Ayers Elementary School

Official communications from Ayers and from MDUSD will be posted on our school website and on our PTA Konstella page.  You may also request to join the Ayers Elementary PTA Facebook page to communicate with other families in our school. You may direct individual questions to thomasMS@mdusd.org.

Thank you again for supporting all of our students,

Martha Thomas

Principal, Ayers Elementary

Links to join can be found below:

Request to join PTA Konstella Website  

Ayers Elementary School PTA Facebook Group

Response to State Superintendent's Letter Regarding Possible Continued School Closure

Dear Mount Diablo Unified School District Community,

I am writing to you tonight in response to a news story that has surfaced across California publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, and has been told and retold across social media platforms.  The stories make reference to a letter distributed from State Superintendent of Schools, Tony Thurmond, to the states county Superintendents, where he offers an opinion that schools may not reopen this school year. 

Please note, that at this time, this is not a directive nor guidance from any state office, including the governor’s office or the California Department of Public Health. Yesterday evening I heard from County Superintendent Lynn Mackey, that while these concerns were discussed on a phone call with the county superintendents yesterday by State Superintendent Thurmond, on Monday, March 30, 2020, there was never an indication that any decisions about potential closure extensions had been determined. 

Here is the language from Tony Thurmond's letter to County Superintendents regarding schools potentially not being in session the rest of the year, "Due to the current safety concerns and needs for ongoing social distancing it currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year. This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year, but rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning." - Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Schools Read the full letter here. 

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District is working to broaden our Distance Learning opportunities for children, and we are working to prepare for the possibility that the suspension of in-class instruction could extend beyond the current May 1st guidance, we continue to work with the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the Governor's Office, and the Office of the State Superintendent, and we will collaborate any change to our current response to any such decision on any new extension of school closures with our Contra Costa Public Health Department.   I want to assure you that we will continue to collaborate with our state officials, receive and review guidance, and continue to engage in consultation with many, before issuing any such direction.

As you know, things are always subject to change. Should there be any official recommendation to extend our current closure, I will strive to inform our public and employees as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will continue with the work we are doing to connect, engage and support our students, their families.  We will strive to work with each other to accomplish great things for our students. We will continue to develop and build quality distance learning for students in all of our schools and work to provide food to our students in need as best we can with the resources we have available.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns and please work to keep yourselves and your families safe.

Also, please find a link below to our second "Town Hall" meeting that is focused on providing information about our extended learning programs and resources for our families.

With respect and appreciation for you all,

Superintendent Dr. Robert A. Martinez

Here is the link to our most recent "Town Hall". 

Ayers Elementary School has been educating young minds and empowering students since 1962. Serving students K-5 and with an enrollment of about 400 students, you will definitely feel like you are part of a community when you are here. Ayers friendly faculty work together as a team,  there is a high level of parent involvement and our PTA is excited to welcome volunteers with fresh and new ideas. So, come by and check us out!

Working Together to Keep Our Students Safe

Originally Posted: 02-27-2020 Updated: 03-11-2020

The Facts: 

     A new (“novel”) virus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness called coronavirus (COVID-19). The outbreak began in December of 2019 in Hubei Province, China, but outbreaks are now occurring in other countries around the world. As of March 10th, 2020, residents of Contra Costa County are still at a low risk of becoming infected with novel coronavirus.

• Across the United States, as of March 11, 2020, there are 938 cases (confirmed and presumptive positive) of infected individuals and 29 deaths. Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

• Among reported cases in California, ten (10) individuals have been confirmed in Contra Costa County. Of those, four were known to have had contact with people who previously tested positive. Six had no recent history of travel outside the U.S. or known contact with a confirmed case. Source: Contra Costa Health Services

• There are zero (0) cases of coronavirus reported at our school sites. 
  
  The World Health Organization maintains an interactive map and issues daily reports tracking Coronavirus statistics across the globe.

District Actions and Recommendations

     Our district's Coronavirus Task Force, at the direction of the Superintendent, has reviewed guidance provided to schools by Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) on 3/10/20 and has provided further information to our school leaders and the public on Wednesday morning (3/11/20) regarding restrictions and limitations as a way to minimize risk to our students. Our guidance and required actions documents were sent to Principals, following the guidance from CCHS. School Principals are expected to communicate any event postponements to their respective communities. 

     All of our School Site Safety Plans have been fully evaluated and updated. Our professional staff have been trained to properly screen, assess, and refer any student who is not feeling well.

     Further, Mount Diablo Unified School District school is being proactive in many ways:

-Ensuring our staff are trained to properly screen, assess, and refer students who are not feeling well
-Establishing daily sanitizing and disinfecting routines for frequently touched objects and surfaces like faucets and door handles
-Re-distributing our district’s emergency response plan to school leadership to add to existing school site safety plans
-Promoting additional precautionary measures like encouraging students and staff to stay home if they ill or are experiencing flu-like symptoms.
-Ensuring our custodial staff are knowledgeable on recommendations and preventative measures issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
-Ensuring sanitary resources are available for increased hand washing or hand sanitizing stations 
-Reviewing all class field trips and school travel to specific locations (standard protocol)
-Continuing our collaboration with county health officials for information and recommendations

Protect Yourself    

     Despite the district’s many actions, individual precautions are the best way to protect yourself and to help prevent the spread of disease. See these recommendations from the CDC:

-Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
-Always wash hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
-Avoid close contact with those who are ill.
-Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
-Stay home when you are sick.
-Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
-Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using wipes or disinfectant cleaning spray    

Future Response and Action Plan

     If in the future we confirm any case of coronavirus at our schools, our district will follow guidelines from the California Department of Public Health in coordination with the Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) organization.

     Mount Diablo Unified School District recognizes that this situation is evolving, and we will make every effort to update this webpage on a daily basis and send out communication by phone and email as needed. We sincerely appreciate your partnership to keep our students safe.

The Office of the Superintendent
Mount Diablo Unified School District

California Healthy Kids Parent Survey 

Our school needs you to complete this online survey to learn more about your opinions about it. This survey is an opportunity to communicate your perceptions about your child’s school. This letter explains the survey and, at the bottom of the page, provides your login, password and access instructions. If you have any questions about this survey, contact Martha Thomas at thomasMS@mdusd.org .

You will have access to this online survey beginning January 27, 2020.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain parent perceptions about the school.

Parent Survey in English 

Parent Survey in Spanish 

Your participation is voluntary. It is also very important. The information you provide will help guide district and school efforts to promote safety, enhance learning supports, and improve student achievement.

· This is an anonymous survey. It is designed so that no one can be identified from the data. You do not have to respond to any questions that you feel could be used to identify you. Simply skip any such questions.

· All questions apply to this school only.

· The results are for the use of your district. The California Department of Education and WestEd will preserve data confidentiality and refer any data requests to the district.