September 02, 2020
Greetings CSS families,
We have successfully re-opened school during a pandemic. Let that statement settle in. To say we are grateful would be an understatement. We are embarking upon living up to our mission to prepare students for a dynamic world by mitigating risk, re-inventing school events and protocols, examining our educational delivery to provide quality education, and restructuring the school day and its routines to be COVID-friendly. We have embraced all things change. We are endeavoring in the days to come to re-work our calendar to ensure mission-critical items that can be safely sustained remain, and we have taken a critical look at what it means to be a community during the most challenging times in history. For this, we celebrate the first two weeks of the 2020-2021 school year. Yet, we are continuing to collaborate with health officials while examining our school practices because we are aware that research and data are changing almost daily.We want to say thank you to all of you who have extended your time, grace, and patience through Carline for Everyone. Those of you who have supported our Community Pledge and given your time, money, and support, we say thank you. Whether it was building the pergolas, providing lunch for volunteers, donating supplies, or working the morning carline, we say a heartfelt thank you. We recognize that we cannot do this alone. We have our work cut out for us throughout this year. There are many items on the wish list for the school. We look to bolster internet capacity, acquire additional software to support current processes, and of course keep well supplied in PPE and cleaning supplies. This year is unprecedented with critical needs. The list of needs is not all-encompassing due to the many changes that we will no doubt continue to encounter as we look across the school year. There will be unexpected needs during these uncertain times, and we want to position ourselves for continued success. We still need your help and hope that you look to support us through a tax-deductible charitable donation. In the weeks to come, you will hear more specifics about the Annual Fund and the Claremont Giving Challenge.
One thing we need right now is several volunteers for the morning carline. Although things worked well during our staggered start, it will take a village to execute three carlines simultaneously beginning Tuesday, September 8. We need you to give us a quick 25 minutes of your morning in order to continue to execute the carline. We certainly welcome and invite new families to jump in as volunteers to conduct temperature checks with no-touch thermometers. Volunteers may sign up now for individual days or weeks through October 2 using the link below.
As we take this journey together, there are some details to make Carline for Everyone a success:
- Be sure to lower your car heater or turn it off prior to rolling your window down for a temperature check. The heat in the car can cause inaccurate thermometer readings, which could delay your child’s entry into school. Due to running three carlines simultaneously, the delays could be significant.
- Please have your Daily Health Screening form filled out by 7:15 a.m. (A note on the car door or a sticky note on a mirror until it is habit could help.)
- Have your child’s name card out and attached to the passenger sun visor. This will help significantly. As the weather changes and we look to limit the amount of time outside, we will need to have full visibility. Placing the name card on the dashboard does not make the name card visible to volunteers.
Carline runs from 7:45-8:05 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and from 8:45-9:05 a.m. on Wednesday (school starts an hour later on Wednesdays).
If you arrive late to school, please check in with the following staff members:
- Dr. Melissa Hocate in the Early Childhood Center for PreKindergarten through 5th grade students
- Ann Runte in the Trianon for Middle School students
- Elena Hall in the El Pomar Academic Center for Upper School students
We will continue to implement best practices in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Here are critical elements to our school day:
- Clean face coverings
- Hand washing and sanitizing throughout the day
- Social distancing when possible
- Daily health assessments with integrity
Again, we want to thank you for embracing this school year with us and ask that we continue to keep the words of the Community Pledge at the forefront because there will be additional changes and adjustments as we move forward.
With Appreciation,
Tambi Tyler
Head of School
