April 9, 2020
ImpactTulsa Partners and Community Members,
This week, public schools in Tulsa County launched distance learning. Building and launching these initiatives took a lot of planning and coordination with district leaders, school administrators, teachers, parents, caregivers and guardians. Thank you all for the work you’re doing to reach and support students during this unprecedented time.
We are continually working with partners to compile and align resources, and we sincerely thank all who contributed information and updates. If you have a resource to share or are releasing news updates, please email us at info@impacttulsa.com so we can add your information to next week’s resource round-up.
Tulsa County School Districts + Non-Profit Leaders Collaborative Sessions
To remain in contact and support each other with resources, ImpactTulsa has created Google Groups mailing lists for the four resource areas identified in our partner call last week. You can join a Google Group by clicking the links below. Click here for a step by step tutorial on how to join Google Groups without a Gmail address. Feel free to share this email and the links below to invite others to join the group(s) as well.
- Education and Distance Learning
- Virtual collaboration offered Thursdays at 8:30am – beginning April 9th
- Themes that the group identified include: access to technology, teacher capacity, curriculum options, and delivery of services.
- Virtual collaboration offered Thursdays at 8:30am – beginning April 9th
- Food and Meal Options
- Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 10:00am – beginning April 7th
- Themes that the group identified include: meal access & transportation, strengthening staff/organizational capacity, information access, and resource mobilization for children and families.
- Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 10:00am – beginning April 7th
- Family Resources
- Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 8:30am – beginning April 7th
- Themes that the group identified include: mental health and domestic violence services, childcare, transportation, technology, basic needs, and supporting ELL families.
- Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 8:30am – beginning April 7th
- Communications
- Virtual collaboration offered Thursdays at 10:00am – beginning April 9th
- Themes that the group identified include: intentional planning of communication, access to tools and technology, and the ability to share the most relevant news in clear and concise ways to meet the needs of students and families.
ImpactTulsa Partner Attendance Works Hosting Free Webinars
Attendance Works is hosting a webinar on Leading Virtual Learning Communities: Facing the Challenges of COVID-19. Space in the event is extremely limited, so make sure to register through the link above.
Oklahoma State Department of Education
For the latest Oklahoma State Department of Education updates, please visit their website. For their latest answers to frequently asked questions, please refer here. For information on how to engage families during this time, check out their resources here.
Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States
Data on race and the coronavirus is too limited to draw sweeping conclusions, experts say, but disparate rates of sickness — and death — have emerged in some places. Read more here.
OSU-Tulsa Helping Rural Districts With Distance Learning
Professors at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa are helping teachers and school leaders in rural districts learn how to better educate their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. See the story here.
RSU Public TV Launches On-Air Broadcast During COVID-19 Crisis
RSU Public TV is partnering with Sequoyah Public School and Tulsa Public Schools to broadcast lesson plans to students across Northeast Oklahoma. Learn more here.
Union Public Schools Gives Digital Devices for Distance Learning
Union Public Schools is giving out laptops, iPads and portable Wi-Fi devices for families without access to them to ensure students are able to participate in distance learning. See the story here.
What it’s like for a 4th grade class on day two of distance learning
Tulsa’s Channel 8 had a chance to sit in on a Zoom class with about 10 students from a Grissom Elementary fourth grade class. Check out how the teacher and her pupils are all adjusting.
Oklahoma Schools May Use Federal Funds For Coronavirus Related Matters
The U.S. Department of Education has granted preliminary approval for Oklahoma schools to use federal funding with more flexibility. The waiver allows schools to repurpose funding for coronavirus-related matters like teacher training for distance learning and technology infrastructure.
Teach for America Offering Virtual Training
As schools continue to close because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are facilitating a variety of virtual engagements—offering everything from guidance on how to leverage digital curriculum to technical training on how to use online learning platforms. The purpose of this resource is to keep teachers and parents apprised of these opportunities.
Opportunities for Action: Maximizing WIC’s Role in Supporting Health, Food Security
Advocacy organizations, other partners, and WIC should widely disseminate information about WIC services and special policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the latest document with opportunities for action.
Let’s Talk Town Hall
The extraordinary stressors being caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic mean everyone must attend to their own mental health and stay alert for signs of trouble in those closest to them, local experts warn. Watch the forum here.
Tulsa World
School districts look to end semester early to help students, prepare for the possibility of continuing distance learning in 2020-21. Read more here.
The numbers of COVID-19 cases and recoveries are constantly changing–follow the latest updates from the Tulsa World here.
Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
CRPE is tracking what school districts are doing nationwide in response to COVID-19. Click to view their database, which currently presents information for numerous districts, aiming for a range in size and geography, and serving nearly 9 million students.
Click below to be directed to the following resource pages on our website:
If you have a resource to share or are releasing news updates, please email us at info@impacttulsa.com so we can add your information to next week’s resource round-up.