Hello Belmont-Redwood Shores Community,

In an effort to keep you up to date and support the At-Home Learning effort, this email will cover:

  1. When We’ll Return to School
  2. Educational Services
  3. Special Programs
  4. Technology
  5. Social-Emotional Support
  6. Social Services, including Redwood City’s latest update
  7. Nutrition Services Available
  8. Health Reminders
  9. My Problem of the Day (grades 3-10)


1) When We’ll Return to School
You may have seen reported today that Governor Newsom’s educated guess is California public school students will be dismissed through the remainder of the school year.  I have no inside information on that topic. The public school superintendents in the County are communicating regularly with County Superintendent Nancy Magee, and we have no guidance as to whether the Shelter in Place will continue beyond April 7.  The earliest that BRSSD school will resume is April 8. We will notify you if we receive additional information that changes this or makes it unlikely. Additionally, regardless of the number of days that students are dismissed, I think that it is unlikely that the school year will be extended into summer.  This is my professional opinion only. When I receive more reliable information on that topic, I will share it with you.    


2) Educational Services
If they haven't already, our teachers will be reaching out with class-specific information tomorrow morning.  As a reminder, this document helps you access the learning tools our teachers use in the classroom. Please feel free to email your classroom teacher to request assistance.  Although teachers are generally available during school hours, they are spending considerable time on professional learning and developing lessons and activities, so we ask that you are patient.  We’ve also put together an FAQ to help answer common questions and this tip sheet to help you create routine at home.

While we are being asked to shelter in place, remember that the Governor’s guidelines still permit outdoor activity, provided you keep social distancing of at least 6 feet away from others.  Take family walks, play in the park (avoid public play structures), or play catch, tag or your favorite sport. If the weather makes it hard to go outside, take advantage of GoNoodle ’s free family access.  Resources to support age-appropriate PE skills and games from TK through 5th grade can be found at the Footsteps PE website:  www.footsteps-PE.com.

In addition to your classroom activities, here are some additional cultural activities and community resources that may be of interest:
  • Mo Willems Lunchtime Doodles
  • Metropolitan Opera Nightly Free Streaming of popular Operas
  • Virtual Museum Tours - see a full list here
  • San Mateo County Library System has ebooks, eaudio, movies and tv available for free with your library card on Hoopla, libby for overdrive, and Kanopy has movies and a specific content filter with kids


3) Special Programs
Your child’s case manager will reach out with information about your child’s At-Home Learning Plan.  This may include activities, packets of instructional materials, online learning assignments or online service. The special education team has been busy consulting with general education teachers to ensure that activities sent home are accessible to the students they support. 

Timelines for assessments have been tolled (paused). The time period between your child’s last day of school attendance and the date that school resumes will not count as part of the 60-day assessment timeline.

IEP meetings may be held virtually, and case managers are working hard to arrange this. All annual IEPs will be opened on time and scheduled.  If it is not possible to meet the timeline for a triennial due to the Shelter in Place order, the IEP will be opened on time and sent home for your review with no changes made.  A meeting will be scheduled when school resumes.


4) Technology
As our teachers reach out with class-specific information please remember to check out the “ How to Access At-Home Learning Tools from Home ” guide.  This guide will walk you through getting started with access to the Clever portal on your Computer, Chromebook, or iPad.  Clever is a Single Sign-On (SSO) portal used to access the digital tools already available to your children.

If you have a question about login information for your child please reach out to your teacher, but if they are unable to assist or if you are experiencing a technical issue with any of the resources please contact us at athometechnical@brssd.org and we will assist you to the best of our abilities.

Home Tech Recommendations
To make sure your student is receiving the best user experience and safe content we recommend you have them use the Google Chrome Web Browser ( Information on downloading Chrome can be found at this link .) and that you add them as a “Person or Profile” within Chrome, some helpful information on how to add a person to the browser and/or how to manage multiple Google Accounts can be found at this link: Share Chrome with others - Add a “Person or Profile” .  If you complete both of these steps, on your Windows or MacOS Computer (Chromebooks do not need anything additional installed and iPads and Android tablets are not compatible with this web filtering) your student’s BRSSD account should install extensions that will help manage access to digital tools ( Clever Extension ) and apps that will filter web content ( Securly at Grades K-5 and GoGuardian at Grades 6-8).  As a recap, follow the steps below:

  1. Install the Chrome Web Browser.
  2. Add a “Person or Profile” in Chrome and login with your child’s BRSSD account.
  3. Chrome extensions for Clever (SSO App Management - K-8), Securly (Content Filtering - K-5), and GoGuardian (Content Filtering - 6-8) will be installed.


5) Social-Emotional Support
If you or your child are in need of social-emotional support during the school closure, our amazing network of BRSSD counselors are here to assist you or your child. 

Reasons to request support from a BRSSD school counselor:
  • If your child is having a hard time coping with the temporary changes being made in response to COVID-19
  • If your child is in need of emotional support and perhaps showing signs of sadness and worry.
  • If your child expresses a desire to talk with a school counselor

Please use this form to request support for either you or your child. All support will be conducted remotely, either over the phone, via email or virtually (Google Hangout, Zoom, etc.). We will respond to your request Monday through Friday, within 24 hours. 

In addition, you can also receive support from One Life Counseling through their school-based support hotline at 650-394-5224. Therapists will be on-call daily from 9 am to 5 pm. One Life counselors will be available virtually for those in need of emotional support or ideas for SEL projects at home. 


6) Social Services and Redwood City Services Update
  • Free Access to WiFi & Broadband from Spectrum: Spectrum will be offering FREE broadband and WiFi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum subscription. If you or someone you know can benefit from this service please call 1-844-488-8395.
  • Second Harvest of Silicon Valley:  Food bank services
  • List of Other Food Bank Services
  • Financial Assistance through San Mateo County
  • An update on all Redwood City Services can be found here.  


7) Nutrition Services Available
  • Free meals for all children under the age of 18 are available at select schools in the San Mateo-Foster City School District and the Ravenswood School District.  Please visit our BRSSD Nutritional Services webpage for more details about meal service locations, dates and times.

  • Although BRSSD will not be serving lunches through its meal program, our vended meal provider, The LunchMaster, is offering a meal delivery service for District families.  See https://www.lunchmaster2go.com/ for additional information.  Please note that this service is not affiliated with the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District and is not a part of the District's free and reduced-price lunch program.


8) Health Reminders for Home
  1. Wash your hands frequently. For at least 20 seconds with soap and water or with a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol 
  2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
  3. Practice respiratory hygiene. Covering your cough or sneezes with the inside of your elbow or with a tissue; and then immediately wash your hands
  4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, etc. If surfaces are dirty, clean them first: use detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.
  5. Maintain social distancing. In public areas, keep your distance from others (about 6 feet)
  6. To the extent possible, avoid touching high-touch surfaces in public places. This includes elevator buttons, door handles, handrails, etc. Use a tissue or your sleeve to cover your hand or finger if you must touch something and then wash your hands.
  7. Manage stress and anxiety
  8. Choose a room in your home that can be used to separate sick household members from those who are healthy (if possible). Identify a separate bathroom for the sick person to use (if possible). You should not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items with sick household members.
  9. If you or a household member has a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early. Phone your healthcare provider for advice. If symptoms are severe, go to an emergency room.


9) Problem of the Day (grades 3-10)
I shared a problem this morning for students (and parents!).  Thanks to those of you that responded. Here’s today’s problem .  Note that I’m sharing the handout for teachers, so you only need to print pages 4 and 5 for your student. Counters (pennies, beans, or something similar) and colored pencils or pens are recommended for younger students.  This is represented as appropriate for grades 3-10, but I expect that most third and fourth graders will need a problem partner.  The creators (led by one of my favorite professors at Stanford, Jo Boaler) recommend that students watch this video first to review helpful strategies for learning math and tackling novel math problems.  Last, if this problem goes quickly for your student, have them try a problem extension on page 3.  Good luck, I invite you or your student to send me their answer, and let me know what you (or they) think!  


As always, send me your broader program-level questions and suggestions. We realize that this is a huge transition for our families.


Michael Milliken
Superintendent   


Suvarna Bhopale | Amy Koo | Samuel Leinbach | Jim Howard | Rahila Passi
Board of Trustees