Dear Wornick Community,

This email contains important information about Thanksgiving break, Winter Break and an update on our Hot Lunch program.

In San Mateo County and across California, independent schools have been in conversation around instituting planned remote learning periods between Thanksgiving and Winter Break. These planned remote periods are intended to account for an increased risk of COVID-19 exposures due to increased levels of travel, indoor gatherings and an uptick in virus levels as flu season sets in. Some of our peer schools have announced planned remote-only instruction from Thanksgiving through a week after scheduled Winter Break.

This week, our health and safety team reviewed a number of pieces of information, including the survey that was conducted two weeks ago where families and faculty indicated their likelihood of air travel and indoor gatherings during Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks. Based on our collected data and the guidelines by the county, we have determined the following course of action:

Thanksgiving Break Plan:

• Survey results do not indicate that a significant number of our community members are likely to travel by flight or attend indoor gatherings during Thanksgiving break. For that reason, we see no need to institute a planned remote learning period after Thanksgiving break. However, please note that if someone is travelling by flight to your home, or if someone in your household travels by flight, your student will need to learn remotely for 7 days after travel and produce a negative COVID-19 test before returning to in person instruction. We are also asking our families to exercise caution, follow county guidelines, and not send their students to school if they or any household member has any symptoms.

Winter Break Plan:

• Survey results do indicate that a significant number of our community members are likely to travel by flight or attend indoor gatherings during Winter Break. Additionally, many of our teachers have put off travelling this year to prioritize on-campus learning. We feel it is important to allow our teachers the opportunity to visit loved ones across the country, some of whom are elderly or ill. For these reasons, we will institute a planned four day remote learning period after Winter Break (Monday, January 4 is a professional development day with no school in session), as well as a negative Baseline COVID-19 test requirement for on-campus learning, regardless of whether your student travelled.
• Baseline COVID-19 testing requires approximately a one week window from travel to testing. For this reason, we ask that you return to the Bay Area with only your family unit by Saturday, January 2. If you choose to return later, please have your student do remote learning for one week from return followed by a negative COVID-19 test before returning on-campus.
• Anticipated remote learning: Tuesday, January 5 - Friday, January 8
• Baseline COVID-19 testing:
  • Kyla users will take an on-campus test on Friday, January 8 (more details to follow)
  • Non-Kyla users will be required to test between Monday, January 4 and Friday, January 8 and produce the negative test results, provided any traveling families test seven days after returning to the Bay Area.
• Anticipated on-campus learning will begin anew on Monday, January 11

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the best way to keep our Wornick students and faculty safe, while being mindful to accommodate for time spent with loved ones. 

Hot Lunch Program

• We are pleased to announce the Hot Lunch Program will begin for students on Monday, November 9. Students will have the option to take part Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (no hot lunch Wednesdays due to early dismissal).
• There will be a new online ordering system, where you will be able to select which days to order lunch for your student and pay online. As before, this service is $8 per meal. More details will follow.
• As with all of our programs, there will be additional health and safety protocols during the lunch distribution to ensure the safety of our students and faculty. We may have to make adjustments to the program in order to maintain our standard of care.

Thank you for being flexible as we navigate this unprecedented school year. Of course, all of this is subject to community spread remaining low and the health and safety committee's determination that it is safe to continue on-campus learning. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions.

In partnership,
Adam Eilath