Dear Families,
I wanted to wish you all a happy and restful break over the next two weeks. I know this has been a very complicated fall and I, myself, am looking forward to a break with my family. Although our school office will be closed for the next two weeks, we will be back into the office on January 4th. If you have any questions or need support bridging your family’s needs during the break, please feel free to contact Umy Concepcion, our health navigator, at (541) 250-6736.
I know many families have questions about transitioning to hybrid learning and what comprehensive distance learning will look like in January. We continue to monitor the county’s COVID metrics to determine if it is safe for students to return to the building. I have included two resources from the Oregon Department of Education that explain how county metrics are used to determine what type of instruction we can offer. The first document explains what metrics will be used and the COVID risk levels. The second link is a dashboard where the state publishes the current COVID metrics by county.
I also wanted to include information that I have learned after the parent information meeting held on 12/8/20. A parent asked if they would be notified if their child were in a class with another student (in the same cohort) who tested positive for COVID but they remained further than 6 feet from the child. I have discussed this scenario with district leadership. At this point, we will follow the protocol that if anyone in a cohort tests positive for COVID and they were at school where there may have been exposure, the entire cohort will be contacted and asked to quarantine for 14 days.
We hope to begin calling families in January to discuss the possibility of returning to some in person instruction. In the meantime, the district will continue to share information about the structure of elementary school and options for families. If you are looking for the most current information shared by the school district, please visit the district website and click on the section entitled “Latest News”.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful break. We can’t wait to see everyone (even over a screen or from a distance) in the new year.
Sincerely,
Principal Santy
