Dear Parents and Faculty,
I am writing to let you know that
based on instructions from the New York State Department of Health,
school will be closed tomorrow,
March 4th.
We are in touch and have been working closely with the Chief of Staff of the New York State Health Department, who has been recommending that we keep school closed tomorrow to give the Health Department additional time to identify people who may have come in contact with the infected individual and his family, whether directly or indirectly.
As per the Department of Health, anyone who attended Shabbat services at Young Israel of New Rochelle on February 22nd, a bar/bat mitzvah, or a funeral on February 23rd, must self-quarantine until March 8th.
Click here
for the press release from Westchester County.
In the meantime, to ensure continuity in learning, we are working with our teachers to formulate plans to provide distance learning for our students. Please look out for communications about these forthcoming plans, which will be sent to you through Parent Locker, and other schoolwide platforms. At this time, it is important to make sure that we do not overburden children with our concerns. The health and mental health professionals we spoke with today reminded us that while we are taking the necessary precautions to avoid spreading the disease, we also want to avoid alarm, especially among kids. For guidance and additional resources, please reach out to our Director of Counseling and Student Life,
Michelle Hoch
.
Click
here
for an additional resource: “Talking to Kids About CoronaVirus” (from the Child Mind Institute).
BAS is preparing for our return by disinfecting the entire building and the areas recommended by the health professionals. We will continue to provide you with updates as soon as we have new information.
Our hearts as a community go out to the family of the man who is ill, and we pray to
HaShem
for his
refuah sheleimah.
Sincerely,
Deganit Ronen
Principal
