April 1, 2021

Honey-Do List

April 2: Report Cards and Progress Reports finished

April 2: Good Friday 

April 6: Bulletin Board Pictures due to Jodi 

April 14: Communication to families from the office about teacher changes completed

April 14: Remote Schedules shared with Jodi

April 15 and 16: Remote Schedules complete and communicated to families staying remote

April 26: Return to in-person learning

Retention

• I am not sure where the district is when it comes to a final call on retention
• The one line that has been drawn is that we cannot retain in K even if the student has not attended virtually or in-person
• Please let me know if you have any students that we should be discussing for retention. Keeping in mind that it will be a high threshold to cross 

Remote Schedules

• If you are teaching a remote class please create a schedule that can be shared with families. 
• Please share that schedule and your Zoom link with me by 4/14
• We will then share with families on 4/16 so they know what to expect on 4/26

Bulletin Board Pictures

• I started the welcome back bulletin Boards in September. 
• They were in a very undone state until this week. 
• I need your pictures for the second bulletin board by 4/6
• This bulletin board will get us through next year's opening too which means no nagging next year!
• Keri, Danielle, Ben, Kathryn, Taydavia, Rose you all look marvelous up there!

COVID

• This has been an eventful COVID week here at Lee Academy. 
• I want you to know that I am aware of the dissonance that may exist between our emotional reaction to positive cases and the district's response and protocols that follow scientific guidelines. I understand that it is difficult and scary when we hear that a colleague or one of our students has been impacted and that we see this person every day, share spaces and then return to our own families. I hear you, I understand and I empathize. 
• I am also very impressed with the fact that our anxiety has not impacted our professionalism and behavior with students. You are all amazing at getting the important work done and done well with compassion and care
• The contact tracing and communication protocols work, are administered uniformly and are efficient. I can say this with greater confidence than I could at any point during the day on Monday. 
• If you want a tracker for your close contacts please use this one. It is optional. 
• As we continue to work through our various emotional reactions. There are a few considerations that will help to keep us all safer:
• Encourage families to enroll their child in pool testing
• Continue your own personal surveillance testing
• Review classroom structures and routines so that 3 ft of social distancing is maintained in a way that is feasible with the young children we work with. 
• Wash your hands and sanitize frequently
• If a parent informs you of a student's illness or an illness in the home please ask the family to contact Sam and give Sam a heads up. She is meticulously tracking every illness.  

Reopening

Morning and Afternoon Duty

• We have reassigned morning and afternoon duty schedules starting 4/26.
• Please review the schedule here
• Please know your duty station
• Morning duty begins at 9:10 and Afternoon Duty at 3:15. 

Furniture

• I believe that we will get the additional plexiglass you requested. 
• We will NOT be getting additional furniture. 
• Central office staff will come to help you figure out classroom arrangements if we cannot figure out how we make it work with what we have. (This is true even if typed sarcastically) 
• In fact, if we want additional furniture the district MUST come to your classroom to consult
• Let me know ASAP if I need to arrange this visit for you.

Additional Planning Time

• The district is granting you a 1/2 day Wednesday afternoon to plan and set up your classrooms. 
• It will be an early release day for students.  
• There has been some concern about rising COVID rates and what that means for our reopening plans. 

Rising Positivity Rates

• The district and BPHC are committed to following the CDC Community Transmission Guidelines regarding reopening K-12 Schools

• A significant quote from these guidelines is
• “K–12 schools should be the last settings to close after all other prevention measures in the community have been employed, and the first to reopen when they can do so safely.”

• CDC Indicators and Thresholds for Community Transmission of COVID-191

  Table 1. CDC Indicators and Thresholds for Community Transmission of COVID-19

  Indicator	Low Transmission Blue	Moderate Transmission Yellow	Substantial Transmission Orange	High Transmission Red
  Total new cases per 100,000 persons in the past 7 days2	0-9	10-49	50-99	≥100
  Percentage of NAATs that are positive during the past 7 days3	<5.0%	5.0%-7.9%	8.0%-9.9%	≥10.0%

  1If the two indicators suggest different levels, the actions corresponding to the higher threshold should be chosen. County-level data on total new cases in the past 7 days and test percent positivity are available on the County View tab in CDC’s COVID Data Tracker.
  2Total number of new cases per 100,000 persons within the last 7 days is calculated by adding the number of new cases in the county (or other community type) in the last 7 days divided by the population in the county (or other community type) and multiplying by 100,000.
  

  3Percentage of positive diagnostic and screening NAATs during the last 7 days is calculated by dividing the number of positive tests in the county (or other administrative level) during the last 7 days by the total number of tests resulted over the last 7 days. Additional information can be found on the Calculating Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Laboratory Test Percent Positivity: CDC Methods and Considerations for Comparisons and Interpretation webpage. 

• If you are interested you may find the entire CDC Reopening guidelines here
• Where Boston is as of 3/25/21
• Current Community Positivity Rate 4.8%= Low Transmission
• Current Number of Cases per 100,000 is 31.9 = Moderate Transmission

Street Sweeping

• Street Sweeping resumes this month so please be aware of the schedule if you park on the street near the school. 
• The park side of the street does not ticket/tow but the house side of the street does. 
• Street sweeping on the house side of the street is every 2nd and 4th Wednesday from April until September. 
• Set a reminder in your phone or add it to your calendar - whatever helps! 
• Upcoming dates would be April 14, April 28, May 12, May 26, and June 9.