Our COVID-19 Response deploys our resources
towards helping schools support families
most impacted by distance learning
towards helping schools support families
most impacted by distance learning
Caring for our communities and ourselves
We began to practice physical distancing in early March 2020. We moved all of our classes online in less than one week. (BTW, we prefer the term “physical distancing” rather than “social distancing,” because people can still maintain our social connections in many positive ways.)
In just a few months, we see how this pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-resource and at-risk families. For instance, many part-time and hourly-wage workers’ hours are being cut dramatically, while others are being laid off. As we see this pandemic cause a widespread economic downturn, causes additional pressure on the families we serve. we need to recognize how the pandemic causes more severe consequences for people of color, in everything from morbidity rates to graduation rates. Inequality that have persisted in schools are only exacerbated by the crisis.
We must also, prioritize ensuring the safety and well-being of our own staff and constituents.
Keeping equity front and center
This summer, due to the pandemic, we taught an online coding class in Spanish to 4th graders. The wondered why one child never seemed to be online, even though the school had provided the family with a Chromebook.when we contacted the family direct we found out there were 10 children in the house, all sharing the one computer.making lessons at a specified time almost impossible.
Although, we are going through a shared experience as a nation, not everyone shares the same access to resources and safety nets. Being inclusive leaders during times of uncertainty requires flexibility, transparency, and proactive communication.
Strengthening our partnerships with schools
We pride ourselves on our partnerships with schools. We know that when schools and organizations like ours work together to support learning, everyone benefits. Covid has uncovered vulnerabilities in already fragile lines of communication between families and schools. We see our role now, as bridge between school and home, now that both places are places where formal instruction happen.We've offered:
Become community partners in relationships with families
The coronavirus and other recent events have put an enormous strain on families nationwide. We've looked to ways that we, as educators, can support parents and children who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, fear, food insecurity, or homelessness as a result of the current crises. We've:
Mitigate the issues caused by digital divide
The Corona crisis reinforced social inequalities in schools and in society in general. The crisis is also made worse by digital inequality.Those who had very little were left with even less. Many of our students homes lack the internet speed need for high speed distance learning or lack the number of devices each child needs to be proficient. Also, while some schools try and mandate that students turn on their cameras, some students feel intimidated to reveal their home living situation to a judging group of classmates. We, as educators must recognize we re delivering lessons in children's homes.
We must recognize the inequities without it slowing us down to demand growth from every last one of our students. To combat this we have done many things
We began to practice physical distancing in early March 2020. We moved all of our classes online in less than one week. (BTW, we prefer the term “physical distancing” rather than “social distancing,” because people can still maintain our social connections in many positive ways.)
In just a few months, we see how this pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-resource and at-risk families. For instance, many part-time and hourly-wage workers’ hours are being cut dramatically, while others are being laid off. As we see this pandemic cause a widespread economic downturn, causes additional pressure on the families we serve. we need to recognize how the pandemic causes more severe consequences for people of color, in everything from morbidity rates to graduation rates. Inequality that have persisted in schools are only exacerbated by the crisis.
We must also, prioritize ensuring the safety and well-being of our own staff and constituents.
Keeping equity front and center
This summer, due to the pandemic, we taught an online coding class in Spanish to 4th graders. The wondered why one child never seemed to be online, even though the school had provided the family with a Chromebook.when we contacted the family direct we found out there were 10 children in the house, all sharing the one computer.making lessons at a specified time almost impossible.
Although, we are going through a shared experience as a nation, not everyone shares the same access to resources and safety nets. Being inclusive leaders during times of uncertainty requires flexibility, transparency, and proactive communication.
Strengthening our partnerships with schools
We pride ourselves on our partnerships with schools. We know that when schools and organizations like ours work together to support learning, everyone benefits. Covid has uncovered vulnerabilities in already fragile lines of communication between families and schools. We see our role now, as bridge between school and home, now that both places are places where formal instruction happen.We've offered:
- more classes with more flexibility
- more social and emotional professional development offering (online) for teachers
Become community partners in relationships with families
The coronavirus and other recent events have put an enormous strain on families nationwide. We've looked to ways that we, as educators, can support parents and children who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, fear, food insecurity, or homelessness as a result of the current crises. We've:
- organized our academic and social emotional tools to address these issues with our constituencies.
- created county services guides for each county where we operate.
- partnered with National University in San Diego and Texas A & M International University in Laredo TX to offer additional teacher training and parents on cooping with the social and emotional changes this crisis on bring to the family.
- conducted over 100 phone visits with parents
- we've how can schools address trauma related to the pandemic itself, as well as events related to racial injustice and immigration enforcement?
Mitigate the issues caused by digital divide
The Corona crisis reinforced social inequalities in schools and in society in general. The crisis is also made worse by digital inequality.Those who had very little were left with even less. Many of our students homes lack the internet speed need for high speed distance learning or lack the number of devices each child needs to be proficient. Also, while some schools try and mandate that students turn on their cameras, some students feel intimidated to reveal their home living situation to a judging group of classmates. We, as educators must recognize we re delivering lessons in children's homes.
We must recognize the inequities without it slowing us down to demand growth from every last one of our students. To combat this we have done many things
- conducted parent survey 800 us parents
- raised over $ 6,500 from current funders to purchase laptops for our families with the greatest need
- made over 100 calls to parents
- held over 300 Zoom 1:1 tutoring sessions with students on a flexible schedule
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