October 28, 2020
Dear Families,
It has certainly been a challenging few weeks with the fires so close to Boulder, the tenuous air quality, a major weather event, and of course, the pandemic. I think we are all grateful that today the sun is out and children can play outside in the snow! I want to thank our faculty who give the word flexibility a whole new meaning! They have been so willing and able to adjust to whatever has come their way and I can’t say enough how much I appreciate their willingness to do what is necessary to ensure our children are safe and that their schedules are kept as close to normal as possible.
I want to share a few public health announcements:
Covid Update
As the numbers of Covid cases rise in Colorado and in the Boulder area the Health Dept. is moving us closer to a Safer at Home Level 3 scenario.
October 26, 2020 Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) reported that, due to an increase in cases, Boulder County may need to move to Safer at Home Level 3 on the State Dial Dashboard, which restricts the number of people who can be at a business, restaurant, or workplace, as well as decreases gathering sizes for events and fitness activities.
Denver moved to Level 3 yesterday and it is probable that Boulder will too.
As of today, new cases of COVID-19 among Boulder County residents in the past two weeks is 174.5 per 100,000, up from 135.7 last Thursday, Oct. 22. Safer at Home Level 3 begins at 175 per 100,000 population. The five-day rolling average of daily cases among county residents is 52.6 cases per day, which is higher than any other time except during the height of the surge of new cases among young adults.
What does this mean for schools and how will our operations be impacted?
Currently, we are closely monitoring the situation and will know more over the next few weeks. There is a 14-day notification period in which schools will be asked to switch to remote or hybrid learning, if required. However, Jarrow is in a slightly different situation as we are covered under a child care license up to grade 3, which allows us to fully operate as an essential business under Safer at Home level 3 face-to-face without any disruptions.
Given our consistent use of face masks, physical distancing, parent compliance on sickness and testing, adherence to quarantine guidelines, and our high levels of disinfection, we do not anticipate our operations will be altered unless we have a case or outbreak at school.
Under Safer at Home Level 3, here is what we can expect, program-by-program, knowing that this may be subject to change if the State makes another determination:
Toddler and Primary
- No changes, and face to face learning continues as normal
Kinders through Lower Elementary
- No changes, and face to face learning continues as normal
Upper Elementary
-
Awaiting guidance on how, if at all, Upper Elementary will be impacted. We will keep parents posted if any imminent changes will be implemented, meaning a hybrid model (partial in-school/partial remote) or fully remote learning. We are hopeful that our face to face learning will not be disrupted, but it is too early to know.
Latest Data Shared from Boulder Public Health:
As you can see, for young children the cases are still fairly low and even lower in private schools. Note that neither our Jarrow or MECR sites have had any reported cases to date.
