Home COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions
Forming pods is a route some may choose to take independently from the school, as the school isn’t in a position to suggest that students mix with each other in an environment where we can’t monitor health and safety. As a community, we hope that if families organize pods it’s done with inclusivity at the center so no one is left out who wants to be part of a learning group.
Regarding forming healthy learning communities, it might be prudent to come up with norms that can be agreed upon in advance. As we can all imagine, different families have different approaches to work time, play time, scheduling, and behavior management.
Recent article about “Pandemic Pods” published in the SF Chronicle 8/4/2020.
Meet and Greet with teachers in small groups on assigned dates Aug. 26-28
Daily live Morning Circle (LS) and Advisory (MS)
Student clubs and affinity groups (MS)
SEL / Social Justice infused in multi-disciplinary lessons and projects
Small group instruction / break out rooms
Time on campus in small groups as allowed by county
Staff consultation with counselors and family therapists as needed
Families who have children with academic learning needs known to the school will be invited to a meeting with their grade level learning specialist, primary teacher/advisor and a member of the school leadership (sign up through ParentSquare when availability is posted).
For our most severely impacted students, we are exploring whether they can attend small group in person sessions with our learning specialists.
Seesaw and Google Classroom provide teachers with the ability to differentiate assignments and provide feedback.
Learning specialists will be integrated into small group work.
Please reach out to Lower School Director, Karen Colaric, or Middle School Director, Jules Greene, for any individualized conversations that are needed.
Setting boundaries is so important during this time. The enhanced COVID-19 section of the website will have clearly outlined school expectations, and your child’s classroom teacher will establish class expectations to help anchor your family and provide guidelines.
We are setting up a parent coaching series to address the challenges that are coming up for many families in this time of distance learning.
Sessions will be posted on ParentSquare as soon as they are scheduled.
Families and staff will be asked to reduce their contact with people outside their close family pods for 14 days prior to returning to school.
We are preparing our campus now with routines to support safe practices and sanitizing stations and protocols.
We’re developing arrival, drop off and on site transitions, schedules and other necessary practices so we’ll be ready! We’re eager for the green light to a campus return.
Transitioning back to on campus instruction will require two to three weeks to accommodate the necessary health and safety protocols and physical preparations of our facilities.
As a progressive school, we are always mindful of screen time for our students, and the importance of hands-on learning and in person connections. During this unprecedented time, we will have to rely on virtual platforms as our only learning spaces and our way maintaining connection as a community.
“The levels of screen time that I’ve seen offered by schools alone I don’t see as being an issue all by themselves. At the max, I’ve seen maybe a few several hours a day of Zoom calls, which is pretty unusual. But even then, taking part in an online video class is not going to offer the same kind of danger as related to something like social media or a violent video game,” said Anya Kamenetz, an expert on the intersection of education and technology and author of The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life.
Due to health and safety regulations, we are not able to offer our regular Fall and Spring sports season as of yet.
Should we be able to offer after school competitive sports this year, as CIF has outlined, sports typically offered in the fall will be played from December to March. Winter and Spring sports will be played from March through June.
We are looking into alternative athletic options this year in order to adhere to health and safety regulations (Golf, Fundamentals Classes, Fitness Classes)
High School Placement Meeting Date – Wednesday, September 16th – see ParentSquare for more information.
General Fall High School Placement Timeline
Build a strong partnership with your child’s teachers and advisors so we can collaborate successfully as a team.
Support your child in participating in our distance learning program and reach out to us when issues arise.
Build a strong routine and clear expectations for at-home learning.
Support established Zoom guidelines provided by the school.
Engage in parent education opportunities offered by the school and elsewhere.
Be mindful of email traffic to your child’s teacher, advisor or sectional director.