June 22, 2020
Dear parents,
I hope that everyone is settling into the summer weeks after closing out our 2019-2020 school year with parent conferences, report cards, virtual recognition ceremonies, and/or our first ever virtual graduation. We are exceptionally proud of our students who quickly pivoted to adapt to online learning from your homes. In addition to high attendance in the virtual classrooms and progress in core subjects, we know anecdotally that that they improved upon their executive functioning skills and became more independent and creative thinkers. Many converted their tech savvy from strictly recreational to an educational advantage. Our disruptive spring accelerated growth in so many student skills that will translate to more success in the years ahead.
To see samples of the projects our students completed across the board, visit our Distance Learning page on the website –
www.labschool.org/distance-learning
. You will find spectacular examples of our students’ creativity and productivity during the Covid spring. If you did not have an opportunity to watch our virtual graduation live, the link to the ceremony is also up on our website –
www.labschool.org/graduation
. In her remarks our Head of High School, Lisa McMahon, portrays each graduate’s journey and accomplishments, conveying the power of the partnership of students, families, and a Lab education to position our graduates for meaningful life pursuits. The remarks are a true testament to our students' potential when encouraged and fed by schooling and families.
My main purpose of writing today is to update you on our preparations for “Reopening Campuses” this fall. We are in the throes of planning for this scenario based on the best information that is available to us now, recognizing that there will be recommended changes over the course of the summer. Our administrative task force, a board of trustees’ task force, and the four divisions have been meeting regularly to determine the optimal programming and schedule design for your children to attend school on site, keeping in mind the need to meet social distancing requirements. It is Lab’s goal to open as planned on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 with the expectation that we will be able to meet all the safety guidelines to mitigate the risks of the Coronavirus as set forth by local authorities including the Mayor’s Office and the DC Department of Health as well as national medical experts.
Our most important consideration for all decisions will be the health, wellness, and safety of all students, faculty, and staff. This includes both physical and social-emotional wellness.
We will have a layered approach to best practices for mitigating risks of infection, including but not limited to: masks, hand washing and easy access to hand sanitizer, and increased frequency of cleaning and disinfecting. Access to campus will be limited to currently enrolled students and employed faculty and staff. Parent conferences, IEPs, admissions and other visits will continue virtually until further notice. In the classrooms there will be social distancing, increased ventilation, and availability of plexiglass dividers for student/teacher interactions. The number of outdoor instructional hours will be increased.
We are also well aware of the psychological impact for our students of being limited to virtual connections this past spring during this pandemic. We are giving careful thought as to how to promote connections this fall, on campus and off. We are paying special attention to how best to connect with our new students and families.
In anticipation of forthcoming recommendations for all schools opening in the District of Columbia, we expect to be modifying our health and wellness policies and practices throughout the summer and will continue to communicate these to you. Most importantly, we will be appealing to you to partner with us in decisions related to your child’s participation on campus or virtually.
As of today’s date:
We are planning to provide you with access to a mobile “app” that will assess and record your child’s and our faculty/staff’s health every day, so that everyone can do their part in keeping Lab a healthy environment.
We are recommending that families and employees that may have reasons to believe that they will be or have been in contact with any person, group or other situation that put them at risk for exposure to the Covid virus close to the opening of school strongly consider quarantining at home 14 days prior to the opening of school.
We are recommending that you begin the process this summer of acclimating your child to wearing and caring for well fitting, cloth masks for stretches of time.
In consideration of the health precautions we need to take, we will not be offering our school lunch program through Armands. We ask that students plan to bring lunch daily.
If you do not already have a relationship with a medical provider for your child, please establish a “medical home” for your child so that expert medical care and advice from a physician or other health professional who knows your child is readily accessible throughout this upcoming school year.
Please begin the process of updating your child’s vaccinations. These will be required for entrance in the fall. Our nurses Adriana Van Breda (
Adriana.vanbreda@labschool.org
) and Ruthanne Neary (
Ruthanne.neary@labschool.org
) are available for any questions related to completion of medical forms or the latest information on Covid-19.
For the past six weeks we have studied how to reassign campus spaces to accommodate as many students as possible to attend at one time under the advised conditions of social distancing.
At present we are following the current guidelines for six feet of distance between student desks, cohorts in classrooms limited to a maximum of 12, and turning hallways and stairways into one-way passages for pedestrian traffic. This includes transforming our gymnasium into six large classrooms for the Junior High Division and the Commons and Board Room into Intermediate classrooms.
We are still in the process of determining the weekly schedules for students in each division; we have not yet finalized these plans, which will likely vary somewhat division to division. We are planning around an 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. day for when school is open on campus and a shortened day if we need to switch to a totally virtual model for a period of time. We understand that this information is vital to your family’s planning for the fall; we are working full time to complete these schedules and will communicate the details for each division as soon as possible.
With the repurposing of the gymnasium and social distancing, our PE program will look very different this fall. Our PE Department and several members of the Occupational Therapy Department will be collaborating to run classes comprised of small cohorts outdoors except for days of inclement weather.
This will be a hybrid year.
We are exploring technology enhancements that will allow classrooms to accommodate both teachers who may be on site or virtual and students who may be on site or virtual. Our classroom designs will always give first consideration to our ability to ensure a positive, productive learning environment for all. This past spring provided us with an opportunity to learn more about which courses and students work best in which modality. Likely, all students will experience a combination of the different instructional delivery models.
To help us with this critical piece of planning, we are asking you to fill out the brief survey linked at the bottom of this letter so we can get a baseline count on the programmatic needs for all our students. We understand that your decisions around your child’s attendance is subject to change given the number of variables that are yet to be determined concerning the nature of this virus. We want to be as prepared as possible to meet all our students’ needs in the upcoming year.
In these early weeks of summer we have devoted the majority of our time to this critical process of determining how to best open school for your child. But as with all plans that are made at this time, there is still too little certainty about where, when, and how the virus will impact school openings this fall; all plans must be understood as being subject to change and likely to evolve over the course of the summer. It is Lab’s goal to communicate frequently over the summer to keep you up-to-date.
Please complete the very brief survey below by Wednesday, June 24.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me by email –
katherine.schantz@labschool.org
. We wish to be as responsive as possible to your questions and concerns.
On July 1 Kim Wargo, incoming head of school, will be in place and fully ready to steer the school through the next phase of planning for reopening the school. Through communication with all members of the administration and the Board of Trustees regarding the status of our planning, she is well prepped on the status of our plans and ready to lead in these most unexpected of times.
Sincerely,
Katherine
