Dear Tiger Community,
We plan to reopen for in-person instruction on Monday, February 1st.
This has not been the start to a new semester that we wanted. We know your kids learn best when they are in our buildings. I’ve also seen some of the amazing and creative things our educators have done to promote learning and connect with our students during this extended shutdown.
Our goal all year has been to maximize the number of students learning in-person. We have also had to balance that goal with putting the safety of our students, faculty, and staff first. We are challenged by the number of cases locally, the potential for a new variant in the area, and the capacity of the local health department to keep up with their responsibilities to track and trace and help us with safety protocols.
To keep our doors open, we need the entire school community to help. First, every student, faculty, and staff member must wear a mask 100% of the time they are in our buildings and on our buses. Due to the potential for the new variant of COVID, which has been found in nearby communities, we are encouraging everyone in our buildings to wear a face mask, instead of a neck gaiter or bandanna.
We cannot stress enough how important it is for adults and children to wear a mask, socially distance, and wash hands. Our policy on mask-wearing, as well as tips for safe handling of masks, is available on our website. Also, please continue to use our Good2BeBack health monitoring app to check in before you send your children off to school.
Also, once again, we remind everyone that if you or a family member has any symptoms of COVID, please stay home. Our health office has a step-by-step guide for families, along with contact information for each building’s nurse.
Going forward, we will be changing how we use PAUSES related to COVID cases. In the future, we will PAUSE on a case-by-case basis. We have learned this year that we can safely continue in-person hybrid learning while the contact tracing and the testing process continues. We are also considering adjustments to our safety and instructional plans so that we can get our students in-school as much as possible without jeopardizing anyone’s health.
We all share in the frustration for the speed at which things change in this current COVID environment. But we will do everything we can to keep you updated as soon as we can. We encourage you to check our website for updates. We will also continue to send email updates like these. And you can download our smartphone app to receive push notifications as soon as they happen. You may also visit our website for more information on receiving text message notifications.
Sincerely,
Jon Hunter, Interim Superintendent