Sunrise Middle School is happy to announce that if and when schools are permitted to re-open in the Fall, that we have worked out a plan which will allow every student to be on campus, safely distanced, from 8 am to 2 pm daily, with optional hour-long clubs after school.

We have done this by renting extra classrooms and by hiring extra staff to provide additional math instruction and help students with online learning after they finished getting their hours of instruction from their main teachers.

We believe this is important to ensure that your students can catch up on the instruction that was lost last spring – and also to give you some sense of normalcy in your daily lives.

We know that online learning is not nearly as effective as in-person learning, but we are prepared to return to online learning if our county health officer says that will be necessary for the first part of the school year.

Nearly all of our parents who answered our survey said they were in favor of all-day school, and we want to respond to those concerns. We do not wish to see students unsupervised at home for any longer than is necessary.

Having said this, we are still working out the details of an after school program. Due to budget cuts, we are not sure we can provide an after school program until 5 p.m., but we will use those after school dollars to help fund our program during the day so that all students can have regular school days.

We expect to hear later this summer if we will be allowed to re-open August 12 as scheduled. By that time we will also have a plan for any after school care that we are able to provide.

Meanwhile, we are happy to announce that our summer program is going very well! We are keeping our sixty students safe by maintaining six-feet distance at all times and also requiring student and staff to wear face coverings and to wash their hands frequently.

This is something that will continue in the Fall if and when we are allowed to re-open. This re-opening has been put on hold due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the Bay Area.

Please attend our Zoom meeting at 6 pm Wednesday, July 8, if you would like to give input or have questions to ask. Your child should be able to help you get on Zoom if you are not familiar with this online meeting program. Meeting ID: 987 7478 8067, Password: 873226.

We are looking forward to seeing you all as soon as is deemed safe. We miss you all and hope for the best for you – with your families, your jobs and your health.