March 14, 2020 (updated 3/16/20 – School is now CLOSED through April 14th.)
Dear Mistwood Families,
This is a time for us all to come
together to support each other. As such, we have been monitoring and
researching the COVID-19 situation breaching into many communities.
School closures, at this moment are occurring in at least 12 states,
particularly where COVID-19 cases are spreading. What we know is that
children, although they do not seem to be getting ill from this virus, are
capable of spreading the virus. This will affect not only our older
population, our parents and grandparents, great aunts and uncles, but also our
immunocompromised children, our asthmatics and others with health issues.
The complication of the virus being wide spread is the amount of medical
hospitalization required to treat severe cases; we do not have enough of this
critical care.
Although we are a small population at
Mistwood, and there are no known current COVID-19 cases in Humboldt County, we,
as a learning center, need to be prepared for school closure and taking extra
precautionary health measures.
Currently, these are the following
measures we are taking to mitigate this situation:
1. For the last two weeks, we have
been cleaning with Lysol and bleach. Thanks to Tara, who came in and deep
cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms with bleach. Every Sunday, we have been
spraying Lysol on all high contact surfaces and disinfecting the bathrooms and
kitchen.
2. If your student is ill, or you are a
teacher at our school and feel ill or in a high-risk situation, please stay
home. We have been encouraging this and sending home kids that are not
feeling well.
3. Hand washing has been being monitored
and focused on several times a day. For a video on hand-washing
procedures, see: https://youtu.be/d914EnpU4Fo .
4. Mistwood will be open for the next
two weeks and moving our Spring Break to a week earlier, March 30 to
April 13, 2020, beginning school again Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
5. Due to extra cleaning and
preparations for homeschooling, we are asking that all students are picked up
by 4:30 pm, starting immediately.
6. Although we will be open for the next
two weeks, (dependent on Governor’s mandated emergency orders or learning
of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Humboldt County) we are happy to prepare
packets for homeschooling for those families who would like to home-school for the
next two weeks. (Humboldt County updates: https://humboldtcovid19.org)
7. After Spring Break, if we cannot
reopen, Alice and Rebecca are setting up Google Classroom, Skype Classes, and
packets in preparing for continued school closure. We are always
available by email and text to answer any questions or help with an assignment.
8. If we have to go on an extended
homeschooling, tuition payments will revert to our homeschooling rate of $100
per month per student. However, if you are able to continue to pay the
full tuition, we would appreciate the help in keeping the school running
smoothly and bills paid.
What can you do:
A. Send an email to our new
account to prepare for Google Classroom (mistwoodvillage@mistwoodvillage.org) and a Skype account to prepare for
Skype classes that your student might want to attend.
B. Make sure we have your current E-mail.
If you did not receive this letter in email, let us know so we can fix your
email.
C. STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK.
D. If we do have school closure and you
need support in any way please let us know. We are a village. We
have posted a great article on our Facebook page about homeschooling and how to
approach the idea with lots of fun ideas.
E. If you have time to do some cleaning,
stop by and help out.
F. Have children wash their hands when
arriving to school and when leaving school.
G. Keep in contact with us if you are
planning to home-school. We have lots of games and ideas for the younger
kids, workbooks, for those who would like them. With Group 3 and 4, we
will prepare packets of work needing to be done to keep up on skills.
We are so grateful for our Mistwood
Community. Each and every individual child is unique and amazing in their
educational journey. If homeschooling is required, have fun. Enjoy
this time with your unique and amazing student and know that help is only a
phone call or Skype call away.
