Dear Key families,
I am writing to share with you several updates about school operations as we continue to move through the course of the academic year.
I am pleased to report that vaccinations for Key faculty and staff are ongoing. While there remain significant challenges with supply issues and availability of appointments, as of writing close to 30% of the faculty and staff have appointments and/or are in a dosage phase. Those of us who do not, are either signed up or actively trying to book appointments. We have been instructed to work with our local County Health Department by the State Health Department and our accreditation organization AIMS. While we all wish this process could move more quickly, it is moving, and that is good news.
Case rate in the county is also trending downward and we hope that continues as well. Since our return to School in January, Key itself has experienced minimal disruption to on campus programming, and there have been no reported diagnosed cases to date connected to campus. I continue to thank our families and my colleagues for their ongoing diligence and prioritization of our health and safety guidelines.
Given the downward trend in infection regionally, recent CDC analysis that indicates schools are not significant sources of spread, and our own internal metrics, we will not institute a virtual week after Mid-Winter Break and will resume on-campus instruction on Monday, February 22.
Upon return from Mid-Winter Break, to keep our campus a safe environment, community members who engage in the following activities will need to receive a negative PCR test three to five days after engaging in the activities or complete a 10-day quarantine period:
Please notify School nurse Katie Anderson if your plans fall into these categories.
A question on everyone's mind is when do operations at Key resemble what was happening prior to COVID-19? While it was challenging to employ all the safety measures, it is even more challenging to determine which ones to remove and when. Vaccinations for faculty and staff are an important step with regard to safety, but it is still unclear of the availability and efficacy of vaccines for children. However, with the warmer weather coming and the availability of outdoor spaces, I expect in March that we will have a better understanding of the viability of five day on-campus instruction for students in grades 5-12.
With that said, one element of our program that we do expect to be resuming shortly is our competitive athletics program. The County and our respective leagues have indicated that athletic competitions are permitted and schedules are being built for the spring season in Upper School sports. While Middle School competitive sports are still being considered, I am very optimistic about our ability to offer opportunities for Middle School students to at least engage in intra-squad activities and skill training sessions. The leagues are working on an agreed upon set of safety protocols that all schools will need to follow, including mask wearing, health assessments and social distancing. While it has yet to be determined, we expect that attendance beyond student athletes, coaches and school personnel will be limited and likely not permitted. More details will be forthcoming from Key's Athletics Department.
With all that is going on it can be easy to miss all the wonderful things our students are doing. Your children, whether they are here everyday or joining us virtually, are our reason for persevering and they do inspire us.
No doubt, things have been incredibly different and challenging, but our students have been demonstrating resilience, a joy in learning, and interest in the work they are doing that is positioning them to develop into the constructive members of society that is at the core of our Mission as a School.
Stay safe.
Matthew
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