WELCOME TO GREENE!

On behalf of our community, we would like to extend an early greeting to our current 5th graders who will be attending Greene and to their families.

Please look to the Greene Middle School administration, specifically – Ms. Mimi Kwon (Assistant Principal) for general and enrollment information. This year, because of our county’s Purple Tier status, all information will be sent out via email and meetings will be held by Zoom. At this time, there are no in-person, nor on campus events.

If you would like to subscribe to the Greene PTA eNews, please SUBSCRIBE. The eNews is a weekly enewsletter with information published by the School, the PTA, and community organizations.

For your reference:

• PALY Transition Dates and Zoom Links

• GUNN Transition Dates and Zoom Links

What is a Nominating Committee? The Nominating Committee (or NomCom for short) is a group of volunteer parents whose purpose is to seek out and recruit parents and teachers for our PTA Board positions and Key Chair roles for the 2021-2022 School Year.

Yikes! That’s way in the future… I am just trying to survive this school year! Yes, we know. : ) However, our PTA bylaws dictate that the Nominating Committee must be voted in by the General Association at our January 14th meeting and post/publish the Nomination List by March 18th (28 days before the April 15th General Association meeting). Hence, the invitation to join. NomCom is here!

We are looking for parents with incoming 6th, current 6th, and/or 7th graders. The committee will include both experienced PTA members, as well as brand new parents and will have a total of 3 members with 1 alternate.

Why would I be interested in adding this to my plate? There are at least 3 great reasons…
1. You may be interested because you seek a deeper connection with our school and with our community. By joining NomCom, you learn more about how the PTA supports both. You’ll learn about our events, programs, and activities, and you will learn more about the school’s curriculum, enrichment, and campus needs and how PTA works to fill in gaps. And…
2. You will also be with a team of parents who are like-minded. And…
3. This is also a short, time-defined service. No matter what, it will start on Jan 14th and will end on March 18th. 

If you don’t know anything about the PTA or about the school and you want to learn more, and the timeframe works, this is the opportunity for you.

Interested?If you are – or if you are a firm maybe, please contact Esther Yoo, Parliamentarian or Valerie Rainey, President at greeneptapresident@gmail.com. They would love to chat with you about this opportunity and answer any questions you may have; they will be co-hosting an Info meeting in the coming weeks. Thank you!

2020-2021 Greene PTA Executive Board Members

Greene PTA Job Descriptions

Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday break. Winter Break is DEC 21st – JAN 6th, 2021. School resumes on Thursday, January 7th, 2021. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

November 19th, 2020

Dear Students and Families,

PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT GUIDANCE – PURPLE TIER
The table and Frequently Asked Questions sections (below) are cut directly from a presentation from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department presentation to all superintendents on Tuesday.  I have not changed a single word from the presentation information.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does it mean for a school to be “open” under the school reopening framework?

• The school reopening framework set the rules for when “Schools and school districts may reopen for in-person instruction.”
• The term “open” or “reopen,” as used in the framework, refers to operations that are permitted only if the county satisfies the eligibility requirements for schools to “open” or “reopen” (i.e., red tier for 14+ days).
• This is in contrast to activities permitted under the Cohorting Guidance even for schools that are not permitted to reopen under the July 17 school reopening framework. Schools that were operating only in the manner permitted under the Cohorting Guidance are therefore not “open” under the July 17 framework.
• For example, a school serving 10 students for in-person instruction under the cohorting guidance is not “open” for in-person instruction, since such operations are permitted regardless of the school reopening framework.

When will school sites that have not reopened be eligible to reopen for in-person instruction?

• Under the State’s K-12 Reopening Framework and the State’s Blueprint, a county must be in the Red Tier (equivalent of being off the County Monitoring List) for 14 days for schools in that county to be eligible to reopen for in-person instruction.

If my county is in purple tier, what can my school do to serve students in person?

• Small Cohorts: Under State’s small cohort guidance, schools can offer “limited instruction, targeted support services, and facilitation of distance learning in small group environments for a specified subset of children and youth.”
• Waiver: Schools may apply for a waiver from the Local Health Officer to open for in-person instruction to students in grades K-6.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PAUSD

Elementary
As previously stated and confirmed in the information from the Public Health Department (above), our elementary schools have already opened and will remain in operation.  Our local cases are very low and schools are functioning at a high level with established routines.  Parents will hear from their elementary school sites soon to discuss the transfer window for families interested in returning to hybrid or moving to distance learning in January.  Details about the process will come from our site principals.

We have asked our elementary principals to assess the need for additional PAUSD+ spots for students.  We will have additional staffing in place within the next few weeks on sites or clusters.  Expect more information from our site principals.

High School
The move to the Purple Tier was unexpected by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and the Santa Clara County Office of Education.  We have 30 days from today before our Winter Recess.  Before schools can open, they need to be in the Red Tier for 14 consecutive days.  Our Thanksgiving Break is only a few days away.  This is all to say, despite our local low transmission rates, it is highly unlikely we can navigate a return for our high school students by January 7.  Due to the enormous hurdle of scheduling that existed prior to our move to the Purple Tier, I want to foreshadow the reality that we may be headed for a second semester in distance learning.

Our principals are meeting this week to review the data from our instructional model (hybrid/distance learning) process.  We will look at ways to increase on-campus access for those who had hoped to return to hybrid.  We are requesting a little space to evaluate our current conditions, work with our associations, and regroup.  More information will follow our Thanksgiving Break.

Middle School
Like our high schools, middle schools were also not open prior to our move to the Purple Tier.  As a result, our middle schools are also currently prohibited from opening. Middle school scheduling of students is also complicated.  We may have an opportunity to explore options to return some portion of middle school students at a later date during second semester.  Again, problem-solving is in motion. 

FUTURE FOCUS
We have an eye to the future and believe we have an opportunity to reimagine summer school and the fall.  We have time to prepare and gather input.  We have started conversations with our associations about how to reach out beyond the traditional negotiations process.  We will do the same with our families.