Message from the Superintendent - 4/24/20 - En Espaniol 

Good morning HJUHSD Students and Parents. In this update, we plan to focus on Distance Learning and what this work means in regard to both impact on grades and your education. As you all know, we began formal Distance Learning after spring break and most students have been logging into their Google Classrooms to complete work and communicate with their teachers as they have been instructed to do. We, as a district and educators, have worked hard to provide these Distance Learning opportunities and believe all students should be completing this work for the following reasons:

1. It is critical that all students, whether they are seniors or not, continue to learn the content they would otherwise be missing if not for Distance Learning. Next year will begin for all students and we don’t want anyone to be behind in their content knowledge to start the new year at one of our schools or at college.
   
   
2. This is a great way to maintain some sense of normalcy and routine for students, which is very important during this time. Not to mention it allows for positive communication and collaboration with other students and teachers.
   
   
3. The work done during these six weeks of Distance Learning can only improve a student’s grade, so all students should be working hard to get their grades as high as possible. We will explain this a bit more below. 
   
   
4. Teachers have worked really hard to make Distance Learning happen and they want to hear from their students and support them in every way possible because that is what they do best. Teachers have virtual office hours posted which are a great way for students to get help and any of their questions answered.

In regard to grading and how Distance Learning affects grades, HJUHSD has taken the following approach which we feel is the best option for students in the long term and meets compliance with state guidelines for education during the COVID-19 Pandemic, specifically the “Hold Harmless” rule for students. The simple definition for Hold Harmless is that student grades should not and cannot be negatively affected due to the school closure for the Pandemic. The same guidelines also require that schools provide Distance Learning options. What we have done to ensure that no student grade is “harmed” in the process is this:

1. Student grades at the twelve week progress report (the report card mailed out April 22nd) which is the student’s total grade from January 13th - March 13th when the closure happened, have been recorded and documented.
   
   
2. No work/assignments/enrichment during the three week closure (March 16th - April 13th) count toward the twelve week grading period. That time is treated like an extended spring break and therefore does not harm the grade in any way.
   
   
3. Student work during Distance Learning is then added to the grade book like any other semester to begin calculating the 18 week or semester, total grade. During this time students will see their grades either improve or decrease in Illuminate based on their participation and work on Distance Learning.
   
   
4. At the end of the semester, final grades are then calculated based on the total amount of work since January 13^th with Distance Learning included.
   
   
5. Teachers and administrators will then compare the twelve-week progress report grades and the semester final grades to determine which one is the better/higher grade. Students will then be given the higher of the two grades as their final semester grade.
   
   
6. In this way, no student’s grade can be harmed by the closure and Distance Learning, but it can be improved by doing the distance learning work.

Site principals will soon be sending out instructions for seniors to pick up caps and gowns and Senior Yard Signs. Seniors will also receive instructions for submitting video clips for the graduation video, so please keep an eye out for those updates.  

We will have more to come on next week’s update, but we hope this clarifies the grading policy. If you have questions please feel free to call your school site.

Message from the Superintendent - 4/3/20 - En Espaniol 

Good morning HJUHSD students, parents, and families. As many of you have heard, a lot has changed in California’s educational response to the COVID-19 this week. Both the governor and the State Superintendent of Public Education recommended schools close to the public and go to Distance Learning for the remainder of the school year. In our last student and parent update, we shared a timeline with you that is available on our website at www.hjuhsd.org. That timeline included Plan B which would have allowed for students to return to campus and regular school on May 4th. Although that was our goal and hope, it is now obvious that Plan B will remain in place for the remainder of the year. This means campuses will remain closed and all students will be completing the rest of the school year remotely on Distance Learning.

Students will communicate with their teachers, counselors, and other staff virtually while completing their work via Google Classroom. Again, this distance learning model will be from April 14th through the last day of school on June 5th.  As we stated before, our students all have Chromebooks and use Google Classroom at school in many of their classes. For them, this will not be much of a learning curve and we know they will adapt quickly and do well with this format. Teachers are working very hard right now to ensure that distance learning options will be ready to meet the needs of our students and that they can be successful. It is very important that students complete these Distance Learning assignments in order to improve their semester grades as they now will not have another opportunity to do so in regular school.

Although we will have many more details to come in upcoming updates and direct communication through Google Classroom from teachers, we want to just clear up a couple more items that campus closure through the end of the year will affect. 

1. All school activities, events, athletics, practices  etc. are now cancelled through the end of the school year including prom, awards night, Grad Night, etc. Details of how to receive refunds for these events, if you have already paid, will be sent out and on the website after spring break. 
   
   
2. Graduation - We have contracted with an excellent videographer who will be putting together a graduation video that will feature each graduate and memories from the year. We will be sending out a form that allows graduates to submit short videos which will be used for the graduation video. It will then be aired on graduation day. We are doing the video regardless and have already started that process. However, if state and local officials have lifted social distancing guidelines by the time of graduation, we will still have a regular graduation or something as close to it as possible! Students, please expect that link and information to upload videos sometime after spring break. 

We know that this is very difficult information to hear and accept and we want you to know that we are all as pained by these decisions as you are. End of the year events are what we all look forward to as graduates, families, educators, and community leaders. We are sorry for these circumstances and we will continue to do the best we can for our students and stakeholders under this current reality. We will adjust accordingly and always with our student’s best interest at heart.

Message from the Superintendent - 3-27-20 - En Espaniol 

Attention HJUHSD students, parents, and community. We are now two weeks into school closure and I know all of us are ready to get back to school and to a normal routine as soon as possible. In our last student and parent update, we shared a timeline with you that is available on our website at www.hjuhsd.org. That timeline included Plan A which would have allowed for students to return to campus and regular school on April 14th right after spring break. We were hopeful for this date but knew there was a strong chance that it may be too soon, so we developed plans B and C on that document. 

At this point, based on all guidance from both local and state health departments, the CA Department of Education, and the Governor’s Shelter in Place Order, we are officially announcing that we will be on Plan B from April 14th through May 1st. This means that school will resume in a distance learning model and students will communicate with their teachers, counselors, and other staff virtually while completing their work via Google Classroom. Again, this distance learning model will be from April 14th - May 1st only unless we are forced to extend beyond that date. As you know, our students all have Chromebooks and use Google Classroom at school in many of their classes. For them, this will not be much of a learning curve and we know they will adapt quickly and do well with this format. Teachers are working very hard right now to ensure that distance learning options will be ready to meet the needs of our students and that they can be successful. 

Student activities, athletics, field trips, etc. will remain canceled through May 15th as originally stated. That date will not be extended unless we hear more and have to reevaluate as that date approaches. Many of you have noticed and expressed your concern that prom falls within that range of cancellations. We acknowledge that events like senior prom and graduation are once in a lifetime moments and we want nothing more than to ensure our seniors have those opportunities if possible. Therefore, for the time being, we are treating prom as postponed and are looking at the last possible weekend before graduation to hold prom if gathering restrictions have been lifted by local and state health officials. Please understand that we are optimistic, but there is no guarantee that we will be allowed to do this. For that reason, we urge you to not go out and spend money unnecessarily. If prom can happen, it will be special and memorable regardless of what was being worn. We are also committed to making prom bids free to students. As graduation is still after our current timeline, we still expect graduation to go on as planned at this point. We will adjust the timeline if needed.  

Students, please ensure you begin to check your email and google classrooms daily for updates after spring break. Please also use the resources and information on the district website to get information and how to submit a tech support request, free internet options, AP Exams and fees, additional help, and to get some of your questions answered on our Frequently Asked Questions section.

After spring break (April 14th), HJUHSD offices will be staffed, but remain closed to the public for the most part. Although not everything will be “business as usual,” more resources will be available to students and parents and more staff will be around to help answer questions as we begin to transition back into normal operation. At that time and even now, you may contact your school’s office for support from 8:00AM - 4:00PM Monday -Thursday. Offices are closed on Fridays until after spring break.

We will have more student and parent updates next week and during spring break, but we wanted you all to know where we currently stand and our plans. Please continue to use our website for assistance. We are updating it regularly with details and resources. Thank you for your continued support during this difficult time for our district and our nation.

We hope that our students and their families are doing well under these unfortunate and unprecedented circumstances. We would like to express how deeply our entire staff misses our students and we cannot wait to see you all back at school and in class. Until that can happen, we want to share what our current plans are and some excellent resources with which students can continue to learn and keep themselves active and engaged. The timeline below should help to provide some guidance as to what we expect the rest of this semester to look like. You can click on the timeline to go to a larger and printable format. We have planned for multiple scenarios with the ultimate goal being getting students back to regular school as soon as possible. Although this timeline is tentative, we feel it provides useful information for planning. We also realize that some students may need some guidance and emotional support during this time. We will have those supports available to students via phone at 559-583-5900 beginning Monday, March 23rd and offered Monday-Friday. Please use the resources on this page to ensure that your students have access to school meals, receive continued educational experiences, and that your questions are answered. We are adding items to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) daily. Thank you so much for your patience and assitance as we all work through this crises. Please stay safe and healthy and abide by the guidelines set forth by health officials.  

In response to the most recent information, we have available at this point and in alignment with other Kings County School Districts, HJUHSD is closing schools beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, through Monday, April 13, 2020. This is a difficult decision, but necessary, as we try to slow the spread of the virus. HJUHSD schools serve students at all levels of need and we have a responsibility to not only educate but protect our children. We are hopeful that these closures remain short term and do not continue to be extended, but that guidance comes from the department of health and is somewhat out of our hands. There is a possibility that the closure days could expand, but rest assured we will keep all stakeholders aware of any changes made to our current plans. We are also exploring ways in which students can continue their learning during this time though technology when and if closures are extended. Along with the closure of school and classes, any and all athletic contests and practices, academic team practices, field trips, events, activities, and school functions are canceled or postponed through May 15, 2020. Those restrictions may be extended beyond that date or reduced depending on how things progress in our area and what we are directed by local and state agencies. The safety of our students is our top priority. Again, this is not an easy decision and not one we take lightly.  

Thank you for your understanding and support during this time of national crisis. We have resources on the riight side of this webpage to help students find ways to continue learning and keep themselves active during this initial closure through April 13, 2020. These activites are highly encouraged, but not required during this time. Rest assured that student grades are not being affected during this closure period, but we do realize that student learning is greatly affected. For that reason, please take the time to utlize the resources provided. You will also find a timeline with dates in which we anticipate moving to complete online instruction and when we hope to have students back to school for regular classes. All of this is, of course, subject to change based on conditions, but we want you to know what we have planned for the time being. You may also find our question and answer section very useful as we a populating and editing it daily with what we know. If we do not have an answer, we will be honest about it and say so. 

In our efforts to keep our stakeholders informed, HJUHSD has recieved information from the Kings County Office of Educaiton, the Kings County Public Health Department, the California Departmennt of Education, and the California Department of Health to help inform and monitor this situation. Kings County Public Health is actively monitoring reports from around the world and they are in regular communication with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is a rapidly evolving situation and there has been many questions raised from parents and school officials, so we are offering the following information and resources to keep the public informed.

Meals are available to any students age 18 and under. We are serving lunches from 11:15 - 11:45AM on Mondays. All five meals for the week are served on that day at Hanford High School, Hanford West High School, and Sierra Pacific High School. A complete list of Kings County sites in which any student age 18 and under can pick up their meal is available here. 

Click here to open your tech request form. You will then be contacted and told when to come get your repair or replacement device. 

Scholarship recipient lists from sponsors are still due by May 1st as usual and all information for those scholarships is available on each comprehensive high school’s career center website. Career Centers will be staffed on a more regular basis after Spring Break (April 14th) and questions can be more readily answered by phone at that point. Currently, Awards Night is scheduled for May 19th which is outside of our event and activity cancellation window. Should that window be extended beyond May 15th, we will produce a video featuring each scholarship recipient's photo and their award. The video would also allow for donors to record their contribution. This video would be posted on our website and social media outlets.

We began formal Distance Learning after spring break and most students have been logging into their Google Classrooms to complete work and communicate with their teachers as they have been instructed to do. We, as a district and educators, have worked hard to provide these Distance Learning opportunities and believe all students should be completing this work for the following reasons:

1. It is critical that all students, whether they are seniors or not, continue to learn the content they would otherwise be missing if not for Distance Learning. Next year will begin for all students and we don’t want anyone to be behind in their content knowledge to start the new year at one of our schools or at college.
   
   
2. This is a great way to maintain some sense of normalcy and routine for students, which is very important during this time. Not to mention it allows for positive communication and collaboration with other students and teachers.
   
   
3. The work done during these six weeks of Distance Learning can only improve a student’s grade, so all students should be working hard to get their grades as high as possible. We will explain this a bit more below. 
   
   
4. Teachers have worked really hard to make Distance Learning happen and they want to hear from their students and support them in every way possible because that is what they do best. Teachers have virtual office hours posted which are a great way for students to get help and any of their questions answered.

In regard to grading and how Distance Learning affects grades, HJUHSD has taken the following approach which we feel is the best option for students in the long term and meets compliance with state guidelines for education during the COVID-19 Pandemic, specifically the “Hold Harmless” rule for students. The simple definition for Hold Harmless is that student grades should not and cannot be negatively affected due to the school closure for the Pandemic. The same guidelines also require that schools provide Distance Learning options. What we have done to ensure that no student grade is “harmed” in the process is this:

1. Student grades at the twelve week progress report (the report card mailed out April 22nd) which is the student’s total grade from January 13th - March 13th when the closure happened, have been recorded and documented.
   
   
2. No work/assignments/enrichment during the three week closure (March 16th - April 13th) count toward the twelve week grading period. That time is treated like an extended spring break and therefore does not harm the grade in any way.
   
   
3. Student work during Distance Learning is then added to the grade book like any other semester to begin calculating the 18 week or semester, total grade. During this time students will see their grades either improve or decrease in Illuminate based on their participation and work on Distance Learning.
   
   
4. At the end of the semester, final grades are then calculated based on the total amount of work since January 13^th with Distance Learning included.
   
   
5. Teachers and administrators will then compare the twelve-week progress report grades and the semester final grades to determine which one is the better/higher grade. Students will then be given the higher of the two grades as their final semester grade.
   
   
6. In this way, no student’s grade can be harmed by the closure and Distance Learning, but it can be improved by doing the distance learning work.

Site principals will soon be sending out instructions for seniors to pick up caps and gowns and Senior Yard Signs. Seniors will also receive instructions for submitting video clips for the graduation video, so please keep an eye out for those updates.  

We will have more to come on next week’s update, but we hope this clarifies the grading policy. If you have questions please feel free to call your school site.

During this initial school closure from March 16, 2020 through April 13, 2020, students are being provided enrichment activities posted on this website. These are highly encouraged, but not required. Therefore, during these three weeks in which school is out, no new assignments should be given, nor should any work or project that may have been due during this time, affect a student grade. Any work that was due and collected up to March 13, 2020 should be graded and count for credit. Anything that would have been due during the closure window, should be extended to when students return. 

Yes.  You will still have the opportunity to improve your grades if you continue to work hard and participate through distance learning.  Keep up the hard work and work with your teacher to find out how you might be able to do so. 

Now that we are less than 30 days away from our first school graduation, we are forced to make some final decisions as to what graduation will look like. As you all know from our previous communications, we have already invested in and started our graduation videos for each school and delivered our Senior Yard Signs to all seniors. We did these things to be ready for whatever may come, but have always maintained hope that they would be in addition to a physical graduation as social distancing guidelines eased. We are now faced with the harsh reality that despite our hopes, a traditional graduation as we have known for years, is not going to happen. We also know that despite best intentions, suggestions, and plans for a postponed graduation later in the summer or fall, that this idea is also not realistic. The released state stages for reopening CA, has an event like graduation in Stage 4. The governor explained last week that the state will not even enter Stage 3 for months, which means that Stage 4 could be well into very late fall or winter. As leaders of this school district, and as educators who care deeply about our seniors, we simply cannot continue to postpone and possibly re-cancel a graduation for our seniors. We do not feel that is a good response for them or for our community. 

Therefore, we plan to do the best we can within these circumstances for our graduates. In addition to the video and yard signs, we want to provide seniors with an opportunity to wear their caps and gowns, participate in a voluntary “graduation procession” of sorts, get their names read out on the loudspeaker, and get that important picture receiving their diploma. We have planned, and believe we can do this in a drive-through fashion that meets compliance and honors our students as well as possible. We know this is not the perfect situation, but it can and will be special and memorable for our kids and families. Although more details will be coming from your site principals in the weeks to come, we want to just provide a glimpse at what graduation week will look like. The chart below should help explain what we have planned. For all of the drive-through graduation processions, GSP Studios will provide professional photography and will give details for purchasing photos. Again, we will share more details soon, and thank you for your understanding and support during this time!

Yes. All on-site activities have been canceled or postponed through May 15th, including all co-curricular events, practices, and any other activities that take place at our school facilities. This window can be shortened based on where we are with guidance from state and local guidance. 

Offices are closed to the public, however we are answering or replying to calls between 8:00AM and 3:00PM. 

Yes. However, we have directed teachers to not engage in instruction at this point thorugh spring break. So, please do not take offense if they are not answering questions right now about schoolwork. They may answer general questions if they choose. 

You may have heard speculation that our current school closure could last through the end of the school year, but this is not a known fact, nor is it what we are planning at this time. It is still our goal to have students return to their regular school schedule on April 14, 2020. We are however, developing online coursework to ensure that, at a minimum, students begin coursework that day until they are allowed to return to school as usual. Should we move to online instruction, the expectation is that all assigned work is completed for credit. 

AP teachers will continue to teach classes through distance learning after spring break. The College Board has decided to take the exam process online and sent the folwoing guidance: 

• AP Exams will be offered online only (no face-to-face exams will take place) Each exam will be 45 min.
• Additional test information will be released on April 3rd
• Any students can cancel the exam at no charge
• Your schools will only be invoiced for students who log-in and take an AP exam.
• Only units covered until early March will be covered on the exam
• Instructional resources will  launch on 3/25/20--  free remote learning resources. 
• The online exam will be offered on two dates (pending)

Go to https://www.collegeboard.org for more details

HJUHSD is extending the deadline to pay for AP Exams and is working on a means to allow for students to pay online. Students may request refunds for fees they have already paid if they choose to not take the exam. 

According to the College Board, the May 2, 2020 SAT administration is canceled. Makeup exams for the March 14 administration (scheduled for March 28) are also canceled. Registered students will receive refunds. More information here: 

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/test-center-closings

While it remains unclear how the state will address attendance, teachers will be keeping track of participation in distance learning for attendance credit as it relates to their classes after spring break. 

Medicines will be available for pick up Monday-Thursday during closure by appointment only. Please call your school's number to schedule.