Dear Harley community,

 

We’ve been doing quite a bit of work making plans should the coronavirus come our way, hoping—of course—that we don’t need to use most of them. The various topics are broken out below.

School Closure Decisions

We are closely following word from the county and state health departments. In the event there is a government-imposed closure, we will share this news with you as well as our plans for remote learning.

Even if schools are not forced to close, local public health officials may mandate certain quarantine or exclusion rules in the face of an outbreak; these mandates will not be optional. And, given that our School community’s safety is paramount, we reserve the right to decide to close school doors even without a government mandate. Such a decision would be made by me along with the Admin team and the board.

As this is an evolving situation, our plan may need to be nimble as well.

Self-Reporting and Self-Quarantine Policies

With spring break just a month away, we are asking parents to please adhere to the following if you are traveling.

• All individuals traveling out of the country should regularly check the CDC and State Department websites (before traveling and before returning);

• Report to your division head if your family is traveling to certain areas (those with a level 2 or 3 warning from the CDC);

• Remain at home for 14 days after travel if you go to a level 2 or 3 area in order to confirm that no signs of the virus are present; and

• Work with your division head and division assistant for learning resources during any self-quarantine

With the spread of the virus in the United States, we may yet have to extend these policies to domestic travel.

 

Student Absences and Attendance

Harley, like other schools in our area, follows state attendance regulations, as well as SEVP regulations regarding international students’ attendance. If there is individual student quarantine or school closure, we will still be tracking attendance as is prudent. More detail on this will follow, if necessary.

 

Remote Learning

We have activated our remote-learning task force and they are hard at work reviewing our technology and processes. Any remote platforms put into place may evolve over time and we’ll be in regular communication about them. Please take a moment to answer our very short technology survey, which we are using to gauge the available technology in students’ homes.

 

Hand Sanitation and Hygiene Education/Awareness

We are doing our very best to promote good hygiene in and out of school. There have been an abundance of reminders about proper hand washing, shared by faculty and also posted around the school—especially in the bathrooms—as a reminder to use soap and scrub with water for a minimum of 20 seconds (the length of singing the “Happy Birthday” song twice or the “ABC” song). For more detailed guidance, see this page from the American Cleaning Institute.

Meanwhile, our maintenance team is working with Deb and Christine, our nurses, to make sure we’re using the best materials and protocols.

 

Parents’ Resources

Parents, we are in this together and we need your help as well to keep everyone in our community healthy and safe.

• Harvard Medical School has good information for parents here.

• A great little cartoon for children: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus

• NBC has a quick read regarding how to talk with your kids about the Coronavirus here.

• New York State has set up a hotline for citizens with questions and concerns about the coronavirus at 1-888-364-3065.

• An excellent, 90-second video from the World Health Organization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1APwq1df6Mw&feature=youtu.be

 

OK! Stay well and have a great weekend.

 

Best,

Larry