August 3, 2020
Dear St. Philip's Families,
I want to express my gratitude for your patience, support, and prayers over these past five months. Our Leadership Team and Medical Task Force have closely followed the spread of COVID-19 in our community, and the evolving medical knowledge about the novel virus. As we finalize plans for the first day of the school year, Wednesday, August 19, 2020, we are mindful of our responsibility to students, faculty, staff, families, and the greater Miami community to which we belong.
As I have shared in my most recent missives, the St. Philip's Facilities Team has been hard at work, getting the campus ready for the return of our students, faculty, and staff. The Re-entry and Scheduling Teams have also made every effort to prepare for on-campus classes. Despite all of our plans and preparations, there are elements that remain beyond our control. Interactions outside of the School continue to impact us, and the positivity rates in our community remain higher than the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended threshold for a return to in-person instruction. Considering their recommendations, information from the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, we have made the difficult decision that our school year will begin remotely. School will still begin as scheduled, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020.
Information regarding the impact of the virus is fluid and constantly evolving. Hence, we too must be flexible and responsive. While we are not setting specific benchmark numbers, as we look to reopen, we will be evaluating the following criteria closely over the next couple of weeks:
- A steady reduction in the number of positive and new cases in Miami-Dade County
- A trending improvement in hospital occupancy rates
- A consistent decline in transmission and mortality rates
We are as eager as you are to resume in-person learning as soon as it is safe for our students, faculty, staff, and extended community. We will continue to actively monitor the metrics above to determine the best time and best way to reopen our St. Philip's campus. Please keep in mind that our approach to reopening will be influenced by changing conditions. To that end, we may consider a staggered return and have groups on campus in small numbers as we begin to reopen. We will monitor the situation daily and communicate with the community every two weeks regarding any updates. On Monday, September 14th we will send a missive specific to reopening the campus for a potential staggered re-entry on Monday, September 21st.
As a reminder, below are some of the measures that have been taken to prepare the School for reopening, while improving sanitization and reducing interaction within and among classes:
- A set number of students has been assigned to various classrooms to maximize social distancing. In other instances, desks have been outfitted with plexiglass dividers to minimize exposure to air droplets.
- In some cases, in-person classes will be divided into two rooms, and faculty will move between the two to ensure that all students have the benefit of being instructed by both grade-level teachers.
- Our Facilities Team has made structural changes to the physical campus to allow for additional social distancing and maximized instruction.
- We are introducing a new staggered drop-off and pick-up schedule with additional ingress and egress points for students.
- Additional hand-washing stations have been purchased and will be added around campus.
- Plans are in place for students to enjoy snacks and lunch in their assigned classrooms, rather than in Sewanee Hall.
Please look for a follow-up message in the next few days with detailed information on picking up your child’s school supplies and electronic devices, and updated details regarding our remote learning plan.
Thank you again for your patience and support. We remain committed to providing the best education for your children and are grateful for the trust you have placed in us. And while we are temporarily unable to gather under one physical roof, we look forward to continuing to build our community in spirit.
Respectfully,
