COVID Update

Good afternoon. 

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to complete the survey that was distributed last week. Nearly 85% of parents have responded.   This provided us with some very useful information for our return to school plan.

For families interested in receiving meals, our meal distribution program has been extended through the month of August.  Meal pickup is available for any children ages 1-18.  Meals are distributed at the elementary school every Monday from 10am-noon and 5-7pm.  If you have not picked up your meals today we will have meals available from 5-7pm this evening.  We hope to see you there.

I do have some important details to share with you this week regarding our reopening plans.

First, all field trips will be cancelled for the first semester.  This includes our rescheduled Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls trip as well as the fifth grade Camp Fitch trip.  Advisors will be in touch with parents this week.

Second, I would like to talk about transportation.  Social distancing on our buses will be difficult and will require students to wear masks at all times while riding on the school bus.  If you have any means to transport your child to school we are encouraging you to do so for this school year. This will make social distancing on our buses much easier, resulting in increased safety for our students. We have created a section in Final Forms for parents to indicate if they will require bus transportation or not.  We need all parents to login to Final Forms and complete this section as soon as possible so we can determine the capacity of our buses. 

Final Forms can be accessed by visiting https://garfield-oh.finalforms.com/

Next, we have some new event cancellations to announce.  These are very difficult decisions, but are being made to reduce the number of visitors on our campus.  Events we have cancelled include Safety Village, Boo Hoo Breakfast, Freshman in the Know and seventh grade orientation.  We are exploring hosting some of these events by appointment or virtually to ensure safety.  

Finally I wanted to share that we will announce our return plan prior to August 1.  While we are planning on a face to face return with significant safety precautions we will have an online option for families who do not feel comfortable in a face to face environment. This option will be very different from what was experienced in the spring.  It will be curricular based and graded by our teaching staff. Families choosing the online option will be considered Garfield students and have access to our sports and extracurricular activities.  The online option will require a commitment of the first semester so we can adequately plan for space in our classrooms.  More details will follow in the coming weeks.  

The decisions we are making are difficult ones.  Each decision impacts the lives of our students, staff and both their families. We will continue to be transparent with our decisions by communicating them to you in a timely manner. We value your trust and will continue to work hard to do what is in the best interest of our students and staff.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.  Have a great day, and go G-Men!

Ted