Strong Ties Will Keep Us Together

Director's Corner April 27, 2020

We would like to extend our appreciation to each and every member of the NOCRC community. The faculty, staff, students, and family members of NOCRC, our members, and our partner institutions are working tirelessly in making the necessary changes to continue serving our students. Thank you for being patient and flexible as we navigate through this unprecedented time.

During this global COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to support each other, and we want to let you know that NOCRC is here to help. We are doing everything we can to ensure our students and the community continue to have exceptional educational opportunities and resources.

With the health, safety, and best interests of our community in mind, various NOCRC members have made the necessary adjustments to their spring schedules. At North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE), the new Spring Term will begin the week of April 13 and will be offered online only. You can access their COVID-19 frequently asked questions page for more information or visit www.noce.edu for an updated class schedule, instructions on how to register, information on remote support services, and links to student resources.

Another great service being offered by an NOCRC member is Cypress College’s new “Drive-Up Wi-Fi” option for their enrolled students, to make their spring semester courses accessible to all. Through the “Drive-Up Wi-Fi” service, wireless internet access will be available to students in Lot #1 on a first-come, first-served basis on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. until the last scheduled class on that particular day of the week. Students must remain in their cars while using this service to follow current public health directives, such as social distancing.

The North Orange County Regional Occupational Program (NOCROP) will continue instruction through distance learning. Students can find any updates on the NOCROP home page. For Garden Grove Adult Education information, please visit their home page. Students should reach out to their course instructors directly with any specific questions.

We hope that by lifting each other up, we can maintain a positive and constructive educational community right here in North Orange County. We know that many of you are doing your part in different ways to help our neighbors, our communities, and those on the front lines. Thanks are in order to many of you, including, for example, professors Catherine Dunne and Jennifer Oo from NOCE for donating personal protection equipment (PPE) from their classrooms to a local hospital.

We thank our faculty, staff, and administrators at our member institutions for revising the curriculum into online formats and getting things running smoothly under tight deadlines. We also thank our partners for offering their guidance. Most importantly, we owe gratitude to our wonderful students for being so understanding and responsive.

We do not know exactly what is to come in the next few months, but we do know that we are doing our best to continue to provide life-changing adult education programs and services, all in collaboration with our members and partners. We are still here, albeit in a whole new way, but we are determined to support our students and we are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to serve you!