These beautiful August days, with cool evenings and even brisk mornings, have given us a taste of fall and an appropriate backdrop for our looking ahead. We have been aware as school districts, states, and whole countries all over the globe make their decisions for back-to-school. Sometimes these plans are even visionary.
Holding the needs of the developing child as our primary focus has guided us in our decisions and will continue to guide us going forward. The choices we are making are ones that we believe will allow us to stay together and in-person as much as possible this year. We value this connection and togetherness so highly that we have chosen a careful plan of action in order to protect it.
With a constant swirl of information around us, it feels so good to be able to offer you a clear plan for the start of the year, and present it to you with confidence. This plan is supported by the Return to School Task Force, the Faculty, and Board as a healthy, sustainable way for the children and families to re-enter their school year during these times. It is a plan that we can maintain as long as our community stays in the range it has been of late, and lends itself to pivoting in either direction as needed.
We are currently preparing for these 3 Scenarios:
In-Person Learning with Safety Considerations – In this scenario we are able to be together in-person for full days of class, five days per week. We would continue COVID-19 safety protocols – although able to utilize indoor spaces.
Blended Learning – With this scenario we would plan to meet in-person in the mornings in our outdoor classrooms only, with take-home assignments and/or distance learning provided for the afternoons at home.
Distance Learning – During a distance learning scenario the children, faculty, and staff will spend their days at home, rather than in the school building. Faculty have been refining our distance learning plans to provide the richest student experiences in the event that conditions make this mode necessary for periods of time.
We have already received support for these scenarios from members of our parent community, yet we recognize that it will require additional planning for some families. We know that within our wonderful community, families will find creative solutions, such as pairing up with a neighboring family that you are already in contact with to help accommodate at-home learning if we are in either a blended learning or distance learning scenario.
We will begin the 2020-21 school year on Wednesday, September 9. The scenario in which we begin the school year is pending a decision tomorrow from the full faculty and will be announced at the Town Hall meeting.
When our fabulous cook, Josh Witte, made the announcement this summer that he was moving on to different ventures, it helped inform our decision to pause our beloved organic hot lunch program for this fall. We will re-evaluate mid-year and look forward to when we can begin it again.
Because we are being very diligent to keep our classes from mixing, the decision to pause our Aftercare Program for the 2020-2021 school year was made. We will re-evaluate as the situation changes and hope to offer this program again in the future.
PRWS Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, August 20, 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom
We hope you are planning to join PRWS faculty, staff, board of directors, and fellow parents for our first in a series of Town Hall meetings to foster community courage and collectively imagine the coming school year tomorrow evening.
The meeting will be facilitated by Julia Ugo, PRWS Alumna and current parent of two PRWS students. We anticipate a significant turn-out, and as such will meet via Zoom to ensure participation by as many members of our community as possible. The meeting will also be recorded for those who are not available at the scheduled time.
TOWN HALL AGENDA
6:30 - Welcome & Opening Verse: Julia Ugo
6:35 - Overview of the Return to School Task Force: Aaron Schmidt
6:40 - A Picture of the Year Ahead: Carrie Treviranus & Marinella Pro
7:00 - COVID-19 Overview as it Relates to School Reopening: Martha Karlstad, MD
7:20 - State of Current School Planning: Jordan Brudos & Robin Kottke
7:35 - Questions & Answer: Panelists: Stephanie Brown, Jordan Brudos, Mark Brudos, Martha Karlstad, Robin Kottke, Marinella Pro, Aaron Schmidt & Carrie Treviranus
8:00 - Next Steps & Closing Verse: Julia Ugo
Gathering questions ahead of our meeting helps us understand what is most important for panelists to address during the Town Hall presentation.
If you see that your question has already been posted by another parent, simply ‘like’ it. Note there will also be space and time at the Town Hall for participants to ask clarifying questions following panelist presentations.
We recognize that every family in our school community has a unique perspective around the coming school year. The Town Hall series will hopefully allow each of us the opportunity to share ideas and concerns. Through collective sharing and community effort, we will most certainly rise to the occasion, and together ensure a safe, vibrant, and creative plan of action for the year ahead.
