Weekly Briefing 10.23.20

 

Lewis County Metrics

The two-week average of cases declined this week and is expected to continue. We still remain one of the most active counties in Washington and well above the 75 threshold for moderate activity. 

Return to School Buildings

Our Kindergarteners have been at school successfully since Oct. 5. We plan to build on that success by returning 2nd and 3rd graders to the building on Oct. 26. All grades will be in the building half-day and remote learning half-day on Monday through Thursday. Everyone will remote learn on Fridays so that teachers can prepare lessons for those who have opted for remote learning only and our staff can deep clean the building. It is important that everyone understand that this is not "half-day school". Students are expected to learn at home when school is in session during their half-day away from the building. 

On November 2, we'll welcome our 1st, 4th and 5th grades back to the building on the same schedule. Doing it this way allows us to be sure that our safety measures are working well and we're prepared for additional people in the building. 

On behalf of all of us at TES and the district, we thank parents for observing our new safety protocols and helping us at drop off and pick up times. Transitions are difficult under the best of circumstances and changes to well-established routines create additional stress. We understand and are grateful for the grace that our parents have shown us as we reopen.

TMS/THS

TMS and THS will continue to serve students with special needs on campus as resources allow. We intend to return students to TMS on 12/1 in hybrid fashion. Specifics are still being worked out so that we can incorporate what we're learning from other schools into our plans. THS plans to bring Seniors back to the building on 12/1 as well. Grades 9-11 will return as soon as the new classrooms are ready for occupancy. Current timeline indicates we'll be able to move in during Winter holiday and be ready for students in January. The new Commons and admin offices will not be ready until February, so meals will be grab and go to be eaten in classrooms at THS.

Food for Thought

I have seasonal allergies. Other than grass, I'm not sure what makes me sneeze, but Friday morning I woke up sneezing repeatedly. I took my Allegra and waited for it to kick in. I went to work (sneezing) and worked through the morning (sneezing). I began to think that it wasn't polite for me to be at work and my Allegra wasn't doing the job, so I grabbed my stuff and decided to work from home.

As I drove home, I began thinking, what if my sneezing, coughing and body aches turned out to be COVID. (I DON'T HAVE COVID.)  I started thinking about the two previous days and trying to list in my mind all of the people that I had been around for more than 15 minutes in the whole day.

I lost count. 

I've followed my own advice of wearing a mask, washing my hands and staying 6' away from others. However, even at that, I lost count of the people that I had spent more than 15 minutes with. I imagined those people getting a call from the contact tracers. I imagined how they would take the news that they needed to isolate themselves for 14 days.

While the disease is survivable and most do, a few cases in our community will cause additional chaos and inconvenience for a lot of people. Two or three exposures related to school could have everyone returning to remote learning. It is so important that all of us help one another by washing our hands, wearing a mask and making space so that when there are infections, the spread is reduced.

I invite you to take a few minutes to ponder: who have you been with inside of 6' for more than 15 minutes in a full day (with or without a mask) during the last two days? Those are the people who would get a phone call and need to isolate for 14 days if you tested positive today. If you're associated with our schools, we would be one of the phone calls. Hands. Face. Space.