Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It was like no other holiday I have ever experienced but we found comfort in keeping some traditions alive and taking a moment to be thankful for all we have.
In my last message to you, I shared that we would continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in Allegheny County in order to make an informed decision about our ability to safely return to campus prior to Winter Break. As I'm sure you are aware, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in our county have continued to increase, with no sign of slowing. Additionally, we will not know the impacts of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings until the middle of next week.
Over the last few days, I have been meeting with our Leadership Team, Pandemic Team, Parent Advisory Committee, and our Medical Review Board. We are all quite concerned with the current data and the potential impact that returning to campus could have on our students and employees.
In addition to the alarming COVID-19 data, there has also been a shared expressed concern about the disruptive nature of shifting between models for our students, parents, and faculty, and the difficulties associated with classroom closures due to exposure when we are on campus.
Keeping the health and safety of our entire community at the forefront of our decisions must continue to be our top priority, and when looking at all of the data currently available to us, I do not feel confident in our ability to safely return to campus next week. Therefore, I have made the decision for all divisions to remain in an all-remote learning model until the start of Winter Break, and, as previously announced, continuing through the first week after break. All in-person extracurriculars and athletics will be suspended during this time period as well. Our current plan is to return to the on-campus divisional models on Monday, January 11.
In the coming weeks, I will be working with the Pandemic Team and the Medical Review Board to evaluate the criteria for a return to on-campus instruction. We know how important it is to have our students on campus, and we remain committed to doing that as soon as possible. Throughout the second trimester, we will provide flexibility for students to return to on-campus learning if they had chosen the all-remote option.
I remain enormously proud of all that we have accomplished so far this year. From our early days in remote learning last spring, we have evolved our instruction and engagement for students. We have provided options for families to choose a remote or on-campus model. And while we would much rather have our students on campus with us each day, we know that the work our faculty will do with them in this period of remote learning will continue to challenge them in new and familiar ways.
Thank you for your ongoing understanding and support.
Be well, Scott D. Fech, Ph.D. Head of School
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