Tips offered on helping children to cope with emergencies

Organizations such as the American Red Cross and Ready San Diego have great tips on helping your child cope with natural disasters such as fires and earthquakes, reports San Diego Unified's Counseling and Guidance staff. Here are some links to those organizations' pages.

• American Red Cross: Prepare Your Home and Family
  
• National Association of School Psychologists: "Helping Children After a Wildfire" and other helpful publications
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Wildfires
  
• American Psychological Association: "Recovering from Wildfires"
  
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "Tips for Talking With and Helping Children Cope"
  
• Ready San Diego! for kids
  
• Ready.gov for kids

Supt. Marten: Schools closed Thursday; she's thankful for first responders

It was a day of monitoring the unpredictable and changing wild fires across San Diego County. After in-depth and thoughtful conversations with superintendents across San Diego County and our School Police Department, the decision was made to close all San Diego Unified schools and child development centers on May 15. Our plan is to reopen on Friday. We appreciate the understanding of our parents and staff.

Our hearts go out to those who have lost their homes and to those who have been evacuated, with their homes still threatened. We are thankful to the firefighters, law enforcement officers, first responders and our own School Police officers who are working around the clock to protect us all.

 

Cindy Marten
Superintendent

Record temperatures predicted; some tips for parents and what schoolsdo in hot weather

All schools in the San Diego Unified School District have “hot weather” plans in place for continued operations of schools during periods of extremely hot weather. We want to make sure our students are as comfortable as possible in school so that their learning can continue. As a result, our schools have a number of guidelines in place for planning instruction during hot weather.

Instructional Program Modifications

Elementary teachers may rearrange the daily schedule so that basic skills subjects are taught at the optimal time. Physical education activities are limited to less strenuous activities and/or are rescheduled to a more appropriate time. Recess activities are limited to quiet games that require a minimum of physical activity.

Alternative Locations for Instruction

Cooler areas of schools buildings and grounds are used when available. As an example, some teachers may have students gather in shaded lawn areas or move to rooms with better cross-ventilation. Students in non-air-conditioned portable facilities may be merged with other classes in air-conditioned buildings, such as media centers, cafeterias or auditoriums.

Extracurricular Activities

Athletic activities and practices may be canceled due to hot weather, or rescheduled for a more appropriate time. Before- and after-school programs may also be modified or activities rearranged.

Keeping Students Cool and Hydrated

Students are encouraged to bring containers of water to school during hot weather. Water fountains are available in all schools and schools are encouraging students to take extra water fountain breaks throughout the day. Many teachers keep spray-bottles with water in classrooms so that they can ‘mist’ students at their request or as needed.
Students are asked to dress in lightweight clothing that is in keeping with their school dress codes. Please also make sure to apply sunscreen to your child before school, as school staff are not permitted to apply it. If your child has a medical condition that may be compromised by exposure to high temperatures, you may keep your child at home or arrange for an early release.

More Information

• Administrative Procedure #4302 - Operation of Schools During Hot Weather
• San Diego Unified's Air Conditioning Policy 
• School Hot Weather Handout: English  | Spanish 
• Heat Illness Prevention Plan 
• Heat Exhaustion & Heat Stroke Fact Sheet

For additional information, please talk with your school's principal.

Emergency Preparedness

En Español» Ready San Diego: The County of San Diego's website that has tips on preparing a family emergency plan and other information. FEMA for Kids Information on disaster preparedness for children, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Birney Elementary School Reopens Wednesday

Alice Birney Elementary School will reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 18, following an early morning fire on Jan. 17 that damaged the school's combination auditorium-cafeteria and adjacent kitchen. There were no injuries reported.

The International Studies Magnet School will begin its Winter quarter on Wednesday, a day late. Birney is on a year-round schedule and its more than 500 students have been on vacation since Dec. 19. Staff has been working all day to ensure that a safe school is available for students on Wednesday.

"It should be close to a normal day for us," said Amanda Hammond-Williams, principal. "We'll talk with our students about what happened, then it's back to work."

The full cost of repair is still being determined by San Diego Unified School District staff. There was fire and smoke damage to the building, which is separate from other structures at the campus. Structural repairs, and replacement of fixtures and equipment will be funded by the district, however there were losses of materials for the school's drama and before- and after-school programs that are not expected to be covered.

"We estimate that it will cost about $50,000 to replace all the materials we had stored in the auditorium," said Hammond-Williams. Donations to the school can be made through the foundation, which is online at
http://friendsofalicebirney.org/