Fall 2020-Message from Head of School
Dear Ambleside Parents,
It is hard to believe that we now have nine days of school behind us. What a pleasure it has been to see students interacting with ideas again. The engagement and delight is contagious among teachers and students alike. We all have a great sense of joy and gratitude that we can be together again.
I have begun a list of all the blessings that COVID-19 has brought to our school atmosphere. Overall, students are showing greater stewardship of themselves and their belongings. They are more careful in sharing materials, keeping hands clean, and distancing without reminders. They are enjoying their outdoor classes. The time apart and unique circumstances of our return have sparked more joy in their relationships, more generosity toward their peers, and more attention and diligence towards learning. There is truly a great appreciation and joy shared between teachers and students.
As we move further into the school year, I have received more questions about school social gatherings--those informal class gatherings, school wide occasions, and similar activities where a number of us come together. I asked our COVID Team to give consideration for our out of school procedures since they come from many different perspectives. Based on their recommendations, here are some practices we are asking for school events organized by parents off campus:
“Centered on Christ.” There are many issues poised to divide us this year, but more than ever our children need to know how people of faith connect when they disagree. Can believers who are concerned about COVID-19 be in the same room with believers who are less concerned and both feel welcome? Our children are watching us for our example.
“Respect and Protect.” It is important for all of us to respect different opinions in our politics and in our COVID-19 precautions. It is also important for us to protect our culture of unity. Finally, we need to protect vulnerable individuals in our community. We have families dealing with cancer treatments, aging parents, and compromised immune systems. Just as we all adjust our lunches to accommodate nut allergies in the classroom, we want to show respect and care for those in our community at high risk.
“Six feet or masks up.” Our goal is to stay in school as long as possible. Spending more time outdoors, wearing masks, keeping social distance, and limiting the number of students in contact with one another are key elements to our strategy of containing any spread of COVID-19 here at school. We do not intend to police social events with Ambleside parents and students, but keep in mind that if there is a confirmed COVID-19 case in the school, those exposed less than 6 feet for over 15 minutes without a mask will most likely be quarantined for two weeks. In or out of school, our practices will determine whether a single class is quarantined or whether the whole school has to close. Teachers and students are working very hard to stay in school, and we ask parents to do the same.
“It’s OK to ask.” If we want our students to have the courage to speak up in a crowd, we need to welcome each other to do the same. When we are together we want to normalize asking other students and other adults to comply with our group guidelines. At our school related social gatherings, six feet distance and no mask is OK; being closer than six feet with no mask for more than 15 minutes is not OK. It should be okay for us to ask one another to step back or put our masks up.
“Less is best.” Until we get through the first months of school, we encourage smaller numbers of people together, limited food and beverages, less occasions for sitting and eating around a table for more than 15 minutes. It is very challenging for groups too much larger than 20 to distance and mask while eating and talking together.
Overall, the desire of all of us is to do what we can to allow most of our students to be instructed in person. We recognize that Ambleside’s culture enjoys time outside, interaction between ages and generations, campfires, and muddy play dates. All of us on the COVID Team and among the school’s leadership want to get back to those days as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, I want to assure you, parents, that your children are thriving here. They are resilient and so grateful to be together again after so many months of isolation; wearing masks appears to be a minor inconvenience for most of them. That said, we hope that masks and class separation will not become the new normal and we are all looking forward to better days.
In the meantime, I hope we can work together to “love one another” in difficult times.
For the children’s sake,
Ginnie