Dear Families,
Last week, Kevin Breen wrote about the three markers we are watching to determine a safe return to in-person learning:
While the COVID numbers in the Duluth area have plateaued this week, we are still seeing record high hospitalizations and deaths in St. Louis County. We remain hopeful that mitigation strategies will continue to work in our community, and we will see decreasing numbers for all three markers in the near future. Because two of our three markers have started to trend in the right direction, we are hopeful that it will be safe enough to return to some form of in-person learning sometime in January. We will continue to seek the guidance of county health and hospital officials to help us make that decision.
As families prepare for celebrating the holidays, we want to remind everyone that we have a shared responsibility in reducing COVID exposure for the good of the entire community. One family's decision to ignore mitigation strategies can affect us all. It is important that we all wear masks, wash our hands, practice physical distancing, and refrain from gathering with people outside our immediate households. Student study groups and social gatherings are not appropriate at this time.
The decisions we make collectively will have an impact on the learning model to which we return in January. We all need to do our part in protecting the health and safety of our community.
#ToppersTogether,
Karen and Heather
UPDATED MDH GUIDELINES For families that will travel or have gatherings with people outside of their household during the holidays, we strongly suggest that families follow updated MDH guidelines and complete, at a minimum, a 7-day quarantine at home with a test for COVID no sooner than day 5. If we are able to return to in-person learning, this may mean that a student will need to continue studying online until they complete their quarantine and receive a negative COVID test result.
BROWN BAG SERIES Thank you those who have been able to join us for our Brown Bag series lunch Zooms. We will continue the series following the holiday break. Our recent Brown Bag conversation focused on mental wellness. Here is the link to the presentation made by counselors Colleen Bender and Jessica Saxton. If you have any suggestions for future topics, please submit suggestions to this anonymous Google form.
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT DISTANCE LEARNING
WINTER HOLIDAY BREAK The break will be a homework-free break for students. Those with missing work may continue to submit assignments to Schoology during the break, according to their teachers' guidelines.
Office hours for the holiday break will be 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. The school building will be closed on December 24-25 and January 1.
NO UPPER SCHOOL FINAL EXAM WEEKS There will be no designated final exam weeks during the 2020-21 school year, and no semester-cumulative tests will be given. Teachers will determine how to close out the semester in each of their individual classes, which may include a test or project that is scheduled or due prior to the start of the holiday break. Semester one will end on January 15, for both divisions and gradebooks will be closed for the semester at that time.
STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS Families who have questions or concerns about the mental health of their child may reach out to our counselors for resources and support. Both counselors can be reached by email during distance learning:
CONFIRMED CLOSE CONTACT OR POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST RESULT If your child has been exposed to COVID-19 or had a positive test result, immediately contact healthcenter@marshallschool.org.
(c) 2018 Marshall School |