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This is the best resource for staying in the know.
Dear GLOBE Community,

In conjunction with the information about GLOBE's response to the pandemic provided weekly here, there is also a space on our website where timely updates will be made as needed and where you can find answers to a range of FAQs. Visit the site.
The COVID Corner
As we prepare guidance to inform a safe return, we will continue to address your questions and concerns in this section. New this week, is our COVID-19 tracker above. We will provide weekly updates on the pandemic conditions and compare them against our reopening thresholds. You can see more detailed information about these data by clicking on the image above and visiting our websiteIf you have questions that have not been addressed, please submit them here. If you haven’t seen a response to your question yet, stay tuned for upcoming newsletters.
 
While we are closely following DeKalb County School District’s planning, GLOBE’s plans for a return-to-campus will be based on the recommendations of our independently run reopening committee to meet the needs of our community and academic dual-language immersion model.


In order to proceed with re-opening, we must meet the thresholds indicated for all of the community spread indicators attached. GLOBE has chosen to consider these indicators as a set because, together, they provide a more complete picture of local pandemic conditions than would any single indicator on its own. (Click image to enlarge.)
Speech Bubble Left
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Question: Why can't middle school students return to campus at the same time as the elementary students?

Answer: An important feature of our COVID-19 mitigation strategy includes "cohorting" - which means that students and teachers are assigned to a group and there is no mixing between these groups. In the event of a COVID-19 exposure, this strategy allows us to only have to close one classroom, rather than all of the classrooms in which the infected person had been. With students frequently changing classes, the middle school schedule is just not amenable to cohorting. Additionally, the middle school classrooms and hallways are much smaller than many of our other classroom spaces, and cannot accommodate the physical distancing that is required to keep students and teachers safe. We are eager to have our middle school students return once the pandemic conditions improve such that strict physical distancing is no longer required.

Question: Given the potential for the pandemic to worsen over the holidays, is GLOBE considering pushing the timeline back a few weeks?

Answer: We are closely watching the COVID-19 data in DeKalb, and know that it is likely that cases will continue to increase over the coming weeks. The timeline that has been presented is a tentative one - and can only be enacted if all of the thresholds for the pandemic conditions that we are tracking have been met. If it is determined that it is not safe to initiate the plan to have teachers return to school on January 4, we will hold off until the conditions have improved and it is safe to do so. 

Question: Will there be an opportunity to select different hybrid schedule than the one that we are assigned?

Answer: It is critically important that we do not exceed the classroom capacity that is required to maintain appropriate physical distancing between students and teachers. The scheduling will be incredibly complicated, and we unfortunately cannot accommodate requests for alternate arrangements.
*If you have questions for the Reopening Committee, please submit them here.
UPCOMING

Below you will find the important dates to remember for the next two weeks. You can also sync the GLOBE calendar to your own digital calendar.


December 18, 2020
Last day of 1st semester

Dec. 21-31, 2020
Winter Break


The GLOBE Academy Office Hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lunch Bag Icon

What's on the Menu?
The DeKalb County School District has released details on where to pick up lunch for your children Monday, Wednesday and Friday courtesy of DCSD. Click the link below for more details.
Meal Pickups

School Nutrition Services during Distance Learning will be available through the DeKalb County School District. Find out the details about Meal Distributions here.