Dear Key Parents,
Maintaining flexibility and open lines of communication during difficult times is incredibly important, both to ensure we navigate the coming weeks effectively and to help lessen the anxiety many may be experiencing, including your children.
Let's Focus on the Facts
Resources for Decision Making in Response to the Coronavirus
If COVID-19 is found within the Key community, we would take direction directly from the CDC and local health agencies regarding next steps. I expect steps would involve school being closed for a period of time, mandated quarantines for members of our community, and extensive deep cleaning of the campus. I share this not to scare anyone, but to contextualize changes to our school schedule and the request for more information from you that I describe below.
Switching Our Professional Development Day to Tuesday, March 17
To that end, Key will close school for a Professional Development day on Tuesday, March 17 to enable faculty to focus on distance learning plans. Upper School athletics matches and games will take place as scheduled on Tuesday; Middle School games are cancelled. There will be no athletics practices for Middle or Upper School. Rehearsal for Mamma Mia will take place as scheduled.
The Professional Development Day on Monday, April 20 will now revert to a regular school day. I fully realize that this change of date will be an inconvenience for some of you. Our faculty have been working diligently to be able to provide instruction should we need to close for an extended period of time, however switching our Professional Day to next week will position us to quickly transition to distance learning programming should circumstances warrant. For those of you who made travel plans over Spring Break that included travel on April 20, your child will receive an excused absence for that day.
Preparing for Distance Learning
Travel Restrictions
To keep the Key community healthy, our updated policy for the foreseeable future is that no one who has traveled to a country designated Level 2 or Level 3 may come to campus until they have completed the 14-day quarantine period. We also ask that you notify the School by contacting nurse Katie Anderson if you, or a family member, is traveling to a Level 2 or Level 3 country.
As we move into the months ahead, we are very fortunate to have such a close-knit community here at Key and I am thankful to be partnering with you, your wonderful children, and my dedicated colleagues. I have no doubt we will weather this new challenge together, and believe we will emerge an even stronger community.
Thank you again for your patience, flexibility and understanding as we navigate these challenging times.
I will be in touch again soon.
Warmly,
Matthew
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