Welcome to the Callie Ko Sarah team

Date: Week 0

Welcome to the Callie Ko Sarah 7th grade team at High Tech Middle Chula Vista! We are so glad to have you as part of our team this year. Bear with us, as this email is a bit longer than our typical welcome email.

About us

• Callie Sprague (csprague@hightechhigh.org) will be the Humanities teacher. This will be her 8th year teaching at HTMCV. She enjoys camping, cooking, and reading.

• Adam Ko (ako@hightechhigh.org) will be the Math/Science teacher. This will be his 5th year teaching at HTMCV. He enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, and eating.

• Gabrielle Berens (gberens@hightechhigh.org) will be the Art teacher. This will be her 3rd year at HTMCV.

• Ruby Beltran (rubbeltran@hightechhigh.org) will be our Inclusion Specialist. This is her 4th year at HTMCV.

• Sarah Valdivia (svaldivia@hightechhigh.org) will be the team's Academic Coach. This is her 2nd year at HTMCV. She enjoys kayaking, eating chocolate, and going to the movie theater.

Distance Learning

We know that this year has already brought many challenges and beginning the school year from a distance is an added challenge in many ways. As we prepare to welcome students and start our year together, we, too, are feeling the loss of the first day of school "buzz" - the energy, excitement, nervousness, and joy that is so unique to starting a new school year.

And as we navigate this new (and temporary) normal, we hope to do it as we always have at HTMCV, together, as a family. We hope to begin our year as we always do - with joy and connection. So, whether your family has been part of the High Tech High community for years or this is your first year with us, we want you and your students to feel like our team is a safe and supportive community - a place where we connect, take care of each other, and do meaningful and engaging work together.

With that said, we're still learning how we can best support students and families in these new and difficult circumstances, and we welcome your feedback along the way. Here's what you can expect from us:

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Connection:

• Live, virtual, face to face time with your student every day

• Virtual spaces for students to connect with each other each week

Communication:

• A weekly email to families with updates and an overview of the plan for the coming week

• A team website (calliekoteam.com) that is updated weekly with our schedule for the week and other helpful information and resources

• Availability to meet via phone call or virtual meeting with families

Schedules and Classwork:

• A consistent and predictable schedule for your student

• Daily "check-ins" with all students at 9am and "check-outs" at 2:30pm

• A single and consistent platform for sharing and submitting class assignments (Google Classroom)

Student Support:

• Weekly opportunities for extra help through "office hours" or 1 on 1 check-ins

• Challenge options/ options for supplementary work available to all students

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Logistics

1. Welcome Boxes:

• We are currently putting together 'welcome boxes' for each of our students. These boxes include supplies that your student will need for Humanities, Math/Science, and Art class.

• We will host the following pick-up times at HTMCV

  • Sunday, August 30th from 12-3pm

  • Monday, August 31st from 8-10am

  • During these times, you can pull up to the HTMCV parking lot (in front of the elementary drop off area) and pick up a box for your student.

• If you are unable to pick up the box for your student, please send us an email so that we can arrange a way to get the box to you.

2. First Day:

We will start our first classes on Tuesday, September 1st at 9:00am. We will send a reminder and a Zoom link to both students and families prior to the first week of school.

We are SO looking forward to meeting your students next week, and we look forward to meeting you all in the future! In the meantime, please reach out to us if you have any questions, feedback, or concerns. Email is the best way to reach us.

Here's to a wonderful year!

Our best,

Callie, Adam, Gabrielle, Ruby, and Sarah