Dear Great Hearts Irving Upper School Families,
I’m writing to let you know that due to an increase in positive Covid-19 cases at Great Hearts Irving Upper School, we are transitioning the entire upper school to distance learning effective tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4th. The earliest possible return-to-campus date will be Monday, November 9th. Seven students and three teachers have tested positive in the past week. Within our faculty, we have several additional teachers quarantining due to symptoms or close contact, which poses logistical challenges. During this week, we will be deciding on our best course of action going forward and will send an announcement of our new return-to-campus date by end of day this Friday.
We do not make this decision lightly. The education of your children is our highest calling. This year, in addition to this calling, we are also called to prudence in navigating the uncertainties of the pandemic; and we must seek to preserve the health of our teachers, students, and families.
Students on campus will finish the school day today as normal. We will announce this move to Distance Learning to each class and will instruct students to retrieve all their books and materials from their lockers before they leave school. If your child was not on campus today, please reach out to Mr. Malone (patrick.malone@greatheartsirving.org) to schedule time to pick up books. The school day will start online tomorrow morning at 8:05am and students should check Google Classroom for their assignments and Zoom Class schedule. Class start times for Distance Learning are a little different from on-campus, please find your student’s online schedule on the Upper School Campus Updates page.
We know and lament that this change will cause hardships for many families. We will do our best to support your students with this transition.
In these difficult times, I am comforted by the fact that we share a calling. We are called together to courage and prudence, to require more of ourselves to guide our students towards the good.
