Dear RHS Community,

Thank you for your patience, compassion and resilience as we continue our journey through the relentless challenges of 2020.  OUSD has confirmed that our Redwood Heights families who live in the surrounding neighborhoods will most likely be impacted by the power outage that is expected to begin tonight.  In addition, I want to make everyone  aware that many of our teachers live in areas that might be without power for the next few days. Following is what you need to know. 

Will teachers be on Zoom during the power shutdown? 

Teachers who can, will lead Zoom classes on Monday for whichever students are able to join. Those teachers who cannot get online due to the outage will not lead Zoom classes.

How will I know if my child's teacher will be on Zoom?

Communication could be challenging. So if you have power, try getting onto Zoom. If the teacher is not there within 5 minutes, you should presume they have no power. If teachers and I are able to send messages with specific updates about teachers' abilities to get online, we certainly will.

How will you handle attendance during a power shutdown?

If your child is unable to get online due to the power shutdown or if your child’s teacher cannot get on Zoom because of the outage, please email the teacher as soon as you can letting them know the situation. We will update attendance accordingly. Your child will not be marked absent if they do either work the teacher assigned on Seesaw or Google Classroom or some of the offline activities outlined below.

What should my child do all day if they are not on Zoom?

Many of our teachers have  communicated with our families regarding academic assignments. Below are a few suggested academic tasks if a teacher is effected by the power outage and is unable to send a message to their class.:

If you have power, check Seesaw or Google Classroom. If there are asynchronous assignments already posted, your child should do them. Your child may also access online educational programs through RHS Central, OUSD Clever and/or their teacher's Bitmoji classroom. Your child may also do any of the suggested offline activities below.

If you do not have power and your child cannot get online or access Seesaw/Google Classroom, please give these assignments to your child:

1. READING: Look at/read books independently for 15-60 minutes (depending on age and stamina)
2. READING RESPONSE: Write about what you read each day (draw if you are in kindergarten)
3. MATH:
1. Kindergarten: Take out all of the forks in your kitchen. Count them. Then draw a picture to show how many you have and write that number. Extension Activity: Create addition problems with forks and spoons, showing how to solve them with pictures and equations. If the outage continues past Monday, find other objects to count in your home each day. Put them into groups, draw the groupings and write numbers for each quantity. Extension Activity: Create addition problems using the groupings of objects you created.

1. First Grade:  Try to find 3 or more different ways to show 53 and draw out your solutions showing your equations. If the power outage continues past Monday, do the same thing for days 54 and 55. Extension Activities: Create designs with pattern blocks, build with blocks or Legos, draw and label items in one room of your house or apartment.

1. Second - Fifth Grades: Write 3 - 5 story problems that require someone to use the math you have been learning recently in class. On a separate sheet of paper, draw the solutions. If there is more than one way to solve the problem, include them all! If the outage continues past Monday, here are additional math options: 
1. Draw a floorplan of your house or apartment (to scale if you’re ambitious!)
2. Measure rooms and calculate their areas/perimeters (show your work)
3. Create a chart with measurements of various objects in your home
4. Build structures with blocks or Legos

1. ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS: 
1. Kindergarten: Practice writing any of the letters your class has been working on for 10 minutes each day. Remember to start at the top and move your pencil down. We never start letters from the bottom line. Extension Activity: If you are able, write as many words as you can that start with the letters you practiced. Draw pictures to go with them if you want!

1. First - Fifth Grades: 

Write about what you did  on Saturday or something else you did over the weekend. You should spend 15 minutes writing. Double check that you capitalized the first word of each sentence and added periods at the end of each sentence. If you are in 2nd - 5th grades, look to see if you included good adjectives and details. If the outage continues past Monday, choose one or more of these options:

1. Write a letter to someone running for political office 
2. Write a letter to a family member
3. Write a story about any topic you choose

Do you have any other suggestions for us?

Yes! Check out "10 Things to Do With Kids During a Power Outage." 

Thanks,

Cynthia

OUSD NEWSROOM

PRESS RELEASE    Sunday, October 25, 2020 Contact: John Sasaki Communications Director  510-214-2080 john.sasaki@ousd.org     Public Safety Power Shutoff Expected Tonight for Parts of Oakland; Some Schools Affected   Oakland, CA -- Oakland Unified School District is set to be affected by a Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS that is expected in parts of Oakland on Sunday night. This move by PG&E to shut off the power in certain neighborhoods is because of a major wind event that could cause power lines to come down and possibly spark wildfires. A worst case scenario was that it could last into Wednesday, but as of today, Oakland city officials tell us they expect it to last until Monday night. While it appears to be a shorter event, it may affect more neighborhoods and possibly a few more schools. The schools and OUSD families who live in the surrounding neighborhoods that will most likely be impacted by the power outage are as follows: ◦ Chabot Elementary ◦ Community Day ◦ Grass Valley Elementary ◦ Hillcrest K-8 ◦ Joaquin Miller Elementary ◦ King Estates - including Rudsdale Continuation and Sojourner Truth ◦ Laurel Elementary, and Laurel CDC ◦ Montclair Elementary ◦ Montera Middle School ◦ Redwood Heights Elementary ◦ Skyline High School ◦ Thornhill Elementary If indeed the power is out and students are unable to attend their classes, they will be asked to do their school work asynchronously. Families and students should check assignments from the school and their teachers before the power shuts off this evening. When the power is restored they should report to their teacher the first chance they get, letting them know they were unable to get online. Everyone is asked to charge their computers, WiFi hotspots and cell phones ahead of time, so they can do work during the PSPS. Once again, this PSPS is expected to start tonight and last into tomorrow with power restored by Tuesday morning. We will update the community if anything changes.