ECSD’s Overarching-Goals during the COVID-19 Pandemic are:
Do everything possible to keep our students and staff safe and healthy and in school
Do everything possible for our kids to be able to continue to play and compete
We continue to work closely with Palo Alto Community Health to monitor the virus in our community. Our positivity rate in Palo Alto County is at 15% from 13.8% yesterday.
Student Masks Due to an increase in virus activity in the county and positive cases at both the Elementary and Secondary Levels, ECSD Students in grade 3-12 will be required to wear masks at school beginning Monday, September 28, 2020. All students at ECSD were given two masks at the beginning of the year. These may need to be washed before Monday. If your student is unable to wear a mask due to a medical condition, please provide us with a note from their medical provider and they will be exempted from this requirement.
Students without a medical condition who do not wish to wear a mask at school have the option to switch to remote learning. Students who are learning remotely cannot participate in school activities or be on school grounds for events.
Athletic Events Based on the virus activity in the State and in our County, masks will be required for attendance at all indoor Athletic Events. Social distancing is difficult in the gym. We will require masks where there is not social distancing by family at football games. Once we enter the 14 day window that includes our first post season volleyball match, cross country meet, or football game quarantines and or positivity rates could end the kids season. Those with medical conditions that prohibit the wearing of masks would be exempt.
Hybrid Model We are seeing an increase in the positivity rate in Palo Alto County it stands at 15% today. If we see this trend continue, we will implement our Hybrid Model Protocol.
Secondary Grades 5-12 Move to Hybrid Model
A/B School Week by Family. This will allow for approximately ½ of the students to attend school on any given school day. Students from the same family would attend school two days a week on either an A Day or a B Day. Everyone would have access to teachers on Wednesday mornings.
A Day--Monday and Thursday
B Day--Tuesday and Friday
Wednesdays would be used for:
A.M. Open class periods for any student(s) to work with teachers via Google Meet.
P.M. Staff PD and support for online learning.
Elementary Grades PK-4 Move to Hybrid Model
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
All students P K-4 will attend school
Wednesday
Wednesday’s will be Virtual Learning
Homecoming. Due to an increase in virus activity in the county and positive cases at both the Elementary and Secondary Levels, the Homecoming Parade will not be held. We announced last week that Coronation would be in the Auditorium and not open to the public. The court would have the ability to invite six guests. The Student Council and the Secondary Administration worked hard to compromise but keep health and safety as a priority. We had been set up to live stream the event on the internet for all to view. The two major considerations that led to the development of the original plan were live streaming and weather. Imagine coronation in the rain. Since the announcement last week the Student Council and Administration have continued to meet to brainstorm improvements to the original plan. As of now the weather looks to be a little cool but cooperative. In addition Admin and Tech have been working on a solution to live stream from the press box. We believe that we have found that solution. So we are announcing this afternoon that we will be moving the Coronation to the Football Field weather permitting. We will utilize the original plan as our backup. I am so proud of our Student Council and Administration. We will require masks where there is not social distancing by family. We have the bleachers and the hill at our disposal to social distance.
Sincerely,
Darren D. Hanna
Superintendent