Jordan School District is committed to ensuring that students and families are offered support throughout this unique time. Listen to our Superintendent's Podcast highlighting some tips for coping with this unique challenge. Please know that it is normal for students and families to feel anxious or stressed, especially while experiencing so many unexpected changes. Along with your school’s staff, our District is committed to supporting your family’s health and well-being. For this reason, we have put together this resource page to help address some of the major concerns regarding COVID-19 as well as some ideas for how to make the most of your home-centered life.
Click here for a comprehensive list of available community resources for health, housing, unemployment, food assistance, as well as other available help.
Lista de recursos COVID-19 para la comunidad
If your student is struggling with anxiety from the 2020 Earthquake, please visit our page on managing emotions and coping with earthquakes and other natural disasters.
For resources related to at-home learning, please visit our District's Digital Learning page. Here are some additional tips for homeschooling during this unique time.
General Tips for Home-Centered Wellness During COVID-19
- For tips that are directed towards students, please review the flyer to the left put together by our ProjectAWARE grant partners.
- For ideas for talking to your children about COVID-19 refer to these tips from Intermountain Healthcare. You could also use this brief comic to help children understand the virus. It is good to talk openly and honestly with children while sticking to the facts and stating what we DO know about the virus because misinformation and rumors can add to feelings of anxiousness.
- Check out this link for a Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook.
- We urge you to follow the recommendations of the CDC to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which would include social distancing and hand-washing. Steps for what to do if you are feeling sick are included in the CDC’s recommendations.
- We would encourage students and families to continue to build relationships and stay social while following the guidelines on social distancing. This can be through social media, video chats, and also in-person conversations, board games, or activities with parents and siblings who may have not had time together at home like they do now.
- Try your best to find uplifting and entertaining, books, shows, games, and music and remember that checking the news every few hours will only heighten anxiety. It’s important to take a break from the news and families could consider scheduling & limiting your check-ins to once or twice daily (morning and evening) so that you are able to make the most of your home-centered life. You can also
- Find time to relax your mind using mindfulness strategies, activating the vagus nerve, meditating, or deep breathing.
- Establish healthy routines as this is essential to reducing stress. Keeping a routine for sleeping, eating, exercising, studying, and playing can help reduce the stress of change. Students and families will adjust to the new routine much more easily if it is predictable.
- Help students stay productive and goal-oriented in their new routine by dedicating time to schoolwork, projects at home, and personal goals (like learning how to play an instrument or cook a meal).
- Try making a list of things you still can do that you would enjoy (both individually and as a family), like a "social distancing bucket list," as this home-centered life may be an opportunity to develop a new hobby, relationship, or skill that you didn't have time for before it happened.
- Consider starting a gratitude journal, because even though there is much change, recognizing what has gone well can help reduce stress and anxiety. Another practice of gratitude could be to take the time to write letters or emails to people who have made a positive impact in your life.
- Please continue to take care of yours and your child’s physical health by eating regularly (please come by one of our schools for meals as needed), sleeping at least 8 hours, getting physical activity, exercise, and sunlight.
- KSL has put together their own list of ideas to deal with stress and anxiety from this situation if you would like more ideas.
- Here is another menu of activities for maintaining wellness during home learning
- For tips related to substance abuse during COVID-19 dismissal, visit this link.
- For tips from the National Association of School Psychologists, click this link.
We are stronger together and we want to stay connected and supportive as a District along with your school teams. Crisis and community resources are still available through SafeUT, and the crisis call center. Additional tips and strategies can be found on the other pages of our wellness website.
The wonderful staff at each of your schools along with our District will continue to be a resource for you throughout this unique period of home-centered instruction.