It's a good thing that the eyes can smile, as those masks can make reading expressions a little tricky. While there is understandably some sadness around being at school only two days a week and not being able to interact more with a larger circle of peers, our Ospreys have truly done an outstanding job this week adjusting to all the new norms of our blended learning model and feeling grateful for being able to be back in the Nest.

We have received appreciative feedback from our families for all the safety precautions we've put in place and the way teachers have clearly worked hard to re-envision their classes for a mixed in-person and online format. Overall, despite all the challenges we are facing, this first week has been a success, with our community pulling together through a shared pursuit of knowledge alongside uniquely Animas cultural touchstones like Senior Sunrise, NEST Meeting, Advisory and more.

Remember, you can always reference the AHS Fall 2020 Schedule by going to the AHS website, finding the COVID-18 Info pop up, and clicking through.

AHS Registrar Dusty Grannis has been working all hours to rebuild the AHS schedule in Infinite Campus and field students' course requests. Thanks to his diligence and wizardry, students now have full schedules in IC. Dusty sent out full instructions about how to check schedules to all students via their AHS emails this morning.

Students may request changes to electives by using the Add/Drop Form through 9/22. This form, along with many others, can be found on the AHS website: Our Families > Forms.

Regular attendance in all classes and school activities is an important piece of being fully engaged in AHS and our project-based learning model. Teachers are taking attendance in all in-person and online classes, and we will share information home with parents via IC when absences occur so that we are all working together to support student learning. This communication home will begin shortly as we wanted to take time at the start of the year to be sure that we have most of the bugs worked out in our new schedule and systems.

If your student will be absent from school, whether online or in person, please call or email Bridget to excuse them. When a student stays home with any COVID-like symptoms, our health consultant, Etoile Hening, will support the family with next steps, which may include needing to be cleared by a physician before returning to school. We know that it's a difficult call to keep a student home from limited in-person learning days, but want to encourage everyone to please err on the side of caution. Communication and community are key, and we appreciate how well this has gone in week one!

Our morning check in process has been quite smooth so far--thank you to those who are consistently completing the Student Daily Self-Screening Form at home before coming to campus! Again, this is conveniently located right on our website's homepage, in the COVID pop up.

Note that an accurate temperature reading is an important part of completing the daily screener. Please recheck after 10 minutes if a first reading is over 100 degrees, as we need those whose temperature is over 100.4 to stay home.