aaeds/blog

Dear ADAT Community,

I am writing to connect with you about the news that I’m sure you have been following regarding the recent outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). I would like to keep you updated about what we are already doing, let you know about our potential plans for the future, and discuss practices we can put in place as a community to help keep everyone healthy and safe. 

As you may be aware, on Tuesday, the World Health Organization informed the public that the coronavirus does not appear to be easily spread by people who are not experiencing symptoms themselves. This is good news, as it means there is greater likelihood of containing the virus. This also means that the best strategies for prevention and mitigation at this point remain the ones already discussed at length, such as thorough hand washing and staying home when sick.  

We are already doing much to ensure safe practices with our students:

• Teachers are ensuring that students are washing hands regularly, as well as educating students about proper hand washing protocol. 

• Students are using hand sanitizer regularly throughout the day as well, especially before they eat, and when they are headed to common areas like specialist classrooms.

• Teachers are regularly wiping down common surfaces such as desks and door handles with disinfectant wipes during the day, and the classrooms are being thoroughly cleaned each night by our cleaning crew. 

• We are working on shaping our warm culture to pause our handshakes, high fives, and hugs and greetings— instead, we are elbow bumping, “air hugging”, and fondly greeting each other from a greater personal distance than usual

Many of you have asked me if we are considering closing in the face of coronavirus. I want to let you know that we are regularly updated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the L.A. Department of Health, and will be following their advice regarding public health and safety. Because this is their area of expertise, Adat Ari El Schools will remain open unless informed by these agencies that it is unsafe to continue to do so. 

We do understand that it is possible that a closure might be in our future. Because of this, we are taking steps to prepare a Continued Learning Plan in the case that our school is instructed to close. 

We are currently working as a faculty to imagine what an ADAT elementary school education could look like if conducted from home. We are considering a host of options, including online learning platforms, at-home learning kits, and more. Our goal in doing this is to be proactive, so that if we are advised that temporarily closing our doors is the best course of action, we are ready so that your child’s learning experience does not need to stop.

For a note about class field trips: at this time, our 4th grade Sacramento trip and our 5th grade Philadelphia trip are still scheduled for next week. At this time, the CDC has recommended against nonessential travel to South Korea, Italy, Iran and China, but there are no other restrictions or recommendations against other international or domestic travel. We will all continue to monitor the situation for additional travel updates. If you are experiencing respiratory or flu-like symptoms, please do not come to campus.

How you can help: 

• Do not send children to school who appear to be sick, or who might be sick. We usually send home children who have a fever or who have vomited. We will now be expanding that to be anyone who shows signs of respiratory illness, or who we believe may be sick (even for what appears to be a common cold). Please support us as we are more cautious during this time.

• We are experiencing a nation-wide shortage of hand sanitizer, as well as disinfectant wipes. If you have any of these items that you are willing to donate to your child’s classroom, we are happy to accept these items.

Finally, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that some children might get nervous when they see adults around them get nervous, and/or when they see their normal routines change. This New York Times article gives some good strategies on how to talk to children about coronavirus without raising the anxiety of anyone involved.

I am regularly appreciative of the supportive community we have, and impressed at our ability to work as partners to best support the students in our school. As the situation remains stable, we will continue to update our community regularly.

Sincerely,

Shara Peters

Head of School