Living Our Mission of Inspiring and Leading Innovation in Education

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) is focused on ensuring that students, parents, educators, and community stakeholders stay informed and have the necessary resources and support during this unprecedented time.

Even though schools aren’t physically open, educators across the county are still working hard to serve the children and families in our community. Our teams have been working around the clock to provide meals to students, plan for distance learning, and support the needs of our most vulnerable youth.

I am proud of the work local schools and community partners are doing to alleviate anxiety and remove barriers to supporting students and educators. Read on for an update on what that looks like in practice.

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Paul Gothold

San Diego County Superintendent of Schools 

email:  paul.gothold@sdcoe.net

phone: 858-292-3514

When school districts decided to close in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, they continued meal service to ensure students receiving free or reduced-price meals would continue getting enough food. 

SDCOE updates daily a comprehensive list in English and Spanish of food service locations at schools throughout the county. Any child 18 or younger can go to any school site providing meals and receive food during this period. 

To maintain a safe social distance, breakfast and lunch meal service is drive-through or grab-and-go style.

To see the hard work and dedication of district staff members throughout the county providing thousands of meals daily, view SDCOE's Facebook photo album .

In the beginning, information about the coronavirus pandemic was coming out hourly. For each new challenge, SDCOE teams came up with new resources and support to meet districts’ needs. Our Integrated Technology Services division developed a new website at covid-19.sdcoe.net to house all the resources that SDCOE continues to create and curate.

Educators can find professional learning and information on distance learning resources , such as instructional support categorized by content area and guidance for popular platforms; district and school leaders can review cleaning guidelines and access a pandemic plan template under district resources ; and parents and students can get COVID-19 information, learning at home resources, mental health support, community links, and details on discounted internet service providers. 

Last week, County Supervisor Greg Cox announced the launch of Live Well @ Home, a partnership between SDCOE and the County of San Diego’s Live Well San Diego program.

The Live Well @ Home website provides a place where people of all ages can go for resources on staying physically fit and mentally healthy over the coming weeks. The materials – organized by grade level so it’s easy for families to find age-appropriate resources – were designed with parents and caregivers in mind to support their children’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being at home. The website also includes resources to help parents and caregivers stay active and navigate emotions that come up during this challenging time.

SDCOE has partnered with KPBS and the San Diego Unified School District on the At-Home Learning: Where Children Matter initiative , bringing 12 hours of state standards-aligned television programming scheduled by grade level, and free access to a digital library of educational resources. KPBS programming and PBS LearningMedia are free to families, educators, and the community.

With schools in San Diego County closed, the initiative aims to ensure students and families have access to robust learning materials while schools are closed in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"It's critical that learning continues for all students in this time of uncertainty," said Dr. Paul Gothold, San Diego County superintendent of schools. "Schools may be closed, but our responsibility to our students' future remains.”

Teachers are connecting with students and families daily through Flipgrid video diaries, Zoom calls, virtual story-time readings, Seesaw challenges, and Google classroom check-ins. This Poway Unified teacher and trumpet coach formed a virtual brass ensemble with 40 of his students from their homes. Our educators don’t stop and neither does SDCOE. 

The County Office’s Communications team is active, connecting with educators and sharing resources with school stakeholders on Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn . The first week of school closures, SDCOE asked educators what they wanted to say to their students, and this is some of what they shared: