Whittier Union rolled out the red carpet and gave over 2,700 members of the Class of 2020 the star treatment during one-of-a-kind drive-up graduations that saw students walk across grand stages on their campuses and collect diplomas as families, sounding air horns and holding custom big-head cutouts, cheered from decorated vehicles, limousines and party buses. Every day during the week of July 20, each Whittier Union campus hosted socially distanced graduation ceremonies that provided students and families safe venues in which to celebrate after traditional ceremonies were canceled due to public health restrictions.
Whittier Union High School District will begin the 2020-21 school year with a 100% distance learning schedule, converting the fall semester into a quarter system in which students will take three online classes in each of two nine-week periods starting Wednesday, Aug. 12. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 3x9 instructional model and launching the school year in Stage 1 of the District’s four-stage reopening plan during a July 28 virtual board meeting.
Whittier Union Develops Flexible Learning Plan for Fall 2020
Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the recommended instructional model and one of the four stages in which schools will reopen, which range from 100% online to 100% in-person, during a special meeting Tuesday, July 28, when health conditions will be clearer.
Before spending the next four years studying biomedical engineering at Harvard University, Whittier High School graduate Julia Casas is dedicating her summer to working with PIH Health Whittier Hospital to develop a volunteer social network and raise awareness of COVID-19 and the available health services in the community. Casas, who is one of Whittier High’s seven valedictorians for the Class of 2020, is working with PIH Health volunteer services and health marketing administrators to compile a large volunteer database; create a volunteer website, social media accounts and weekly newsletter; coordinate donations of personal protective equipment; and organize online fundraisers.
Whittier Union Develops Flexible Back-to-School Learning Plan for Fall 2020
Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the recommended instructional model and one of the four stages in which schools will reopen, which range from 100% online to 100% in-person, during a special meeting Tuesday, July 28, when health conditions will be clearer.
Whittier Union to Host Socially Distanced Drive-thru Graduations
Over 2,800 members of Whittier Union’s Class of 2020 will have the opportunity to walk across a stage set up on the campuses they’ve called home for the last four years while being cheered on by families who will have a front-stage view during socially distanced drive-thru graduation ceremonies. California High will hold its ceremony from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 20; La Serna will hold its ceremony from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 21; Santa Fe High will hold its ceremony from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22; Whittier High will hold its ceremony from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 23; and Pioneer High will hold its event from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 24. On Wednesday, July 22, the Transition program will honor students from 4 to 5 p.m.; Sierra Vista will celebrate students from 5 to 7 p.m.; Frontier will honor grads from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; and Whittier Union Adult School will celebrate graduates from 8:30 to 9 p.m. at the Sierra Education Center campus.
Whittier Union High School District is exploring adopting a quarter system for the fall semester of the 2020-21 school year, which begins Wednesday, Aug. 12. The instructional model is part of a four-stage teaching and learning plan that is adaptable to the continuously changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the surge of positive coronavirus cases across the state and Los Angeles County, school districts are developing flexible back-to-school learning plans that ensure the safety and well-being of students and staff and provide robust instruction to students – whether delivered online or in-person.
Over 2,800 members of Whittier Union’s Class of 2020 will have the opportunity to walk across a stage set up on the campuses they’ve called home for the last four years while being cheered on by families who will have a front-stage view during socially distanced drive-thru graduation ceremonies taking place the week of July 20. Due to strict public health restrictions related to COVID-19, the District postponed in-person graduation ceremonies that were originally scheduled in June. Drive-thru ceremonies are now permitted in Los Angeles County under recently updated public health guidelines.
Whittier Union Graduate Creates COVID-19 Awareness Campaign
Harvard-bound Whittier High School Class of 2020 co-valedictorian Julia Casas will partner with PIH Whittier to establish more effective communication networks in the Whittier area in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The effort is part of Harvard’s SPARK program, an immersive six-week public service program offered exclusively to incoming freshmen. Casas will work with PIH Whittier administrators to organize a social network of volunteers, create an online newsletter, coordinate donations of PPE and raise funds for the hospital.
Donning protective face coverings, gloves and yellow and orange safety vests, volunteers from Los Angeles County organized thousands of food boxes and loaded them into hundreds of vehicles that began lining up at 8:30 a.m. as part of a free drive-thru food giveaway at Pioneer High School. The Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, in partnership with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Whittier Union, sponsored the July 1 event, giving enough food away to feed 2,426 families. Each car that drove through received four 20-pound boxes of groceries, including protein, dairy, non-perishables and fresh produce.
