August 13, 2021
Dear Villa Community,

It is delightful to have our students and staff back on campus. From my observation, the students look joyful and engaged! We have had new primary students joining their classrooms throughout the week, elaborate cultural lessons have begun in Elementary I classrooms, and Elementary II students are already taking ownership of the classroom procedures as leaders and learners. At the middle school, students completed their goal-setting conferences and completed their week of orientation which gives an overview of the curriculum for this year. They also received lessons on key components of this year’s Heroic Journey program.

COVID Testing in Grades 1-8

Pooled Testing – regularly testing students is one proactive thing we can do to help us determine if a classroom has a positive case. AzDHS, in conjunction with Concentra, has offered free screening testing to schools.

  • Parents must sign a consent form allowing their students to be tested weekly.
  • The nasal swab that is used is short and noninvasive – not like the ones used early in the pandemic.
  • It’s so quick and easy to gather a sample that most students can do it themselves.
  • Madison School District piloted the program in the spring with about 300 students and the process took less than 5 minutes out of the school day.
  • Samples from multiple students in a class are combined and transported to the lab, where each grouping is run in a single but highly accurate PCR test.
  • We should get results in 24 to 48 hours.
  • If a pooled test comes back negative, everyone in that pool is good to go.
  • If a test comes back positive, the school and local public health agency would only know that at least one student is positive but not who.
  • Students in the sample would then be given an individual follow-up test to identify who is positive, so those students can be isolated quickly, before exposing others.
  • We will receive individual follow-up kits from the state health department which will be a huge convenience for parents.

For more information, please go to: https://www.concentricbyginkgo.com/families/

TO SIGN YOUR CHILD UP please print the consent form and email it to healthdesk@villamontessori.com or drop them off in the office. You can withdraw your consent in writing at any time. The more participants we have, the more robust the program.
COVID Data

In an effort to be fully transparent, current data on the number of students and staff will be provided each week.

Symptoms: 2 - E1
                   4 - E2
                   1 - Primary

Positive case: 1 - E1 (This student has not been at school at all this week.)
Vaccination Events for People 12+

Getting vaccinated is one of the most effective ways to prevent getting and spreading the COVID-19 virus. Phoenix Union High School District has done a tremendous job of community outreach by hosting a number of vaccination events for people ages 12 and over at various locations in the area. For further information on the locations and dates of the events, please click here. Click these links for the consent form in English, and in Spanish. We applaud their efforts.
Traffic/Carline

We have been able to speed up the rate of cars moving through the pick-up zone on the elementary campus to a certain extent over the course of the week. We know, and understand, that this process continues to be very frustrating. One thing that has changed this year is that Camelback High School (CBHS) is releasing its students 20 minutes earlier than in past years. The police observed that unless our parent traffic approaches from the south, the city busses (that transport hundreds of the 2,300 CBHS student body) cannot get through to pick up all of those students. This causes a huge backup to (and on) Camelback Road which, as you know, is a major thoroughfare. Our traffic needs to flow from the south and only right turns into the north elementary parking lot can be made. We are continuing to observe the carline process and will make modifications where we can.

Please keep the following in mind:
  • Please avoid blocking the neighbor’s driveway on the northeast corner of 28th St. and Campbell as well as our own driveway into the EC campus.
  • We have observed people on their cell phones not moving forward in a timely fashion when the car ahead pulls forward.
  • When pulling out onto 28th St. from either Meadowbrook or the north parking lot, please carefully inch out past the cars hugging the right curb to see if it is safe to pull out to turn right.
  • Please understand that some parents pick up their primary child and then need to get into line to pick up their elementary child. Rather than interpreting this as them taking cuts, please allow them to join the line of cars using the every-other-car courtesy.
  • We will have the police officers here again next week to assist in traffic management.
In closing

With the first week behind us, we are looking forward to a year of fun and growth within this amazing school community.

On behalf of the children,

Margo S. O’Neill, M.Ed.
Head of School
Villa Montessori School | Website