October 13, 2017

Wow.  It's kind of all I can say.  It's been a heck of a week and an emotional one for many of us....Thank you for coming together to support one another as we support our community....We are SO relieved that GVMS and so many homes of our GVMS families have been saved.  We know it's because of the awesome support from all of the first responders from ALL OVER THE US!.  So amazing!  We know that there are SO MANY families that have lost their homes and we will do anything in our power to support.  We are currently running a donation drive that we are working directly with Napa and Sonoma to support their schools.  If you can help, please let Elizabeth know ASAP!

***Please read THIS ENTIRE PAGE for all of the answers to some of the FAQS that we believe you will have.  We will see you on Monday at 8:10 in the library for a voluntary meeting and debrief.***

A message from Kris:
Dear All Staff,

At this point, we anticipate resuming classes and all student activities on Monday, October 16.  Currently, all previous evacuation advisories, orders and road closures remain in effect.  At this morning's Emergency Operation Center briefing, however, we learned, that if all goes well, the evacuations will be lifted for our attendance area prior to Monday.  Please keep in mind that this can change.  

The good news is that the additional personnel support provided to fight the fire has resulted in some containment, as well as an increase in the ability to prevent the fire from spreading. (Bulldozing, fire retardant, air support, and back fires)  Much of the smoke can be attributed to the controlled back fires.  I cannot express enough my appreciation for the various county and city agencies and those who joined us from other state that have worked tirelessly around the clock to keep our county safe.

We will be sending out an all call to parents and staff in both English and Spanish later this afternoon and again on Sunday regarding the status of school on Monday.

This morning, I was able to get a Highway Patrol escort out to Suisun Valley.  Mike and Ken from maintenance joined me.  They checked out the classrooms, and things seem pretty good.  We will continue to monitor the air quality.  Currently, the air quality is a bit worse in the Cordelia area.

I do want to thank our administrators who have also been working tirelessly throughout the week to react, strategize, and plan during this crisis.  I also want to Nancy Dunn who joined us the last two days for meetings.  We have all learned a great deal.

Our goal is to resume all classes and student activities on Monday.  Staff members who are concerned about air quality may consider bringing a face mask to work.  We anticipate that the air conditioners which pull air from outside may be off on Monday.  Some staff members are bringing fans from home to help with air circulation.  Our maintenance team has some fans, but they will be responding to larger areas such as multi-purpose rooms or cafeterias that need additional air flow.  Again, all of this is based on Monday's outside air quality.

I have been in communication with superintendents from around the area.  Napa Valley Unified will be closed on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week.  They are in a very different situation that we are.  They had schools that lost power, internet and phone systems down, students and staff members who lost homes, and fires raging on both sides of them.  All Solano County schools anticipate being open on Monday.  Solano Community College is scheduled to resume classes on Monday.  Vallejo Unified has a previously scheduled staff development day so students will not be present on Monday.

Unless something changes, this will be my last ALL STAFF update until Sunday evening.  Sorry folks, no Friday letter this week!  :-)

#BeSafe #BeKind #BeAware

I TRULY LOVE SEEING HOW OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR SCHOOL HAVE COME TOGETHER!! We look forward to seeing everyone Monday!!