Community Briefing: July 17, 2020

A briefing will be sent to the entire community every Friday at this time.

One More Request to Give Us Information

Please take a few minutes to respond to this survey. It’s especially important to our continued planning for 2020-2021. Thanks in advance for your time.

Flash Survey for EPS Parents: Coming Back to Campus

(due on Monday, July 20)

Equity, Inclusion and Compassionate Leadership

Summer reading selections for students will be sent home today, Friday, July 17.  In addition to those selections we have some recommendations for the whole family.

As a follow-up to some of the student-led discussions held in June and July on racism in the United States, and in response to the deaths of many African American people—most specifically George Floyd—we want to make information available for anyone who would like to continue to study, discuss, and teach topics related to racism in the United States.

Resources for learning about racism:  https://eastsideprep.org/PDF/2020-21/EPS-Anti-Racist-Resource-List.pdf

When Are We Going Back to School….REAL SCHOOL?

As we continue to think and prototype our planning for next year, it becomes increasingly clear that we are going to need the help and support of everyone in the EPS community.  We’re also going to need to work closely together to preserve our most valuable asset—the community culture.

The longer students are away from friends and familiar daily experiences, the harder it will be for them to maintain a sense of belonging to a community that exists, entirely, for the purpose of supporting them.  Even before school is set to start—whether we are on campus or not—we need to do some work to welcome new members of the community—students, as well as faculty and staff.  We’ll need volunteers among our returning EPS families to let us know how much they are able to participate in some on-line sessions to meet and welcome new families. We’ll need students to connect with new students, and we’ll need faculty and staff to connect with people new to their roles at EPS.

The thinking and planning concerning the possibility of opening in September on campus continues to gain steam—as does the virus, itself.   We’re limited by the possibilities outlined in Governor Inslee’s 4 Phases. There are some special provisions for schools, but we really aren’t yet in a position to be confident about what September will look like.

To provide a bit of a “picture” of what we’re doing, there are some PPT slides below intended to give you a look inside:

Washington State Mandates

  • DAILY SCREENING PRIOR TO ENTRY ON CAMPUS INCLUDING TEMPS
  • MASKS AT ALL TIMES
  • COVID SAFETY PLAN
  • EXCLUDED IF SYMPTOMATIC OR IF EXPOSED TO SOMEONE WITH COVID
  • Screening Questions
    • In the last 24 hours, have you experienced cough, shortness of breath, fever over 100.4 or a sense of having a fever, sore throat, chills, new loss of taste or smell, muscle or body aches, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, congestion/runny nose (not allergy related), unusual fatigue?
    • Anyone in your household with the above symptoms?
    • Have you been in close contact (more than 15 min, less than 6-ft apart) with anyone with symptoms?
    • Have you taken medication in order to reduce a fever in the last 48 hours?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are well in to our second and approaching the third session of faculty and staff training. Between August 10, 2020, and August 21, we hope to be able to host small groups of students with faculty on campus. We’d like to “practice” being at school a bit before we jump back in. And if it turns out that we’re not ready to jump—we won’t!

We want our students back as much as they want to be back and to reconnect with friends and teachers. If we can communicate often, and be as transparent as possible, we can get through this.

Be well!

Tuition Insurance

The deadline to enroll in tuition insurance is August 1. The Tuition Refund Plan can help protect your financial commitment to Eastside Prep if your student withdraws during the academic year under certain conditions. Please see the Tuition Insurance Brochure for more information.

Questions can be sent to billing@eastsideprep.org.

Forms Reminder/Back-to-School Guide

There are several forms due to the school during the summer (including medical forms on SchoolDoc that were due on July 15).  If you have not completed your forms, please do so as soon as possible.  If you have questions on medical forms or SchoolDoc, please contact School Nurse Stephanie Hinson.

And as a reminder, EPS has created a checklist-style Back-to-School Guide that may be helpful in keeping track of important deadlines and upcoming events.  You can access that document HERE (password EPS1920).

Bus Service Sign Up

EPS is working to determine how best to provide bus service given the government guidelines for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. An important part of our decision is based on the number of students that will be riding our buses. Please log into School Forms here: School Forms Online and submit the Bus Agreement if you would like your child(ren) to ride EPS buses in the fall trimester. BUS SERVICE REGISTRATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MONDAY, JULY 20. 

Examples of our bus routes for 2019-2020 can be found HERE. (password EPS1920) Details specific to each of our routes will be sent to families once the sign-up is complete. If you have any questions, please email transportation@eastsideprep.org.

Summer and Back-to-School Picnics Update

The EPS Parent Association and Class Reps are working with the school to plan New Family Summer picnics the week of July 27 as well as All Grade-Level Back-to-School Picnics the week of August 31 to September 4. Based on current guidelines, we are now planning virtual experiences for these events.  New families should have received an email regarding the July events and information about the back-to-school picnics for all families will be sent soon.

Please contact Parent Association (PA) President Claudia Bayer with questions.

Seen and Heard

Faculty and staff attend Session 1 training to learn how to access the campus and understand what the school has done to make the campus as safe as possible.