Article Summary: May 15 2020

We’ve reach the final weekend of the school year! As the Grateful Dead sang, “What a long, strange trip it’s been!”

 

For this week I decided to bring back my traditional ‘article summary’ format. What It's Like Living in One of the Only Countries to Adopt Herd Immunity is about what living is currently like in Sweden, one of the few countries that opted not to implement shelter-in-place restrictions for its citizens.

 

While life in Sweden has been anything but normal, the article’s author and her fellow Swedes have been asked by their government to practice what she calls ‘common sense’ behavior.

 

Over the past months she and her husband have continued going to work and her kids have gone daily to their local day care. Living in a big city, she avoids public transportation, which for most cities has proven to be a high-risk area of Covid-19 contagion. She socially distances at work and in public. With older parents, she speaks with them on the phone but has not seen them in person. She practices good basic hygiene, e.g., wearing a mask and handwashing frequently. She stays home from work and keeps her kids out of day care at the slightest sign of any illness.

 

Sweden has continued to allow bars and restaurants to remain open but limited the number of customers and mandated wider distances between tables. While she and her family have gone out to eat a few times, they mostly stay home. She does not allow her kids to have playdates with friends.

 

She’s seen some inevitable flouting of rules yet overall she and other Swedes have done a good job staying within the confines of these wider parameters. The results thus far  have been positive as Sweden has not seen a dramatically higher percentage of people contracting Covid-19.

 

For me this article is a good example of where we and different parts of our country will likely transition to as we move into the summer. Over the past two weeks I’ve begun to venture out a little more but remain mindful of wearing a mask, not touching my face, and vigorously washing my hands as soon as I get home. My parents live 2o minutes from me, yet I haven’t seen them in person since early March as they are both in high-risk categories. To support local restaurants, I do take-out and curbside pick-up but I don’t feel comfortable enough yet to sit down and eat in a restaurant. When I run or walk on the sidewalks in my neighborhood, I dutifully move onto the street to avoid pedestrians heading towards me—yes, it’s polite but it’s also an easy and safer way to avoid spreading germs.

 

We’ve seen Georgia and Atlanta businesses open up a bit more over the past two weeks. An article I recently read in USA Today reported our country overall has begun to see a decline in the contagion curve. Over the next few weeks all of us will determine what ‘common sense’ behavior means for us.

 

Enjoy the final weekend of the 2019-20 school year—and then the final days of school next week!

 

And here’s the corny joke of the week:

 

Why do you never see pigs hiding in the trees?

 

Because they’re pretty good at it!

 

Joe

 

End of Week Update: May 8 2020

As we move into the homestretch of the school year, below are our projected schedules/calendars for the final two weeks of school, this summer, and the start of the new 2020–21 school year. We must remain flexible as these schedules are based on current conditions and the hope that Georgia will see a downward trajectory of contagion in the upcoming weeks. If conditions change, we will modify plans as needed and communicate those changes. Rhonda, Sarah, and external directors will provide additional details for EED, UED, and external departments. 

Please note that parents will be apprised of our end-of-year plans in next Tuesday’s all-school communication.

 Next Week (Week of May 11):

• Trinity remains closed, except for a few people coming to school on Tuesday and Thursday for “business continuity,” including the addition of the facilities staff.
• Last week of full distance learning plans for base classrooms and specials.
• Friday, May 15: Last day for school for Early Learners and Extended Programs classes.

Last Week of School (Week of May 18):

• Monday-Wednesday, May 18–20: Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences; virtual grade end-of-year activities with specials teachers

• Thursday, May 21: Last Day of School; the day ends about 11 AM
• Virtual Sneak Peek for Pre-K–Fifth Grade students.
• Virtual base classroom celebrations, including Fifth Grade Morning of Memories
• End-of-year faculty/staff Zoom meeting at 1 PM. I will send everyone the calendar invite today. For those who can’t attend the meeting, we will record and post it on the Faculty/Staff resource board.
• Friday, May 22:  As an optional end-of-year opportunity for all families/students to come together and celebrate the end of the school year, we will have a caravan parade of cars on campus.
• Additional details will be sent to employees and families in other communications.
• Please note that gift exchanges will not occur on this day.
• All faculty and staff are invited to park on campus by 8:30 AM and line up on both sides of the perimeter carpool line.
• Please remember to wear a mask and social distance. Please bring your own mask from home as we will not provide masks at this time.
• The caravan will be led by the Sixth Graders, starting at 9 AM.
• Parents will drive through campus in the carpool line, but they and their children will not be allowed to park or get out of the car.
• Technically, the building will be closed but employees will have access to restrooms near the Visitor Lot entrance.

Week of Memorial Day, May 25

• Monday, May 25: No School; the campus is closed.
• Tuesday–Thursday, May 26–28: The building will be open between 8:30 AM–2 PM for employees to get any personal possessions from classrooms and offices.
• Do not enter the building if you have recently had any cold or flu-like symptoms (fever, sore throat, cough, etc.), are living with anyone who has recently had any symptoms or was ill, or are in a high-risk health category.
• Please enter through the main reception doors so we can monitor and limit the number of people in the building at any one time.
• Wear a mask and (optional) gloves. Please bring your own masks from home as we will not provide masks at this time.
• As a special thank you to our wonderful employees, Flik will provide grab-and-go dinners for all of you. I will send more information and specific details about how to sign up soon.
• If you are not returning to Trinity for the 2020–21 school year, you can return school technology and other materials. Please note that you will also have the option to do this the following week.
• Friday, May 29: Campus is closed.

 Week of June 1 (and beyond)

• Reminder: Summer Camps in June have been canceled.
• Anyone who comes on campus will be screened for illness prior to being allowed to enter the building.

• Monday–Thursday, June 1–4: Parents and students can come into the building between 8:30 AM-2 PM to clean out cubbies/lockers and pick up their yearbooks.
• Parents will receive details about coming on campus to gather belongings in a future communication.
• Parents will have the opportunity to return borrowed library books and technology these four days. There will be a bin to collect library books and a process for returning technology.
• For students returning to Trinity for the 2020–21 school year, families may keep loaned technology and students may keep laptops until August 3.
• We will ask parents and students to enter through the main reception doors so that we can monitor and limit the number of people in the building at any one time.
• Parents will be required to wear masks (preferred but not required for their children) and asked to wear (optional) gloves.

• We will ask that no one enter the building if they have recently had any cold or flu-like symptoms (fever, sore throat, cough, etc.), are living with anyone who has recently had any symptoms or was ill, or are in a high-risk health category.

• Friday, June 5: The campus will be closed this Friday and every Friday throughout the summer until the week of the July 27 summer camps for summer camp staff and campers.
• Mondays–Thursdays: Beginning June 1, Trinity will be open 8 AM–4 PM (please see information below about tentative date for staff to return to campus).

• The Admissions Office will schedule New Family Visits on campus.

Week of June 15

• We hope to be able to welcome external staff back on campus this week.
• Regular office hours will be Mondays–Thursdays, 8:30 AM–3 PM.
• The School will be closed every Friday throughout the rest of the summer until the week of the July 27 summer camps for summer camp staff and campers.
• For staff members with extenuating circumstances, e.g., childcare, please communicate directly with your supervisor.

Friday, July 10:

• Sixth Grade Graduation at Trinity

2020-21 school year:

• Week of July 27: Back-to-School Summer Camps.

• Monday, August 3: New Faculty/Staff Orientation.
• Tuesday, August 4: Preplanning begins for all faculty and staff.

As always, thank you for all you continue to do for Trinity and for your students! Enjoy the weekend and Mother’s Day!

Joe

Covid-19 Update: May 1 2020

I hope all of you are able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather forecasted for this weekend!

Before I sit down to write these brief updates every Friday, I try to remember how I was feeling the week before. Have the events of the week made me more hopeful and optimistic or I am more forlorn due to the continued uncertainty and depressing news stories?

Well, this week there has certainly been eventful locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.

I was most interested in reports about how Sweden is faring with its decision to allow schools and businesses to remain open. A number of experts predicted their Covid-19 contagion would exponentially grow, but this far they have had a very similar percentage (just a little higher) of Covid-19 contagion as other countries that opted for the stricter shelter-in-place restrictions.

Atlanta has gotten a lot of national exposure with the effectiveness of the drug remdesivir in an Emory University clinical trial. While certainly not a vaccine (although a number of potential ones are in currently in clinical trial), this drug has had a positive effect in speeding up the Covid-19 recovery time for infected patients.

Other states are beginning to open up businesses a little more. Like Goldilocks, for some people it’s too soon, for others too slow, for others just right.

Even the New York Jets had a decent draft! If we have an NFL season, maybe they can move into the mediocre level and be 8-8!

So overall I am feeling better this week compared to last.

Obviously the next two weeks are important for Georgia. As people begin to venture out more, we need to at least see a plateau or ideally a decline in those contracting Covid-19. I am hope Georgians continue to take appropriate precautions and follow CDC health and safety recommendations. Like you, I want to get back to school and a return to some semblance of normalcy but it’s going to take a while yet. Still, we’re beginning to inch ahead!

I did want to share a few student quotes about their thoughts about schools being closed from an article I read this week.

• Learning at school definitely helps motivates me to get my work done because I’m in the environment to do work and there’s really nothing else I can do. At home I have the liberty to literally do anything other than schoolwork: 16 year old

• Life without school is much more boring than I thought it would be: 14 year old

• Every day I take a walk around my neighborhood with my parents and when I see my friends they tell me to stay six feet away. I get really sad I can’t be with them: 9 year old

• My little brother asks every morning if the germs went away yet. He really misses school like me: 7 year old

• I like our video morning meeting every day with my teachers and friends. It makes me feel like I’m still in school. My baby sister won’t leave me alone so I decided to let her join: 6 year old

And here’s the Corny Joke of the Week (courtesy of Drew Steinberg):

Did you hear about the kidnapping at school?

Oh, don’t worry. He woke up.

Joe