Dear Pine Cobble Community,
The signs of fall can be seen all over campus right now with the feel of the crisp air, changing colors of the leaves, and morning dew appearing on our fields. We are finishing up our second week of remote learning for our students and faculty. It was another engaging week of academics, our first assembly of the year with a musician from San Francisco, and specialist classes for all grades that were fun and filled with learning. We appreciate your continued effort in this partnership.
As we approach the opportunity to return to in-person learning after our two weeks away, I want to share specifics around communication about confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our school community in addition to some other news.
Pine Cobble COVID-19 Protocol
All of our processes and protocols align with the Department of Health requirements and recommendations, and in many cases, exceed those requirements. This past week we reviewed our current policies and procedures, and we anticipate some enhancements to them that we will share in the next few days. In the meantime, if you would like to reference our current COVID-19 protocol, please click here. Additionally, you may also continue to reference our Covid-19 FAQ document on our website.
Have you heard about the Pine Cobble Safety Lasagna yet? We have been teaching the younger children about safety in school this year with our Safety Lasagna. The children know, in order for all of us to stay safe, we need all of our safety layers - cohorts, masks, social distancing and handwashing - to be in the lasagna!
When we will communicate about a COVID-19 case
We will alert a cohort of a confirmed COVID-19 case, including direction to self-quarantine and seek medical guidance. Out of an abundance of caution, and in interest of transparency in support of our community's health and well-being, we will also alert the entire school community of a confirmed case in a grade. In both the cohort and all-community notification, we will NOT reveal the individual's name. With the Health Inspector and our medical advisors, each situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and we will only expand the group of who should be self-quarantined as directed by the Department of Health and/or as indicated by contact tracing based on student or employee activities.
How we will communicate about a confirmed COVID-19 case:
Email will be our primary means of communication. A phone call and/or an automated system voice message may also be used for time-pressing scenarios, such as if information comes to us after school hours, and we need to put a cohort into quarantine before the next school day.
Remote Learning Survey
In an effort to better serve you and your child/ren, please complete the Learning Preference survey. As you know we offer "Remote Access" to our on campus learning for all families.This survey will help our teachers plan and allow them to continue providing high quality content for all students. We ask that families make their decisions for a full week of learning. Preference changes should be sent to Andrew Ritter a.ritter@pinecobble.org by 2:00pm on Friday for the following week.
Ongoing Regional COVID-19 Data Statistics
Nurse Hire
The road to hiring our full time nurse position was long, but in the end, worth the lengthy process. After our initial hire decided to stay on at their current place of employment, a new search for our full time nurse began. We are excited to have hired Jordanne Wotkowicz who will begin on October 5th.
Jordanne got her Bachelor's of Science from Springfield College in Sports-Biology/Pre-Med where she graduated Cum Laude. She went on to get her Bachelor's in nursing through the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science. Jordanne has worked as a registered nurse at Southern Vermont Medical Center, Berkshire Health Systems, as well as time as a private care nurse. Prior to heading off to college, Jordanne was named the Daniel Alcombright Scholarship recipient for leadership/community involvement and received scholarships from the Town of Adams, Hoosac Bank, and the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. Jordanne's references consistently spoke of Jordanne as a bright, dedicated and hardworking person who is great with children and a confident decision maker.
Before Jordanne begins with us, we will have Dr. Daisy Fischer or advanced nurse Jodi Szczepaniak-Locke in the nurse's role, bringing their expertise to our community. After October 5th, all travel and health related questions will go directly to Ms. Wotkowicz and please be sure to CC me at s.wells@pinecobble.org. You may reach Jordanne at j.wotkowicz@pinecobble. org.
Community Responsibility
Our supportive community is strong and resilient. We continue to be examples of our Pine Cobble pillars by being considerate and aware and making good choices that keep our collective community safe. We do not take lightly our Community Agreement of Responsibility and know that together, we will face these uncertain times with compassion, respect, and responsibility.
I thank you all - students, families, faculty, and staff - for keeping me updated about your concerns and questions. I want to especially thank you for what you are doing to extend our efforts at school into your lives outside of Pine Cobble, by choosing activities with an eye towards limiting exposure and taking as many precautions as possible to help support our school's collective health and wellness.
Warm regards,
Sue
