Important Announcement Regarding Reopening Process for Serra 
Dear Serra Parents and Guardians,
 
Our strength has always been our community. Our strength is working together. Our strength is our Catholic faith that lies at the core of our school and provides grounding and perspective, especially in the midst of the most significant health crisis our country has faced in the last century. It is this strength that we all need to draw upon as we move toward safely reopening our school.

We are aware that over the weekend there were emails circulated in our community that may have created some confusion regarding Serra's reopening plans. We would like to provide clarity on the issues.

We all want all of our students back on campus for a full educational experience. But we want our students on campus in a manner that is safe for our entire community that includes students, teachers and parents. Therein lies the challenge. The pandemic and evolving nature of the COVID-19 virus presents an immense challenge for every member of our community. There are no existing "off the shelf plans" to deal with this reality.

Serra administrators attended a webinar with the county last week to learn about the application process to reopen school on site. The process requires that Serra submit a Review of Plan to Open for In-Person Instruction. While the application itself is a two-page document, it requires submission of accompanying plans that demonstrate Serra can meet the requirements of the Pandemic Recovery Framework for Schools. The comprehensive document has been updated by the county multiple times over the past six months. 

While we published a plan in June based on the guidance of the initial version of the framework, much has changed. Following the new process in applying for a Request for Review of Plan to Open for In-Person Instruction, we felt the responsibility to review our entire plan for reopening - to rethink assumptions, to assess the relevance of past planning, and to revise based on the new requirements. The effort is significant. 

Here is our plan moving forward: 
  1. We are completing the review process of our reopening plan to ensure compliance with the updated Pandemic Recovery Framework for Reopening.
  2. A brief survey will be sent to the parent community this week to solicit information that will be important to our reopening plan and other planning efforts.
  3. This week, we will submit the Request for Review of Plan to Open for In-Person Instruction and revised plans to the County of San Mateo.
  4. We are developing a phasing plan in accordance with the county's direction for an incremental and phased approach to bringing students on campus.  
  5. We will publish a return to school plan and reopening schedule based on #1-4 above. This will be shared in a webinar for the parent community and published on our website. 
Please know that we are working diligently to safely reopen campus to your sons and to communicate those plans in a timely manner. We understand the passion and desire to get to Serra. Your continued patience, support and your willingness to work together as a community will help us achieve that goal for our students.

Sincerely,


Charlie McGrath

P
rincipal



Barry Thornton, Ed.D.
President

Serra High School | 650.345.8207 | www.serrahs.com
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