Superintendent's Weekly Message: December 11, 2020
JP Schools Family,
Thank you for continuing to entrust us with the education of your children. We are closely monitoring our schools as cases of COVID-19 increase in the community. Our students, teachers and employees have been doing an excellent job consistently and correctly following our health and safety protocols to reduce the risk of transmission on campus. As an added layer of safety, we walked through a few of our schools today with Ochsner Health to spot check practices and work through logistical challenges with principals. Overall, our schools are doing an excellent job adapting the health and safety protocols to fit their campuses. Students were properly wearing their masks and maintaining social distance from one another, and school facilities were clean. Most importantly, Ocshner noted the abundance of happy children. They expressed that there are significant benefits to student’s social and emotional development from being on campus.
We are still working with our stakeholders regarding the LDH’s updated quarantine guidance, and we will share an update with our employees and families about any adjustments to our quarantine protocols soon. In the meantime, any students or employees currently quarantined will remain quarantined for 14 days from the date of last contact.
Your feedback is integral to everything we do, and one way we solicit feedback is through our Superintendent’s Councils. In response to a suggestion we received from last year’s council meetings, we are posting summaries of what was discussed at these meetings on our website. We hope these summaries are reflective of your concerns and sentiments as we work together to overcome challenges and be the champions our students deserve.
I always want to be sure that our families and employees hear important updates directly from the district first. Since I started in this role, I’ve sent out weekly messages to employees and families in Jefferson Parish Schools. As we’ve navigated these unprecedented times, consistent communication has been more important than ever. In January, we will launch a newsletter for families, employees and the community at large. My Superintendent’s message will move from a weekly message to being included in that monthly communication. The newsletter will be a dynamic medium for us to engage our stakeholders with important school updates, positive stories of students and teachers and highlights from our schools. We look forward to starting the new year fresh with this new communication channel.
Thank you for your continuous support.
Dr. James Gray