Dear WHWS Community,

As many of you are aware, cases in the United States as well as Washington state continue to rise. We also see a growing possibility of cases rising above 75 per 100k over a 14-day period in Whatcom County. We have been watching this closely and continue to be in constant communication with public health officials and medical professionals. We continue to work guided by the recommendations of the Washington State Department of Health Decision Tree for public and private K-12 students during COVID-19. 

At this point in time, the Whatcom County Public Health RN BSN CIC liason for schools recommends we continue our in-person learning until there is further guidance from Dr. Stern, the Whatcom County Health Officer. We expect to see additional guidance next week. In the meantime, we will continue with our plans for next week, along with our vigilant mitigation efforts. We have put extensive work into our prevention actions and protocols, from wearing masks, to air filtration enhancement. Our community is our priority and continuing to provide quality Waldorf education in the safest environment possible is our overarching goal.

In summary, please be reassured that we are paying close attention to the current COVID-19 situation, other public and private schools in our area, and advice from professionals. We will continue to update you with any changes.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jordan Fleming, Health and Safety Coordinator
Kathy Fraser, WHWS Director
Emma Zook, Pedagogical Co-Chair
Tom Cahill, WHWS Board President
  Travel and Holiday Recommendations
*Updated 11/13/2020*

The purpose of this document is to provide our WHWS community with information and guidance around traveling or hosting guests during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we move into the holidays, please remember, wherever you go and whatever you do, impacts our whole school family. We strongly encourage every individual family in our larger WHWS family to be particularly mindful of travel and stay-at-home plans this year. Making the decision to travel has health and safety risks. There is a surge of cases all across the country and Whatcom County has begun rising in cases with this trend. If you plan to gather or take a trip this holiday, be sure to choose the safest way possible.

Considerations

  • Please see the Washington State Travel advisory which states we should practice a 14-day quarantine post travel.
  • The CDC recommends avoiding all nonessential travel. 
  • When traveling, one is accepting the increased likelihood of acquiring or spreading COVID-19. 
  • Please do not travel if you or someone in your bubble is sick or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive with COVID-19 in the last 14-days.
  • If you choose to travel, see the CDC travel guidance. 
  • If you are thinking about traveling outside of the U.S.A. please see recommendations by destination from CDC.
  • Check with Washington State recommendations for traveling within the state.
  • If you are thinking about traveling within the U.S.A, please see COVID-19 Risk Levels for county specific guidance.

Communication and Guidance

If someone travels to or hosts a guest from a hotspot, a two week quarantine or a negative COVID-19 test on day 7-8 post traveling or hosting is strongly encouraged before returning to school or other community activities.
  • Please utilize Jordan Fleming, our Health and Safety Coordinator at jfleming@whws.org, as a resource if you have any questions.