importantly, the safety of our staff and students. As we continue to prepare we have now launched Christina’s Hybrid Return to School website. 

The Hybrid model of learning will include both in-person and remote learning on a rotating basis. Our Hybrid plan may be executed when we are in the Yellow or Green Phase based on the gating criteria established by the Delaware Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Governor’s Office for our local area.  We understand that contact time with teachers may be reduced during our hybrid time.  We also know that we will increase the quality of instruction while in person and that this intermediary step, is essential as part of returning to school in more normal ways

Please visit the link below to learn more about our plan.

• https://www.christinak12.org/reopening

Our teachers and staff have been working hard to deliver the best instruction and services to our students, and we thank you for your continued support of their work. We will continue to build on what we have learned, and we will continue to monitor the local gating criteria as we move to this next phase of our re-entry plan. For more information visit www.christinak12.org. Questions, please email us at info@christina.k12.de.us.

We are asking all of our families to have their students tested.  This can be done at the multiple drive up sites (https://delaware.curativeinc.com/welcome) and is now also available to be sent to your home (https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/testing/home-test-kit/).  Please know that, together with the support of our families and the community, we will work to ensure a successful, and safe transition for all. 

Sincerely,

Dan Shelton, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Christina School District

Dear Christina Parents and Guardians,

Christina School District remains committed to a safe and successful school year. I appreciate you, parents and guardians, for the support you are offering to our faculty, staff, and especially our students while they learn from home. We understand you want to know when and how the district will determine it is safe to return to school, what safety measures will be in place to protect everyone, and what options you have for your child.

We know that our families have been frustrated by the reliance on technology that is not always working perfectly and in some cases, has not yet arrived. We cannot thank you enough for your positive energy and flexibility with our teachers and staff as they work through this difficult situation.

Here are a few updates regarding our progress toward reopening our schools.

Academics & Equity

• We are continuing to contact families to assess their technology and academic needs.
• Currently planning the design for Hybrid learning. Parent survey will be sent next week.
• CSD Virtual Academy has 1700 students enrolled (read more).
• Special Population: Maintaining correct levels of appropriate PPE. Creating protocols for families to prepare their child for in-person instruction. Implementing proven mitigating strategies.

Health and Wellness

• Christina staff completed health and safety training. Staff will be COVID tested monthly for monitoring of the Coronavirus. COVID-19 tests are available for all CSD students at four locations.
• October 8, Glasgow High School, October 9, Kirk Middle School
• October 12, Drew Educational Support Center, October 13, Newark High School
• Registration information will be shared as soon as it becomes available from New Castle County. Testing is scheduled for 2:30PM - 7:00PM.

Operations & Services

• Technology: Chromebooks are being distributed as they come in. Hundreds of hotspots and cameras are in and will be circulated (read more).
• Meals: We are providing FREE meals to children 18 and younger – 21 curbside sites and 21 bus stop sites (read more).
• Transportation: We are working on routes based on current students enrolled. Routes will be adjusted based on Virtual Academy enrollment, updated car rider and before/aftercare information, and Hybrid learning cohorts.
• Facilities: We have invested significantly in our HVAC equipment and sanitizing/disinfectant supplies for the health and safety of staff and students. Nurse isolation rooms are being updated. Additional HEPA air purifiers are being installed throughout the district.

Athletics & Extra-Curricular Activities

• DIAA and State Board of Education approved a return to play for fall athletics.
• The Christina School District Return to Play Safety Briefing will be held, Wednesday, September 30, 6:30 - 7:30PM. The link to this event along with more details will be emailed to you. Students and their families who intend to play a fall sport must attend this information night. Information will be presented on the protocols the District and coaches will utilize to keep participants safe while returning to athletics. Athletic directors and coaches will be available for a virtual Q&A after the presentation.
• Christina created a Proposal for Return to Athletics (read more).
• Extracurricular activities including bands, orchestra, choirs, and clubs are also working on plans to return.

We indicated that we would be surveying parents and guardians again next week. In order for us to finalize our Return to School Hybrid Plan, we need to better understand our families intentions. Understanding your intention to transport your child or your wish for your child to return, are examples of questions that we need your input for a smooth transition. A link to the survey will be sent later this week.

Please visit our website, https://www.christinak12.org/reopening for more information about our learning options, safety protocols, and our other plans to successfully and safely welcome back students to our campuses. Questions, please email us at info@christina.k12.de.us. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Dr. Dan Shelton
Superintendent
Christina School District

Dear Christina Parents and Guardians,

Christina School District remains committed to a safe and successful school year. I appreciate you, parents and guardians, for the support you are offering to our faculty, staff, and especially our students while they learn from home. We understand you want to know when and how the district will determine it is safe to return to school, what safety measures will be in place to protect everyone, and what options you have for your child.

We know that our families have been frustrated by the reliance on technology that is not always working perfectly and in some cases, has not yet arrived. We cannot thank you enough for your positive energy and flexibility with our teachers and staff as they work through this difficult situation.

Here are a few updates regarding our progress toward reopening our schools.

Academics & Equity

• We are continuing to contact families to assess their technology and academic needs.
• Currently planning the design for Hybrid learning. Parent survey will be sent next week.
• CSD Virtual Academy has 1700 students enrolled (read more).
• Special Population: Maintaining correct levels of appropriate PPE. Creating protocols for families to prepare their child for in-person instruction. Implementing proven mitigating strategies.

Health and Wellness

• Christina staff completed health and safety training. Staff will be COVID tested monthly for monitoring of the Coronavirus. COVID-19 tests are available for all CSD students at four locations.
• October 8, Glasgow High School, October 9, Kirk Middle School
• October 12, Drew Educational Support Center, October 13, Newark High School
• Registration information will be shared as soon as it becomes available from New Castle County. Testing is scheduled for 2:30PM - 7:00PM.

Operations & Services

• Technology: Chromebooks are being distributed as they come in. Hundreds of hotspots and cameras are in and will be circulated (read more).
• Meals: We are providing FREE meals to children 18 and younger – 21 curbside sites and 21 bus stop sites (read more).
• Transportation: We are working on routes based on current students enrolled. Routes will be adjusted based on Virtual Academy enrollment, updated car rider and before/aftercare information, and Hybrid learning cohorts.
• Facilities: We have invested significantly in our HVAC equipment and sanitizing/disinfectant supplies for the health and safety of staff and students. Nurse isolation rooms are being updated. Additional HEPA air purifiers are being installed throughout the district.

Athletics & Extra-Curricular Activities

• DIAA and State Board of Education approved a return to play for fall athletics.
• The Christina School District Return to Play Safety Briefing will be held, Wednesday, September 30, 6:30 - 7:30PM. The link to this event along with more details will be emailed to you. Students and their families who intend to play a fall sport must attend this information night. Information will be presented on the protocols the District and coaches will utilize to keep participants safe while returning to athletics. Athletic directors and coaches will be available for a virtual Q&A after the presentation.
• Christina created a Proposal for Return to Athletics (read more).
• Extracurricular activities including bands, orchestra, choirs, and clubs are also working on plans to return.

We indicated that we would be surveying parents and guardians again next week. In order for us to finalize our Return to School Hybrid Plan, we need to better understand our families intentions. Understanding your intention to transport your child or your wish for your child to return, are examples of questions that we need your input for a smooth transition. A link to the survey will be sent later this week.

Please visit our website, https://www.christinak12.org/reopening for more information about our learning options, safety protocols, and our other plans to successfully and safely welcome back students to our campuses. Questions, please email us at info@christina.k12.de.us. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Dr. Dan Shelton
Superintendent
Christina School District

Dear Christina Family and Friends,

The last few months have been trying on all of us to say the least. We are faced with the most stressful and impactful events of our students' generation. Each of us has had to deal with our own stress, trauma and issues as we have navigated the new world that has changed due to COVID. We want to thank all of our students, families, faculty, staff and community for the support and patience they have shown us as we have worked diligently to develop a plan on how to move forward with teaching and learning while simultaneously protecting our Christina Family.

To summarize, in brief, when the Governor closed schools on March 16, 2020, we were honestly ill-prepared to deliver the highest quality instruction to our students remotely. We struggled with access to the internet and technology, and the materials and strategies to effectively connect with our students. The Governor charged school districts with developing three plans this summer for when students returned to school and be prepared ‘to pivot’ as the situations changed locally and throughout the state. At the state level, the Secretary of Education facilitated working groups to develop guidance for how we should execute those plans. While this work was going on at the State level, the Christina School District embarked on planning with the information they had at the time. Three groups, Health and Wellness, Academics and Equity, and Operations and Services, began to meet in June to prepare three plans to meet the directive we expected from the Governor and the Secretary of Education. In the end, we were given two sets of guidelines and told that we should determine at the local level what model we would follow based on our own conditions and criteria. This extra step has taken a bit of time to work through. We cannot stress enough that the safety and Wellbeing of our Families and Staff is our number one priority. It has been our job to balance this primary focus with how we can maximize the learning opportunities available for our students. We have also worked to determine what are the priorities for which students and programs should return first and how best to serve all students in a remote environment.

Please understand the new ‘COVID World’ shifts and changes daily. Our plan is purposeful in its design. We have clear guidelines established for what a safe learning environment looks like for all and under each set of circumstances. We also have flexible portions of the plan around the delivery of services and our educational programs in order to ensure we are maximizing learning opportunities for all at each stage. We intend to have a virtual option available for at least the first semester, if not for the entire school year, for families that feel that is the only way their children will be safe. We will begin with a six-week period of full remote instruction. During this time, COVID testing of staff and ensuring all protocols are understood and followed will be established. We intend to bring cohorts of students back into our buildings as soon as it is safe to ensure we maximize their educational experiences.

Our plan is a living document that will be constantly updated. Please visit www.christinak12.org/reopening regularly to see the changes as updates, which we will highlight to make it easy to follow. We hope that the document in its original form will answer questions that our Christina Families have, and that future iterations will answer the questions that follow and provide the necessary guidance.

To be clear, for this plan to work, our educators must be the role models that the community expects of them and follow the protocols and guidance set out by the State and CDC both in school and when they are at home. Our families must make choices for what they feel will be best for their situation. We all have to be diligent to continue to wear our masks, remain socially distant, and wash our hands regularly to protect from the spread of the virus.

We hope that everyone understands the very complex task that was placed in front of us. I cannot thank enough the hundreds of Teachers, Staff, Administrators, Community Members and Parents who have participated in the working groups this summer to set the guidelines and expectations we needed to build this initial plan. Without your commitment to our families and students, we would not be where we are. We are all indebted to you.

Please continue to engage in our surveys and send comments to info@christina.k12.de.us. Thank you for your commitment to the Health, Well-being and Education of ALL of our Children.

Dr. Dan Shelton
Superintendent
Christina School District