Dear Parents:

We’ve less than two weeks now till the end of this crazy summer vacation. Our maintenance team has been moving and storing furniture and fixtures, probably a ton of stuff, to make room for distancing desks in classrooms. We have purchased numerous items to help establish a safer environment, like touchless hand sanitizer containers outside every classroom, alcohol wipes for computers, and lots more. If you have read through our protocols, you know that we have tried to consider every facet of student safety in school.

My emails from parents are many and varied. Some of you think we should not open in-person classes for months yet; some recommend shorter days or shorter school weeks; and others want us to be fully normal with after-school programs too. One parent suggested we have some classrooms where masks aren’t required, and several feel that a return to team sports should be a big priority. Obviously, your opinions on school and the CORONA virus are as diverse as they can possibly be. 

Perhaps a step toward helping everyone feel more confident about school would be to let you know that, if you are deeply concerned about having your child(ren) attend school in person, you can opt to have them attend online. We are purchasing webcams to have in each classroom so that students watching from home can see the teacher, the board, or whatever the teacher needs them to see. In order to take advantage of this option, you need to contact Mrs. Untalan (lower school) or Mr. Kelley (middle and upper schools) to request an invitation for your child to attend Google Classroom meetings. Students must wear their uniforms to attend online, and they must have a computer with a camera that is kept on throughout the class. Students will be fully enrolled in the classes they attend and can re-enter in-person classes at any time.

Many parents have also registered a worry about Physical Education (PE) classes. If this is a concern for you, you may contact Mr. Kelley to request that your middle or upper school student—be excused from PE temporarily, or be allowed to wear his/her PE uniform all day on PE day, or take PE class in his/her regular school uniform in order to avoid locker room usage.

For your review, the Middle and Upper School class schedule—for now—will be:

Student schedules (MS/US) and Classroom assignments (LS) will be available on Blackbaud by August 3 ^rd. If you need help accessing your child’s Blackbaud account, please contact the school office for assistance.

And please do keep sending your questions and suggestions. Our ideas may differ, but we all agree on what matters most.