JRE Weekly Update

JRE Families,

At JRE, we are busily preparing for the start of the 21/22 school year. As we said goodbye in June, COVID transmission was down, vaccination rates were steadily climbing and I felt hopeful optimist for a child vaccine for Fall. In fact, I wrote a lunch plan thinking “We will use this plan for the first few months of school, kids will be back with masks for a few months and then on to normal (Plus things we’ve learned about teaching during COVID.

We all know the Delta variant had different ideas. In addition to our typical work getting ready for school, we’ve been working to implement multiple mitigation strategies. We will encourage 3’ distance whenever possible and are setting up classrooms with this in mind. In almost all classrooms, students will share a table with one other student, but be seated more than 3′ from all other students. Ventilation mitigation strategies are in effect and windows will be open as much as possible. Our heightened cleaning schedule will continue and we will encourage good hand hygiene you’re your students. Children, staff and visitors will be required to wear masks whenever they are in the building. All school staff either are or will be vaccinated shortly.

We are currently writing a lunch plan which tentatively will allow all students to eat in the covered playcourt. As the weather turns colder, we will monitor the effectiveness of this plan. We are asking that you bring your children to JRE as close to the 7:55 start time as possible, limiting the amount of time your child spends outside their classroom. Although our current agreements note we are no longer mandated to cohort, we will do so to the best of our abilities.

In addition to our work planning teaching and learning as well as safety precautions, things are getting underway for the new building. Surveyors have been sighting property lines, well-drillers have been taking core samples to determine where the water table lies and the City of Seattle Landmark Board determined that JRE is not a historical landmark. Thanks to all that wrote letters to the board as this decision clears the way for a complete tear-down an rebuild of JRE.

As we look forward to a very busy 21/22 school year, please know that your children are in very caring hands. SPS staff, teachers, admin, IAs, family support workers, office staff, nurses, counselors and custodial services care very much about the safety of your children. We are prepared to pivot as we have throughout this pandemic to provide safe quality learning opportunities.


In partnership,
Brent Ostbye
Principal

John Rogers Elementary