DCPS sent Canvas log in information to families on Thursday. The text of the email is below. The email was sent to one parent or guardian per household. If you need the email sent to you directly, please email brentelementary@k12.dc.gov.

Monday, August 17
Join us for new parent orientation! These virtual meetings are for families new to the Brent community.  

New Parent Orientation - Meeting 1 - 8 - 9 a.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88664273582
Meeting ID: 886 6427 3582
Passcode: 7JJKh8
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+13126266799,,88664273582#,,,,,,0#,,490943# US (Chicago)
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        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
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Meeting ID: 886 6427 3582
Passcode: 490943
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcankyj6Q7

New Parent Orientation - Meeting 2  - 6 - 7 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85251602318

Meeting ID: 852 5160 2318
Passcode: 3dxY8d
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+13126266799,,85251602318#,,,,,,0#,,574857# US (Chicago)
+19292056099,,85251602318#,,,,,,0#,,574857# US (New York)

Dial by your location
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Meeting ID: 852 5160 2318
Passcode: 574857
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kxqMKvojw

Dear Brent Families,

Since we last “talked” on Thursday, the Brent team has been busy!

We’ve heard from some families about the depth of their grief, not necessarily a critique of the Mayor’s decision to go virtual for the first term but rather a recognition of the loss and unique stresses it reflects. Even as we focus on planning a year worthy of our responsibility to students, we share that grief.

We heard from some of our faculty that this is not the form of teaching and learning that they imagined when dedicating their lives to education. They are grappling with ways to build relationships, plan for engaging instruction, and conduct assessments to make sure we see, track and respond to individual needs. No matter their disappointment, it is evident that our faculty is committed to the innovation required to serve our students.
We’ve launched our Becoming an Antiracist School and Community Working Group, a faculty initiative, and continued the dialogue among the Diversity Working Group, to begin the hard and sustained work of identifying the systemic and structural foundations of inequity and to reshape those systems toward equity. With virtual learning, we are rebuilding school and will do so in way that reflects our burgeoning Antiracist identity.

We’ve heard more and more from DCPS, primarily as part of the annual (but this year virtual) Summer Leadership Institute, clarifying expectations and supports around scheduling, learning platforms, instructional planning, trauma-informed social emotional practices. This information has allowed us to deepen our school-based planning process, contextualizing what each of these things will mean for the Brent community and updating our “progress so far” and “next steps” chart first published on Thursday.

In most cases and functions, we are focused on Term 1. That focus will allow us to invest in the period of time that we know will be virtual and will allow us to reflect and revise in future terms.

Our next family communications will be a Community Meeting on August 12th from 8-9 p.m. and the Summer Mailing, which will be postmarked and posted on our website by August 10th.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas. Your thoughts often help to push our planning in an even more productive direction.
Sincerely,
Norah Lycknell
Principal