Hello Staff, Family, and Community,

Our team has been working hard to build out a comprehensive plan for a safe return to in-person learning and are committed to doing this well.

With the many moving pieces of scheduling, class lists, transportation, refining safety protocols and structures, rapid testing, staff and parent communication, and so much more, we are focused on effectively transitioning from one model of remote learning to two models with strong safety measures in place, numerous training and resources for our staff and families, and clear, timely communications and updates.

In order to best prepare for our return to in-person instruction, we have updated the schedule to incorporate valuable transition time for our scholars, staff and families. This transition time will involve a week of asynchronous activities beginning March 8 to ensure a smooth start of in-person learning beginning March 15.

Adjustments include:

• March 1-5, 2021: The last full week of 100% remote learning for PreK-1, K-2 Academic Core Program (ACP), K-12 Functional Core Program (FCP), and Employment Transition Program (ETP) students.
• March 8-12, 2021: Asynchronous learning for transition activities for all Pre-K through grade 5, ETP, and K-12 FCP students. There will be a variety of activities for staff and students, including staff training on health and safety protocols, and time for scholars to meet their new class.
• Beginning March 15, 2021: Return to in-person learning for PreK–1, K-2 ACP, ETP, and K-12 FCP.
• Beginning March 29, 2021: Return to in-person learning for Grades 2-3 and 3-5 ACP.
• Beginning April 19, 2021: Return to in-person learning for Grades 4-5.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter as we move forward, although not as fast as we’d like to see. Some bright spots include:

• Since early January, we’ve seen decreases of positive COVID-19 cases in our region. The most current available data indicates King County COVID rate per 100,000 is 99 and the Federal Way rate is 131. This is categorized as “Moderate” based on the state’s school reopening guidance that states that if the transmission rate is moderate, defined as 50-350 cases per 100,000 over 14 days, then the recommendation is to phase-in in-person learning, prioritizing Elementary and Middle school scholars.
• We are currently working to identify vaccine opportunities for our staff to access as soon as possible.
• We’re partnering with Seattle Children’s to do rapid testing for those staff supporting in-person learning.
• We’re continuing to collaborate with local school districts and gain a sense of lessons learned from the over 190 school districts in the state that have already returned to some form of in-person learning.

Thank you for your patience, commitment, positive support and empathy in understanding the difficulty of this work as we move to bring our scholars back to in-person learning, while ensuring the safety of our staff and students.

I’d like to thank our staff and parents for the incredible partnership and flexibility we’ve all had to show through navigating learning in a pandemic. Next week, we will share more information about specific activities for staff and scholars on the transition days.

Sincerely,

Dr. Tammy Campbell, Superintendent