Greetings Cypress Community,

Our teams are hard at work developing our plans for the fall to provide a rigorous distance learning program with access to devices and connectivity, daily live interaction with teachers and other students, challenging assignments equivalent to in person classes and adaptations for English Language Learning and Special Education.  This is what the governor has outlined as our mandate, and the final piece regarding adaptations will require a great deal of creativity and collaboration with students and families. 

We are reorganizing our distance learning calendar to offer live instruction through Zoom for elementary, middle, high school, and transition age grouping in the morning hours followed by enrichment opportunities in the afternoon.  For families who have students that have difficulty accessing Zoom, I encourage brainstorming with your teacher how to build tolerance to this format for short successful sessions to start.  The majority of your child’s program will involve recorded lessons, resources accessible online or delivered to you by staff or through the mail, assigned by your teacher in consultation with you to accommodate your schedule and bandwidth.  Providing a flexible and adaptable program to meet our students’ needs is what we have always done and we are committed to continue to do so.

I am pleased to announce that the topic for Monday’s meeting to provide parent support from our behavior team will be How to Have Fun Learning and Learning How to Have Fun.  The training will address re-establishing positive behavior patterns and exploring interests and enthusiasms to develop appropriate joint-attention, parallel and cooperative play, reciprocity, and self-expression.  We will send a reminder as well, but hope to see you here, Monday at 2:30.  Not to be missed! 

We have one final week of Extended School Year, and then our second session of the virtual Adaptive Behavior Program for the first two weeks of August.  Shout out to Becca and her team for organizing two fun-filled weeks of opportunities and all the staff leading and supporting those activities.  Also, a shout out to Areli, Lesley and our transportation team and drivers for the drop offs of materials headed your way next week.  I want to send my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to our whole community of staff, students and families for supporting one another through this challenging ongoing ordeal.  The struggle is real, and can feel completely overwhelming at times.  Being a part of this community and staying connected to share the silver linings, the successes and the struggles is more important than ever and I value each of you who continues to keep that connection and sense of belonging alive during a dark time.  At Cypress where others see obstacles, we see possibilities.  Thank you for making Cypress all that it is, not only a place but a mindset of growth, resilience, patience and self-determination.

Sincerely,

Nate Yates

Director of Educational and Behavioral Services