Back to School Update ~ IMPORTANT ~ Return to Full Day Learning!
2/12/2021
Dear Steamboat Montessori Families,
We are pleased to announce that we will be returning to full-day in-person learning beginning on Monday, March 1st. This decision comes after much discussion and planning and is the direct result of some key factors.
- Vaccinations for Teachers begin today, Friday 2/12, and will be completed on Friday, March 12th. 85% of our staff are getting vaccinated!
- Routt County Public Health declared that the time is “now” for schools to return. Please review their statement
- Locally cases are decreasing, which is hopefully a trend in the right direction, matching the overall state trend.
We are excited to welcome students back to full day in-person learning, recognizing this transition will need to be done thoughtfully and carefully to continue to provide our staff and students with the safest learning environment possible under current conditions.
To make this happen, we are going to modify our post-Blues Break return to school schedule. In order to accommodate the preparations needed:
- We will extend our Remote Learning through Friday, 2/26.
- Please note that the first day of school after Blues Break is Monday, 2/22. We expect all K-5 students to be in attendance for their Remote Learning assignments.
- PreK families will return to in-person learning on Thursday February 25th.
We need to gather information from you to help us in our planning. All Kinder-5th grade families please complete this survey. ONE SURVEY PER FAMILY, PLEASE!
We are making adjustments to our weekly schedule to accommodate teacher planning and preparations.
- We will shorten the day by 15 minutes. Drop off is still at 8am. Pick-up will be 3pm.
- Lunch & Recess will be one hour [lunch 20/recess 40] This will minimize the unmasked exposure that will happen during lunch. We also plan to work on outdoor lunch options and create cohort recess areas.
- Fridays will be early release days. This is to accommodate for lost planning time and extra staffing needs. We will be implementing a half-day release on Friday, pick up time will be 11:30. Primary will go full days on Fridays.
The final calendar change will be taking all of Monday March 15th off. Friday 3/12 is our 2nd Vaccination day and is traditionally a ‘comp’ day-off for teachers; we will take Monday off instead.
Critical to our success as we move into full-day in-person learning is the ongoing vigilance of our families to uphold our Health Agreements, and to continue to follow local and national guidance around travel, group interactions, etc. As we move into this new learning model, it is more important than ever for families to conduct at-home health checks and keep students home who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
It is important to know that in our full day model, cohorts will be larger, and any quarantines will likely affect twice as many students and families. Please continue to do the right thing when it comes to your out-of-school behavior and choices. We are prepared to shift back to our hybrid or fully remote model, if such a move is recommended by local public health officials.
As we begin Blues Break we are asking our families to follow the local guidelines with regard to travel and hosting others. Families must self-monitor and screen if you plan to travel over the break, and we expect our community to follow travel guidelines around quarantining.
Post Blues Break COVID Testing: We are planning to have this testing date later in the week after the break. It will be either Thursday or Friday. More details to follow. This later in the week Covid-19 Testing should help us all return to school with confidence. We encourage ALL of you to sign up!
Please direct any questions you might have to [email protected]
Thank you again for all of your support in maintaining a sustainable and healthy school community.
In Gratitude,
The Back-to-School Task Force