Good Morning DSST Team!  I have a lot of gratitude this morning.  My family is healthy, I have a job and I have the opportunity to work with all of you to make the world a better place. And, as you can see, I have had the chance to try to learn how to TikTok with my daughters. (Results not so good).  

Over the last 5 days, our team has been working hard to create the framework for DSST E-School.  We are reinventing how we deliver school, still centered in DSST’s mission, core values and commitment to equity. We’ll be sharing a much more robust update with you on Wednesday, but for now, we’ve outlined three important ways to get prepared for E-School before we all head off for our “Spring Break”: 

• Join the all network launch of E-School on Wednesday, March 25th at 1:00 PM

• We will be sending out calendar invite today for an all-network E-School Kickoff meeting, via Teams, on Wednesday March 25th at 1:00pm.

• Join your school specific staff E-School launch on Wednesday, March 25th or Thursday March 26th

• Your school leadership team will send you a calendar invite to kickoff your own school’s E-School launch 

• Connect with your students: Host a “Virtual Advisory Lunch” on Friday, March 27th

• Each advisor should hold a virtual Advisory Lunch for their advisees via Teams on Friday, March 27. This is an important time for you to check in with students before we all head into “Spring Break,” and make sure they are as equipped as possible to begin DSST E-School on Wednesday, April 8. Don’t worry - you will get very specific instructions on how to do this and what to cover. Look for those instructions later today.

• Get preliminary training on the two primary platforms we’ll be using for E-School

• Microsoft Teams will be our new classroom. We will have numerous training sessions on Teams - both before and after Spring Break.  These sessions will cover how to use this video and chat platform most effectively. Check this page for updates on these trainings.  Your school leadership team will also be in touch about these.

• Flyer is the app we’ll use across the network to communicate with families. It is already used at some of the schools in our network. We’ll be helping all families get access to the app this week, and we’ll also be training staff on how to use this effectively.  Flyer offers both group and 1:1 communication with families and translates into multiple languages. Again, check this page or with your School  Director for information on Flyer training.

We will be running DSST E-School TLI on April 6 and 7.  Stay tuned for more details 

Optional PD Sessions Open to All Staff!   If you have some extra time, please also consider joining these timely sessions hosted by a few folks in the Home Office. After all, there are only so many working from home memes out there.

• Thursday, March 26, 10AM:  Supporting Immigrant Families
• Friday, March 27, 2 PM:  Pandemics, Xenophobia and Racism.  Historically, how have pandemics been used to catalyze panic and fear that implicitly promotes othering?

Team, we know this is uncharted territory and we appreciate the time and effort of everyone in our community as we strive to launch a virtual learning experience for our students. I  look forward to working with all of you as we embark on this challenge together.

Best,

Bill