Dear Wornick Families,
As we shared with our Middle School families over winter break, our administration has been working alongside members of our health and safety team to determine whether it might be feasible to bring our middle school students back for on campus learning while we are in the purple tier. We have made the decision to bring our middle school students back for on campus learning while making some changes to our learning plan to decrease the possibility of transmission among middle school students.
We have made the following changes to our health and safety plan for middle school students to return on Tuesday, January 19th with the hope that more families will choose to send their students back to campus for learning. Our plan is to review these changes with Middle School students and parents during a mandatory Zoom meeting Monday, January 11th at 7:30 pm.
Outdoor Learning
This week, our school built an additional tent on Koret Field to allow for ALL middle school classes to take place outdoors. For the time being, students will only enter the Wornick building to use the bathrooms on the 2nd floor. Please note, this makes rainy day learning particularly difficult. As we announced before winter break, if there is a 40% chance or higher of rain the night before a school day, Middle School students will stay home and learn remotely. Announcements about rainy days will be made by 8 pm the night before a school day.
Increased Testing Cadence For Middle School Students
Given the higher rates of transmission among students in Middle School and above, our health and safety committee is requiring that 50% of each cohort produce a negative COVID-19 test every week. This means that students will need to take a COVID-19 test and produce a negative test result during their testing window, every other week. More information about your testing window and testing resources will be provided early next week.
Stronger Enforcement of Social Distancing
In our first iteration of on campus learning for middle school students, our students did a wonderful job with mask wearing, handwashing, and staying away from school if they or family members were experiencing symptoms. One growth area for our students was maintaining a distance of six feet throughout the day. When we return to on campus learning we are instituting a three strike system. If students need to be given three reminders by their teachers about maintaining a social distance, they will need to learn remotely for three days. We will discuss this new measure with our middle school families on January 11th. Students will also conduct activities in advisory to ensure that they are aware of what staying six feet apart looks like. Our school will also add additional markers on the grounds of our campus to help students stay six feet apart.
Throughout this new iteration of on campus learning, we will maintain the remote learning program that allows students to Zoom into our outdoor classrooms. Our hope is to increase the number of on campus learners because we know how valuable on campus learning can be for our students. We will continue to invest in opportunities to build deep relationships with our virtual learners and invest in strong educational experiences and meaningful social emotional connections for them.
Negative COVID-19 test required to resume learning on Tuesday, January 19th
As was required of our elementary school students, we require all students joining us for on campus learning to produce a negative COVID-19 test by Sunday, January 17. Results can be sent to info@wornickjds.org. Please note that testing times are taking longer than usual so it is best to book your test for next week as soon as possible.
I'm looking forward to seeing all Middle School parents and students on Monday evening.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom,
Adam