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June 25,2020
Sealy ISD Families,
I hope your students are enjoying their summer break. We are in the process of making plans for their safe return in the fall. First off, I want to apologize that we have not communicated about fall plans before today. However, we are just now getting information from the state on how we will be funded, what types of instruction are acceptable, and under what circumstances we will be able to bring back students to our campuses. I can also guarantee you, the information we are receiving will change over the next few weeks as the state gets feedback for school districts and as officials continue to monitor COVID 19.
Here is what we know about next year. We will be able to provide both face to face and remote learning opportunities for our students. However, attendance guidelines, grading policies, etc. will have to be consistent across both settings. We are still responsible for providing our students with 75,600 minutes of instruction. Interestingly, we will be funded to provide remote learning if a parent chooses that option for their child but should we make a district decision to close facilities for a short period of time and go to remote learning, we will have to make up the lost time. Should we need to make up time, we have a plan for capturing additional minutes to minimize changes to the adopted 2020-2021 school calendar.
With that being said, we believe for your student to get the best education possible they need to be in the classroom with a teacher. We are making plans to open school on August 19 as planned. In order to have students back in the classroom, we have to ensure a safe and sanitary environment. Therefore, we are looking at options for the following:
- Routine sanitizing of high contact areas, such as desks, blackboards, restrooms, devices, instructional materials, buses, etc.,
- To what degree do we use PPEs,
- Rethinking high volume student areas, such as hallways, cafeterias, playgrounds, etc.,
- How we respond to positive cases of COVID 19 in our schools for students and staff,
- In the event that we have to close, how do we reopen as soon as possible,
- How do we keep our community informed as we work through these challenges,
- How we can do these things without diminishing the student learning experience.
We also understand that some of you may not be comfortable with having your students return to campus in August, so we are making plans to provide remote learning options as well. Remote learning will look different than it did during the spring semester. There will be strict guidelines for daily attendance and grading to ensure we are aligned with state mandates. For your child to be successful in the remote learning environment they will need reliable internet access and a device that has word processing and video conferencing capabilities.
As you can see, we still have a lot of work ahead of us as we plan for the 2020-2021 school year. In order to make plans that meet the needs of your students, we need your feedback. Please take time to complete a survey regarding your priorities, worries, thoughts, and hopes for next year here (English Survey, Spanish Survey). The following are key dates to keep in mind as we move forward.
- July 13 District offices reopen.
- July 22- Present a comprehensive plan to the School Board.
- July 23- Communicate the comprehensive plan to SISD families.
- July 23- Submit a remote learning plan to the Texas Education Agency.
- August 6- SISD families will receive campus-specific plans.
- August 6- All SISD facilities reopen.
- August 10 Teacher Inservice begins.
- August 19 First Day of School.
I know there is a lot of uncertainty in the world in regard to COVID 19 and I do not see that changing in the foreseeable future. However, I am certain that we will create a plan that will allow our students and staff to safely return to our campuses in August. Additionally, we will provide a solid remote learning environment for families who are not comfortable sending their students back in August.
As a father of two students, I worry about their safety and well being. I also worry about their education and I am committed to making sure that when they walk across the stage on graduation day, they are prepared for their future. I can assure you that everyone involved in planning for next year shares those same concerns and hopes for your student. My two students will be in Sealy ISD classrooms on August 19, unless someone tells me they cannot. I hope the plan we bring forth in July gives you the confidence you need to feel good about your student being there with them. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and we will keep in contact as plans and information change over the course of the next month.
Sincerely,
Bryan Hallmark
Superintendent
Sealy ISD
April 17, 2020
Sealy ISD families, staff and students,
As per Governor Abbott’s executive order issued today, Sealy ISD will remain physically closed through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Instruction will continue utilizing our current digital learning platform. Sealy ISD will continue to work together to assure that we are offering the best available learning opportunities for all students through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
Texas Superintendents expect additional guidance from the Commissioner of Education regarding many of the questions that remain unanswered. We will meet with the leadership team next week and forward communications to the community as decisions are made surrounding all the different questions that we have received. Thank you for partnering with us as we work to continue to support our students, families and community.
Wednesday, April 8th
Hello Sealy ISD parents and students.
Sealy ISD district and campus leadership along with teachers and support staff have been working non-stop the last few weeks shifting our learning environment from that of a brick and mortar campus-based delivery model to one that is built around remote learning. The last three weeks have been designed to allow students and parents to get comfortable with this new format of remote learning at home.
Moving forward, we are anticipating an indefinite closure of school buildings for the remainder of this school year. As a result, we have worked hard to develop our remote learning model to ensure that we are able to continue teaching important content and skills to all of our students. Most of our instruction for the next six weeks will be delivered through on-line resources such as Google Classroom. To support parents and students during this time, we have developed two new documents that provide information about expectations for remote learning and how we will grade student work. The two documents are the Sealy ISD Remote Learning Plan for Families and the Sealy ISD Remote Learning Grading Guidelines.
We hope these two documents will help parents and students better manage their remote learning experience. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email your campus principal or reach out to your child's teacher. You can also send questions to [email protected]
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Summers
Assistant Superintendent
Sealy ISD
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Hola padres y estudiantes de Sealy ISD.
El liderazgo del distrito y el campus de Sealy ISD junto con los maestros y el personal de apoyo han estado trabajando sin parar durante las últimas semanas cambiando nuestro entorno de aprendizaje de un modelo de entrega basado en el campus de ladrillo y mortero a uno que se basa en el aprendizaje remoto. Las últimas tres semanas han sido diseñadas para permitir que los estudiantes y los padres se sientan cómodos con este nuevo formato de aprendizaje remoto en el hogar.
En el futuro, anticipamos un cierre indefinido de los edificios escolares para el resto de este año escolar. Como resultado, hemos trabajado duro para desarrollar nuestro modelo de aprendizaje remoto para garantizar que podamos continuar enseñando contenido y habilidades importantes a todos nuestros estudiantes. La mayor parte de nuestra instrucción para las próximas seis semanas se entregará a través de recursos en línea como Google Classroom. Para apoyar a los padres y estudiantes durante este tiempo, hemos desarrollado dos nuevos documentos que brindan información sobre las expectativas para el aprendizaje remoto y cómo calificaremos el trabajo de los estudiantes. Los dos documentos son el Plan de Aprendizaje Remoto de Sealy ISD para Familias y las Pautas de Calificación de Aprendizaje Remoto de Sealy ISD.
Esperamos que estos dos documentos ayuden a los padres y estudiantes a administrar mejor su experiencia de aprendizaje remoto. Como siempre, si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en enviar un correo electrónico al director de su escuela o comunicarse con el maestro de su hijo. También puede enviar preguntas a [email protected]
Dr. Chris Summers
Assistant Superintendent
Sealy ISD
Friday, April 3rd
A message from the elementary principals:
Parents and Guardians,
We have had a few parents who have reached out to us regarding the need to have a printed student work packet for their child. The elementary campuses are doing our best to maintain everyone's safety and health while also providing a variety of methods for our students and families to access the elementary student work packets for next week.
Please know that our teachers have worked hard to align the work for the upcoming week so that there is NOT a need to print. The student work packets have been designed to be viewed on a computer, phone, tablet, or other device. The work or answers that students would normally put on a worksheet should be transferred and written onto notebook paper. In addition, our teachers have included several helpful, non-instructional documents that do not require printing such as detailed instructions on how to label assignments on notebook paper, a weekly at a glance calendar for how to structure daily activities, and other reading selections.
Sealy ISD is doing our best to ensure that we are following recommended CDC guidelines and limiting social interaction for our packet pickup. Currently we are planning to put a limited number of packets out at each campus labeled by grade level on Monday at 3:00 PM in addition to the information being uploaded on our district website for next week. This pickup is strictly for parents who have no devices at all to interact with the content.
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We know that this is a shift from how we distributed packets last time. However, we are focused on maintaining the health and safety of all students, parents, and staff. We believe that limiting personal contact in distributing packets is the best way to do that at this time.
Thank you.
Sarah Winkleman
SES Principal
Scott Wagoner
MBS Principal
Thursday, April 2nd
Good afternoon parents of Sealy ISD elementary students!
This is an update on how we will provide students and parents with access to the remote learning instructional packets for the week of April 6th. The weekly elementary lessons will cover content and skills for April 6-10, 2020 (one week of work).
We are trying to maintain everyone's safety and health while also providing a variety of access points for our elementary students and their families to get the packets for next week.
Due to feedback from parents and staff and in trying to abide by Texas Governor Abbott's stay at home order, we need to adjust our distribution plan from what was used previously. Please read the following for steps in how packets will be made available beginning on April 6th.
-PDF files for the weekly lessons will be posted to the district website Monday morning of each week.
-We will NO LONGER print off a weekly lesson packet for every student nor will we have a "drive-by" packet pick up process.
-If you are a family that has no way to access technology or print off pages of a weekly lesson you can email your campus principal to arrange for a packet to be left in the front office for pickup. Each campus will have a very limited number of printed weekly lessons available for each grade level.
-Be assured, we have carefully designed the packets to limit the number of printed pages necessary for learning.
-Parents can print off the "student work pages" or simply use notebook paper or blank paper to have students write their answers.
-Students with special needs will be contacted by their teachers and a packet will be sent via email or mailed directly to the student due to the unique needs of each student.
We understand this is a noticeable shift from how we distributed packets last time. However, we are focused on maintaining the health and safety of all students, parents, and staff. We believe that limiting personal contact in distributing packets is the best way to do that at this time.
Sealy Elementary Principal Email: [email protected]
Selman Elementary Principal Email: [email protected]
Wednesday, April 1st
Dear Tiger Family,
First and foremost, thank you for the support and cooperation you have shown throughout this trying time. Parents, students, teachers, staff, and administrators are all doing their best, so the grace you have shown to us and one another is very much appreciated.
As you have probably heard, Governor Abbott has ordered the closing of schools through May 4th. We have many of the same questions that you do: Will school resume this year at all? What about graduation? How will we determine grades and promotions?
Some of the questions must be resolved at the state and federal level, so there is no immediate answer. As we receive guidance or are able to make local decisions, we will communicate them to you. Until then, we are continuing our work in developing a remote learning environment for our students and parents. Please know that Sealy ISD is working to be responsive to the feedback we get from parents, students, and staff as we plan for the rest of the year.
Here are some of the decisions we are working on as a leadership team and will be sharing out in the coming days:
· After the Easter weekend, beginning April 13th, the assignments your students will begin receiving will shift from review + spiraling prior learning to that of new content and skills. We are developing those lessons now and will be very mindful to ensure that all the necessary supports are there for parents to help their students. We will utilize more video instruction and other interactive instructional supports to help students succeed.
· Grading procedures and collection of student work samples--we will have our final plan in place by early next week. We will release that to all parents and students through our district website and social media outlets by Wednesday, April 8th.
· We continue to refine how student packets and assignments are made available to elementary students and their families. We will share our refined plan for elementary packet distribution on Thursday, April 2nd through the district website and social media outlets.
Finally, Governor Abbott has created a daily Health Message that school districts are required to disseminate to students, parents, faculty, and staff. So that you do not confuse these messages with school information, we have decided to push these communications out daily at 4:00 pm. The messages from the Governor’s office will be in the form of texts, emails, and social media.
As always, if you have specific questions or issues, please communicate with your child’s teacher, counselor, or principal. Until we meet again at a responsible social distance, I wish you well.
Superintendent
Sheryl Moore
Update (Elementary Students)
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Good afternoon Sealy ISD Elementary Parents,
Let me begin this update with a giant THANK YOU!
Thank you to each of you for being so flexible during these challenging and uncertain times. We know each of you is trying to juggle so many things right now and we want to make sure we are helping as much as possible when it comes to providing quality educational experiences for your children.
This is the first week we've rolled out instructional materials to our students. The elementary used a low-tech, packet-style approach. All in all, the process went very well and we have received good feedback from parents.
As a district leadership team, we have listened to the feedback and have decided that we are going to shift our delivery timelines just a little bit and all elementary lessons will now cover this week and next week. So the lessons you received this week are now good for two weeks. There will be no new packets to pick up or print off for next week. We want to give our elementary students and their parents enough time to adjust and get used to this new approach to learning.
On Monday, April 6th we will have the next set of elementary lessons available. We are working on the best plan for distributing those lessons and we will reach back out next week to let all parents know how those lesson packets will be made available. In the meantime, teachers are still available to help support learning and will be contacting students and parents along the way.
The Junior High and High School lessons will continue on a weekly basis through Google Classroom. If you have students at the Junior High and High School, be sure they know to continue checking their Google Classroom pages every day.
We hope this helps to alleviate some of the anxiety that comes with this new approach to learning and if there is anything we can do to help, please feel free to reach out.
Thank you and have a great rest of your week!
Dr. Chris Summers
Assistant Superintendent
Sealy ISD
979-885-3516
Sealy ISD Update
Friday, March 20th
Parents & Students,
Our staff has been working hard to organize instructional direction and additional supports for you. Please see our new web pages that outline how we plan to proceed with instruction during the COVID-19 school closure. We are here to help! We have added one page called “Instructional Support” and another titled “FAQ’s.” Please take some time to read through both pages. If you have additional questions, you can email [email protected].
Sealy ISD
Sealy ISD Update
Wednesday, March 18th
Dear Tiger Family,
I sincerely hope that each of you is well, and remain in good health for the months to come. I want to thank you all for your patience, understanding, and support during this time.
During an emergency session this afternoon, the school board voted to suspend normal operations through April 10th. Currently, we are planning for faculty and staff to return to work on April 13th and students to return on April 14th. All travel and extracurricular activities are canceled during this time, and district campuses, facilities, and offices will all be closed.
Our teachers, administrators, and instructional staff are already at work preparing to provide instructional support to our students and families during the closure. You can expect specific communication regarding instructional support for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade by noon on Friday. Additionally, we will be posting answers to frequently asked questions.
Over the coming weeks, Sealy ISD will remain in constant communication with local health officials to help ensure the safety and well being of our students, staff and community. District leadership will also continue to provide updates as necessary via email, the District website and our social media channels.
We will continue to provide meals for anyone that is 18 or younger. They are available for pick up at Maggie B. Selman Elementary, Monday through Friday, from 10:00 - 12:00.
We are strongly encouraging all families to continue to be proactive in reducing the risk of COVID-19 by following the CDC recommendation of hand washing and social distancing. It is important that we all take these recommendations seriously.
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we work together to keep the Sealy ISD community safe.
Sealy ISD Updates
March 16th, 2020
12:45 PM
Sealy ISD Curbside Meal Distribution
Tuesday, March 17th-Friday, March 20th
-Lunch will be available from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
-Meals for children 18 years and younger (must be present) available for pick up at Selman Elementary (regardless of which campus the student attends)
-Drive-Thru only Selman Elementary car rider loop (original entrance, not the church street entrance)
Sealy ISD Updates
March 13th, 2020
7:30 PM
This afternoon, district leaders held a meeting to discuss a variety of issues. We want to assure you that Sealy ISD is working to diligently monitor this fluid health safety situation. The reason that school will not be in session is focused solely on preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. “Social distancing”, the term being used by health officials, is the only way to slow the transmission of this disease, so Sealy is doing our part.
“What We Know”
Communications
Please continue to check the district website for updated information. Frequent communications can be expected as information will be posted as this situation evolves. We want to provide as much information as frequently as possible to mitigate any uncertainty.
Timeframe
The district plan is to evaluate this situation one week at a time. Currently, school is cancelled for March 16th-March 20th. The district's plan is to meet next week and announce on Thursday, March 19th, the plan for the following week.
UIL Practices & Competitions
All UIL practices are cancelled effectively immediately through March 20th. This will be extended if school closings continue.
UIL just released that all competitions are suspended until the end of March. The weight room is also closed! The Sealy ISD school closure affects all school activities including before / after school activities, all extracurricular practices, competitions and weekend events.
Facility Usage Agreements / Rentals
All facilities are closed. This includes any rentals until school is reconvened. We apologize for any inconvenience.
ESL / GED Classes
These classes have been cancelled until school reconvenes.
“What We are Working On”
Meal Options
It is anticipated that Sealy will be granted permission by the Texas Department of Agriculture to extend a daily meal service to our students. We expect a waiver response from TDA on Monday. The district will update the plan for meal distribution once the waiver is received. This too is a top priority for our district!
Instructional Options
Information will be forthcoming. We are looking at various options for instructional delivery, in the event that schools need to remain closed for an extended period of time. Tomorrow morning a survey will be sent out via Remind to help in this decision-making process. This survey will help us make instructional decisions moving forward. We truly appreciate your help and flexibility! If you are not yet signed up for your child’s campus Remind, please be certain to do that.
March 12th, 2020
4:45 PM Update
Sealy ISD: Due to the ever-changing situation regarding COVID-19 and in the best interest of the health, safety, and well-being of its students, staff, community, and the citizens at large, Sealy ISD will be closed next week, March 16th-20th. Employees will receive further instructions from their supervisors. Updates will continue to be shared via the District’s mass communication system, social media sites and website.
Hello Sealy ISD parents and students.
Sealy ISD district and campus leadership along with teachers and support staff have been working non-stop the last few weeks shifting our learning environment from that of a brick and mortar campus-based delivery model to one that is built around remote learning. The last three weeks have been designed to allow students and parents to get comfortable with this new format of remote learning at home.
Moving forward, we are anticipating an indefinite closure of school buildings for the remainder of this school year. As a result, we have worked hard to develop our remote learning model to ensure that we are able to continue teaching important content and skills to all of our students. Most of our instruction for the next six weeks will be delivered through on-line resources such as Google Classroom. To support parents and students during this time, we have developed two new documents that provide information about expectations for remote learning and how we will grade student work. The two documents are the Sealy ISD Remote Learning Plan for Families and the Sealy ISD Remote Learning Grading Guidelines.
We hope these two documents will help parents and students better manage their remote learning experience. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email your campus principal or reach out to your child's teacher. You can also send questions to
[email protected]Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Summers
Assistant Superintendent
Sealy ISD