Dear Rochambeau families,
Following up on my message from August 16, 2022 in which I communicated that the Maplewood Campus would not be ready to host our students until after the first day of school, September 6, 2022, I am writing to provide you with additional updates and mitigation measures that we have taken to account for this as we start the 2022-23 school year.
- We have solutions in place for in-person, full-time learning for our Kindergarten and Elementary School (Grades K-5) students that we are in the process of implementing for a September 6, 2022 start date at the Rollingwood and Forest Road campuses. Our school is already approved by the Maryland State Department of Education to operate in those two locations, so only minor adjustments to our certificates of approval will be needed.
- In regards to our Preschool (TPS, PS, and MS) students, we are continuing to develop solutions in coordination with Montgomery County regulators. Maryland and County childcare regulations add additional nuance to identifying facilities where we can operate under our childcare license and with our own faculty.
The start of a new schoolyear should be a time of great excitement and positive energy. For our families with Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary students, Rochambeau and its Board of Directors acknowledge the disappointment that many of you are feeling right now. We apologize for this inconvenience. At the end of next week, the school directors will hold town hall meetings to present you with the details of our plans, hear your voices, and answer your questions. You will receive an email with the connection link to these virtual meetings in a few days.
Kindergarten and Elementary Students:
- Grades K-3 (GS à CE2) at the Rollingwood campus
- MCPS has not reassigned the Rollingwood campus to another school and the campus is available for us to rent until the new campus is ready. Because the buildings have been vacated and completely emptied, we are working on re-installing equipment, furniture and internet for Faculty and administration to make the facility comfortable for our students and faculty.
- Grades 4-5 at the Forest Road campus
- We will welcome all our 4th and 5th graders back at the Forest Road campus to start school in-person and full-time on September 6, 2022. We are finalizing the details of the installation and necessary adjustments in the spaces that will be available for these students.
Preschool (TPS-PS-MS) Students:
Our primary mitigation efforts are committed to developing solutions for our Preschool students. We will send you updates as soon as we have firm answers. There are a number of locations being simultaneously considered for suitability and we are in frequent communication with regulatory authorities throughout the process. Simply put, our school’s Preschool program is subject to more stringent childcare regulations, which affects our ability to develop an immediate solution.
Transportation:
The temporary organization of our operations will not impact the new routes that were developed by the transportation department in the past months. The hub for the transportation operations will return to Forest Road on a temporary basis. Shuttles to the Rollingwood campus will be re-established to resource our Grades K-3 students.
All the students currently enrolled in transportation will receive confirmation of their final bus stop location and times of Pick-up and Drop-off this week. The link to the live GPS location services will be included in that forthcoming message.
We are working under the assumption of an opening of the new campus on September 19, 2022, but we are likewise in the process of securing durable short-term solutions that give us flexibility in case of further delays in the final phases of the construction and approval processes. Our objective is to start the school year in-person without having to use remote learning.
We will keep you informed on a regular basis and as soon as we have solutions for the preschoolers. We thank you for your continued patience and support.
Sincerely,
Hélène Fabre
Executive Director
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