Dear Wildwood Elementary Families,
Since the transition to Distributed Learning last spring, one thing that has given many of us hope is knowing that someday we would all eventually be back together in each other's company on campus. The joy I've experienced welcoming children to campus these past few weeks is only compounded by news of L.A. County's rapidly declining COVID-19 case rate.
Based on the guidance set by the L.A. County Department of Public Health, we have now met the threshold to expand onsite learning for grades 3-5 to a full-time basis, joining fellow students in grades K-2nd grade who have been able to return to campus Monday through Friday beginning last month. We will begin offering an expanded onsite learning schedule for K-5 students the week of March 1. Details are still being worked out, but we'll follow-up with more information next week.
Throughout these past months, our families have shown such patience, flexibility, and even a bit of humor, as dates and plans have changed with rapidly evolving circumstances. Many of you, especially 5th grade families, were just beginning to get accustomed to our new hybrid schedule. We will continue with this schedule through next week, providing children with more opportunity to acclimate to campus, and allowing faculty to modify plans for classroom instruction. For families of 3rd-5th grade students, it is important to still submit your responses to our onsite survey for the block of Feb. 22-March 3. We have reopened the survey and extended the deadline to 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 19.
As we chart a path toward a full return to campus, we will follow the lead of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, as well as Wildwood's pandemic coordinators—Christina Kyong, Melanie Benefiel, and Billy DuMone—who have been preparing our campuses for months for this moment. It remains critical that everyone in our community continue to abide by the health and safety protocols outlined in our Guide to Returning to Campus, calling for wearing masks at all times, frequent sanitizing, cohorted instruction, and mandatory COVID-19 testing for students opting to come onsite, which have helped keep our community safe during Visit Days and onsite learning.
These practices work, as broadly reported. Still, last week we conducted 496 tests for students and staff, including testing our K-2nd grade students twice. All of the results have come back negative.
As details for the week of March 1 solidify, I will update you with further information on schedule specifics for children returning onsite, as well as those who opt to continue offsite. Looking ahead, Wildwood also plans to be offsite the week after spring break (April 12-16). Although we don't recommend traveling, we know that some of our teachers and families may be planning to reconnect with loved ones and we want to build in the 10-day quarantine period. We will offer COVID-19 testing for our return back to campus on April 19.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing all students back in March and saying hello to you in the parking lot for now!
Warmly,
Katie Rios Director of Elementary School Wildwood School |