Updated 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.

Message from the Superintendent - 3-20-20

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.  

Message from the Superintendent - 3-13-20

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.