Dear Westside Waldorf School Community:
We are keenly aware that these past weeks of school closure and remote learning have been challenging for everyone. However, we trust that you have come safely through this extraordinary situation and, as we journey towards the final weeks of school, we would like to take a pause and check in with you.
Before we continue, we hope you have had the opportunity to view the WWS May Day celebration slideshow and read the first set of interviews with our graduating 8th graders. These moments inspire us all to see the true beauty and goodness in our community and in Waldorf education and to work even harder to continue the good work moving into the future.
Regarding our plans for the 2020-2021 school year, we want to provide you with some context for how we are assimilating information and forming our decisions. Westside Waldorf School has established a return to campus task force, composed of representatives from the board, faculty, and administration, that is working in consultation with the state and county health guidelines to develop a safe, comprehensive plan. While there remain too many unknowns to say exactly what the school experience will be like in September, please rest assured that we are striving for flexibility and transparency both in our process and in the re-opening plan being developed.
We are focusing on three major areas in our planning:
- The health and safety of our community
- The educational experience of our students
- The financial health of the school
As part of this endeavor, we will continue to seek your valuable feedback to help inform our decisions as we consider ways to enhance both the experience of our Grades and Early Childhood students. To foster this exchange, we will be sending out a survey to help us understand your needs as a parent body, and our Board of Trustees will also be hosting a
Town Hall on Thursday June 4th at 8 pm
to hear from and support our community as we work together to build a healthy school year. More information is forthcoming.
Our Commitments
Please know that we recognize the uncertainty you may be facing as you make plans for next year and we are doing our best to address the questions and concerns we are all facing as a school. We’ve said this elsewhere, but we want to reiterate our commitments to you:
- We are committed to preserving each family as part of our school community through these very challenging times.
- We are committed to providing a rich Waldorf educational experience for our students.
- We are committed to continue to communicate plans and decisions as they develop.
Our Place in Los Angeles
Earlier this month, Mayor Garcetti laid out how the Los Angeles economy will open in four phases. As of today, May 27, we have entered Phase 2. The plan indicates that we will move to the next phase only if there is positive improvement/stability in the metrics for 14 consecutive days and that we could see a reversion to an earlier phase at any time.
Schools are set to open in Phase 3.
Our Assumptions
We are continually monitoring all facets of this dynamic situation and we recognize that this requires adaptive planning that will evolve as the science and circumstances do. Despite the uncertainty, we are developing plans based on the following assumptions informed by the most current guidance from public health officials:
- School campuses will reopen in the 2020–2021 academic year with the probability that Los Angeles will experience continued outbreaks of COVID-19 that will force us to revert to earlier phases of the plan. We must prepare for the potential of localized, rolling closures triggered by additional waves of infections.
- Every aspect of our school, including our physical campus, our academic calendar, daily schedules, programming, and social habits, may require modifications based on guidance from national, state, and local health officials, which could include physical distancing, wellness checks, masks, frequent disinfecting of classrooms, as well as intermittent transitions to distance learning.
- We will not be returning to a pre-COVID “normal” for some time and social distancing is here for the foreseeable future.
Returning to School: Three Plans
We are developing three plans for starting school in the Fall. Specific decisions and additional plans regarding on-campus modifications will be finalized over the next few months and shared as promptly as practicable.
Plan A: Return to Campus
We will welcome all students and staff back to our beautiful campus while following specific health precautions in accordance with our local, state, and federal requirements. These will include, at a minimum, the following:
- Adults must attest to being symptom-free each day.
- Practicing physical distancing and the possibility of wearing masks under some conditions.
- Disinfecting of shared surfaces and equipment between uses.
- Reducing or, in some cases, eliminating shared materials.
- Reimagining classes, festivals, and community gatherings.
Plan B: Blended Learning
We recognize that there may be scenarios where campus would be open, but some families or staff may not be comfortable returning at that time or may be in quarantine/isolation due to circumstances related to COVID-19. Our goal is to provide a seamless transition between these scenarios and make instruction available to all students during these periods. Blended learning, where some students are receiving instruction via our Beyond the Classroom distance learning platform and some are receiving instruction on campus, does not change our mission or our commitment to providing a rich Waldorf educational experience.
Plan C: Temporary Campus Closures
Following the recommendations from local public health officials, we are preparing for a series of interruptions to on-campus learning. In the event our local community experiences a spike in COVID-19 cases and an interruption of physical operations occurs, we will promptly shift to campus-wide distance learning via our Beyond the Classroom platform.
Regardless of the mode we may find ourselves in at any given time, we will continue to educate the whole child through the head, hands, and heart. We will continue to build the capacities of confidence and resilience, encourage the pursuit of individual passions, promote life balance, encourage play and movement as a foundation of learning, and provide multisensory learning experiences. And most importantly, we will be leaning into the challenges of this new landscape together as a community of caring individuals, committed to raising the children in our care.
We want to reiterate how amazing each one of you are. Every one of us is doing the impossible right now, personally and professionally, and you've granted us grace at every turn. For that, we thank you.
With gratitude,
Leadership Council
Anjum Mir
Ellie Jenkins
Jessica Breakey
Laura Scheurer
Liis Edwards
Mike Quishenberry
Paul Helfrich
