Dear TMS community, 

We are committed to providing regular updates to you as we plan for the 2020-21 school year. We know there are many questions, and that we must have a clear, detailed and well-organized plan in place before reopening TMS in August. There is still much work to be done in planning for the new school year, but we do want to send updates as we have them. 

On Thursday, June 19th, we received guidance from Marin Health and Human Services (MHHS) and the Marin County Office of Education (MCOE), “A Public Health Guided Return to Site-Based Classroom Instruction. ” We will go over these new guidelines at the virtual “Bagels with Barbara and Ben” meeting on Thursday, June 25th at 9am. You should have received information about that meeting earlier today, with instructions about how to log into the meeting using Zoom, and where to RSVP and submit questions ahead of time. We will also send out a summary from that meeting once it has concluded, in case you are unable to attend. 

The new guidelines contain recommended actions, practices, and protocols for the return to site-based classroom instruction. The MHHS and MCOE document also notes that the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic means that the guidance could change as the situation unfolds. Please also see this news release if you’d like to read further. We will continue to be in close touch with MHHS and MCOE to stay up to date on any changes to this guidance that may come. These organizations have been exceptionally committed to keeping all schools in our community connected and informed of the latest developments related to COVID-19. 

Now that we have more specific guidance from MHHS and MCOE, we can plan in more detail for how school might look in the fall. In order to be thorough and thoughtful, this process will take time, but we will continue to update you on our progress. We have a Fall Reopening Committee of faculty and staff members who are devoting time to work on this project over the summer; this team contains a broad cross-section of TMS employees who work in a variety of capacities at TMS. 

Thank you for your dedication to TMS, and for your patience as we develop a plan that will keep our students and employees safe during this pandemic. We are committed to creating a plan that ensures safety of our students and employees, and maintains the strong educational and social programming that are at the heart of what we do at TMS. 

All our best,

Barbara and Ben