(Seguin) – It’s back to school for students in the Seguin ISD. After much anticipation and plenty of planning by district officials, doors to local campuses open back up today. Laptops, tablets and other technology devices also switch on as the district welcomes back both face to face learners and those who chosen remote learning.
Dr. Matthew Gutierrez, superintendent of schools for the Seguin ISD, says ringing the school bell today was made easy thanks to the extra time that the district was given to make sure they were ready for students.
“I for one am very thankful that we were able to gain the support from our parents, staff and the board of trustees to delay the start of school til Sept. 8. It was going to be really important to have the time to really think through every fine detail in preparation for a safe return to school where kids will have the opportunity to come into our building. I felt and I think many of us felt rushed preparing for that original start date in August so we’ve had time to plan lessons, set up online classrooms, had time to organize classrooms to ensure social distancing, plans of creative ways that we are going to move traffic in hallways and seat kids for lunches and so this has really allowed us to think through the fine details that can ensure that we have a safe teaching and learning environment for our students and our staff so I just want to express my gratitude to those folks that I mentioned,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez says for those families who will be having kids return to campus, he asks that they work with the district in ensuring the safety of not only their child but the safety of all others.
“Let’s send our teachers encouragement and we’ve got to send parents encouragement because we are all experiencing things that we haven’t before but I believe that in this community, we are going to persevere and that is because throughout this pandemic since March, we have supported each other, we have encouraged one another and because of that, I’m optimistic about this school year. It’s going to look different for quite sometime but I have faith that our teachers are going to do everything they can to meet the needs of our students and I have faith in our parents that they are going to ensure that their students remain engaged whether it’s face to face or online,” said Gutierrez.
A parent’s role is also critical for those who have opted to learn from home. Gutierrez says ensuring your kid’s success will more than ever start at home.`
“It’s just critical especially the first day but the first week of school to be online and this first week of school is really setting up exceptions, building a relationship with the teacher, with your classmates, ensuring that the online platform whether it’s Google Classroom, Seesaw is intact and ready to go. It’s also important to know that most of our teachers have not done this before. To become familiarized, our teachers are going to be experiencing trial and error just as our students are. There’s going to be technical difficulties that we’ll experience. So again as I stated earlier, I’m asking for patience and grace during this time because we are all learning together at the same time because we are navigating unchartered territory but it is just going to be so important to tune in the first day of school today and make sure your child is connecting with their teacher,” said Gutierrez.
But no matter whether kids will be face to face or remote learners, Gutierrez says the message for all parents is the same.
“What we need from parents is for face to face, is to make sure they are doing the self-checks every day, the screening prior to sending kids to school, making sure that your kids are healthy prior to coming in. Every campus has their own plan, making sure that you are following that – that if there is an expectation as you are coming through, make sure you are sanitizing your hands and so paying very close attention to the specific plans that are in place at every school because they are different depending on the number of students they have, depending on the layout of the campus. It’s going to be critical to follow your school social media pages, Facebook, Twitter, looking at their web page. It is also going to be different in the fact that in most campuses, we are only going to have 50 percent of our students so I think that is also important to know as parents, that we are going to be able to social distance. We are going to be able to ensure that students are having lunch, physical education in a safe way,” said Gutierrez.
Although today is the first day of school. Gutierrez says there is still a percentage of kids who have not yet registered. He says students are reminded to register online by visiting the district’s website at seguinisd.net.
The start of school in the Seguin ISD should also serve as a reminder to slow down while traveling near local campuses as school zones also go back into effect today. Drivers are especially encouraged to slow down and stop for school buses.