If there’s one thing we’ve learned this week it’s that COVID-19 is real, and we need to remain vigilant now more than ever. Since we re-opened a year ago, we’ve consistently worn masks, practiced social distancing, kept classes separate, and followed protocols recommended by the county health department and CDC. Our cases last year were kept incredibly low, and even our need for quarantining was limited. We navigated the school year almost miraculously, given the small presence of COVID-19 in our community. Most of our staff members were able to receive the vaccine, and things were looking brighter every day. During a summer when mask mandates were lifted and the world started to open up again, we maintained our masking practice for staff and students kindergarten and up.
When we returned to school a few weeks ago, our same protocols were in place. The changes we made were allowing masked parents in the building for drop-off, and permitting children in different classes to be together outside on the playground. We have remained vigilant. The difference this year is that because most staff are vaccinated, the cases are more likely to be children. This is consistent with what’s been reported in the news lately, that with the delta variant, children are more susceptible because of its increased level of contagion. The other piece is that many activities that weren’t happening a year ago, such as public classes and gatherings, birthday parties, and other in-person events, are now available. While we support children entering back into their regular activities, we need your support as members of the Seed community.
From our end we are following the county and CDC guidelines for notification of close contacts and quarantining if there is contact. We have an ethical responsibility to protect the privacy of all our students and may not be able to give you the specific information you request. Please trust that we are doing everything we possibly can to follow guidelines and recommendations. Additionally, we ask that as you and your child move about in the world, you take every precaution possible (e.g. masking and social distancing) to ensure that exposure opportunities are minimized. We’ve worked successfully as a team for over a year, and if we keep at it, we’ll make it through this challenging time with minimal illness in our community.