Piñon Unified School District

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, The PUSD Campus will be closed on March 31 and April 1. We are working to finalize our operations now that Governor Ducey has extended the school closures to the end of the year and issued a Stay At Home order, this is in addition to the Shelter In Place order issued by the Navajo Nation. Schools are considered "essential" and we will not be shut down permanently but we need to review guidance on how to best serve the educational needs of our students and also protect the health of our staff. Essential security staff members and those working with student meal distribution should report as scheduled. All other staff should remain at home. PUSD staff please check your email for additional information. I do encourage all of our students, families and staff to follow the stay at home, shelter in place and curfew orders that have been issued! This is for your safety and for the health and safety of the entire PUSD Community. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, As we begin week 3 of schools being closed, PUSD is working hard to provide educational opportunities to our students. Teachers are reaching out to families with phone numbers and email addresses that we have on file in our PowerSchool system. Many teachers have told me that numbers are not in service or that they are not receiving calls back. Please contact your school office and update your information if you have not been contacted by the school or are not receiving our alert calls and text messages. Also, ALL students and ALL staff have access to their Google email accounts, Google Classroom and other Google apps from any device with an internet or data connection. Google apps are free downloads on any smartphone or tablet. Students can use the apps shown in the image to communicate with their teacher and complete assignments. We will keep posting updates daily so please continue to check our PUSD website or Facebook page for more information. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Community, We will be using our school buses to deliver breakfast and lunch beginning Thursday, March 26. Please see attached for routes. We plan to leave campus at 10am. This is the first run so please be patient, I do not know when we will reach each stop tomorrow. We can provide a better schedule for Friday. We will still have drive-up service on campus during the same time we have had this week. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, I just received notice from Governor Ducey's Office that the school closure will be extended though Friday, April 10 with classes on campus scheduled to resume on Monday, April 13. More details will follow in the days ahead. Thank you!

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, By now you may have heard that there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 at Kayenta Health Center. Now that the virus has reached the local area, PUSD is going to Plan B. All 10-month, 11-month and 12-month staff (certified and classified) will not report to work during the state school closure unless designated as essential. At this time essential personnel include those working with the breakfast and lunch program and campus security so those staff members should continue to report as scheduled. We will continue to provide the breakfast and lunch meals along with items from St. Mary's Food Back to ALL children age 18 and younger during the posted hours. All staff will be paid during this time as usual for the two weeks. This is not a "paid vacation" and all staff should consider themselves as "on-call" if we do need you to come in. The intention is that you stay home to limit your exposure to the virus. Teachers and administrators can be using this time to prep for return to school or to communicate with your students on educational activities they can do from home during the closure. Human Resources will also be making online professional development sessions available through frontline for all staff if you have access from home. The PUSD campus is closed except for the breakfast and lunch drive-up program.

Greetings PUSD #4 Staff: Update: 10-month certified staff: do not report to work at this time. The Prop 301 day scheduled for Saturday is postponed. Stay tuned for additional updates in the next few days. 10-month classified staff: you have the option of reporting to work on a disposition and we will find assignments for you. Also, you have the option to take any leave you have accrued to fill in your time while the schools are closed. Both are optional, not required. 11 and 12 month certified and classified staff: report to work as usual. We are working on a 4 X 10 hour schedule this week unless you are working with the food service program which would remain on 8 hour days. If your job duties allow you to work remotely from home, you have that option with supervisor approval. Reminder: Don't consider this a "vacation". The purpose for closing the schools is to stay home as much as possible to avoid possible contact with COVID-19 and the possible spread to others. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Unified Community! PUSD will be providing free breakfast and lunch to all children under the age of 18 beginning Tuesday, 3-17-2020, and running until the end of the school closure. It will be a drive-in service in front of Pinon Elementary. Hours for breakfast are 7:30-9:00am and lunch will be from 11:30am to 1:00pm. You do not need to be a PUSD student to participate, but children do need to be present to pick up the meals. We will also have food packages from St. Mary's Food Bank for distribution during these times. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings PUSD Staff, All 11 and 12 month staff will report on Monday as usual until we hear more information as to the school closure, specifically if we will have to make up the days later or not. Ten month staff will not report during the school closure unless notified to come in to work. I will provide more details when I have them. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona School Superintendent Kathy Hoffman just released a statement that closes all Arizona public schools for the next two weeks. We had already extended spring break by one week, but it looks like we will be out for at least two weeks. I don't know any other details yet but I will be posting throughout the day tomorrow through our phone app, district web page and Facebook as I find out additional information. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings Pinon Unified Community! After consulting with the Board President and Vice President, reviewing many texts and emails from concerned community members, and reviewing declarations from Arizona, Navajo Nation and the Federal Government, I have decided to extend spring break by one week. There will be no school for PUSD students March 16 to March 20. All 11 and 12 month staff will report on Monday, 10-month staff will not report on Monday. There will be a Special Board Meeting on Monday evening to discuss additional details for the week. Please understand that calling off school only works if students, families and staff STAY HOME. If you are still traveling and interacting in public you run the risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to the Pinon Community. All PUSD events, including Report Card Party and We-R-Family, are cancelled for this week. Thank you, Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings PUSD Community Due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, all student travel, with the exception of athletics which will be determined by AIA and NAIC, will be cancelled until further notice. All staff out of state travel will also be cancelled until further notice. Staff in-state travel will be limited to those considered required or essential for the operations of the Pinon School District. We will continue to post on our website and Facebook if there are updates or additional information. Thank you, Chris Ostgaard Superintendent Piñon Unified School District #4

PUSD #4 will be hosting a COVID-19 informational meeting on Friday, March 6 at 10:00am in the Pinon High School Auditorium. All are invited to attend!

Good Day PUSD Community! I know there is growing concern about the spread of COVID-19. The school district is closely monitoring the situation and is making the necessary preparations in case the COVID-19 becomes more prevalent in our community. For now, there have been no indications of an coronavirus outbreak within the PUSD or the Navajo Nation, but that could change as time goes on. We all play a role in reducing the likelihood of a coronavirus outbreak in our school district community. We encourage everyone to practice good habits, including: 1. Wash your hands regularly, especially after using the restroom and before preparing or consuming food. Wash for 20 seconds, using soap and hot water. Be sure to also wash your fingertips. 2. Avoid coughing or sneezing into your hands or in the air. Always try to cough or sneeze into a tissue, and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue, cough/sneeze into your arm. 3. As much as you can, avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose. 4. If children are feeling sick, please keep them home from school. Allow them some time to feel better so that they do not risk infecting others. We will continue to communicate with you in the days and weeks to come. It is possible that we may need to cancel classes if it appears the coronavirus has affected our community in a significant way. As always, the safety of our students, staff and families remains our top priority. We will act out an abundance of caution to protect everyone’s health and wellbeing.

Greetings PUSD Community! The following was taken from an emailed press release from the Navajo Nation OPVP. "On Thursday, March 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. the Nez-Lizer Administration will host a second live radio forum on KTNN 660AM to provide more information to the Navajo public and to receive questions from the public. Requests for the Navajo Nation Department of Health to provide information/presentations regarding the COVID-19 virus and preparation efforts can be e-mailed to [email protected]." "The Nez-Lizer Administration will continue to coordinate with the county, state, and federal officials to monitor the evolving impacts of the coronavirus and continue to encourage the public to take precautions. For updates, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. Please tune in to the radio broadcast this evening to learn more about the Navajo Nation response to COVID-19.. Thank you and have a great day! Superintendent Ostgaard

Greetings! Piñon Unified will be having school on Monday, February 24 with buses running on main roads only. We will post another update if anything changes. Have a great evening.

Good Morning Parents. This is a reminder for Parent & Teacher Conference scheduled for today, Wednesday February 5th. Elementary will start at 4:00pm to 6:00pm. Middle School will be from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. High School will be 5:00pm to 7:00pm. We hope to see you there. 📚✏️🖍📊 There will be no After-School Activities today due to PTC.

Greetings Pinon Unified Community, Happy Muddy Monday! We will be on an early release schedule with no after school activities Monday, January 27. Buses were unable to run in certain areas this morning. Please notify the school office if muddy roads kept you from school today.

Good Morning Pinon Unified Community! We will be having school today with buses running on main roads only. We will update you later this morning if there are any changes to today's schedule. Have a great day!

Greetings Piñon USD Community! There will be no school on Wednesday, January 22 due to continued rain and extremely muddy road conditions. Eleven and twelve month staff do report to work or make arrangements with your supervisor.

Greetings Pinon Unified Community! Today, Tuesday, January 21, we will be on an early release schedule due to muddy roads and more rain/snow forecast throughout the day. There will be no after school activity buses. Stay warm! Stay dry! Don't get stuck in the mud!