SAAS Message from Head of School, October 21
Good Evening SAAS Families,
As many of you may have seen, the most recent COVID case count for King County in the last 14 days per 100,000 is at 94 today. As a reminder, High Risk for in-person learning is anything over 75 per 100,000.
In addition to the case per 100,000, a second key data point that informs our decision-making is the Re factor (Reproductive number), which forecasts whether the outbreak is growing, stable, or shrinking. The goal is for that number to be less than 1, and the current Reproductive number is 1.3. That number, in conjunction with the cases per 100,000, is indicative of a probable continuation of high and increasing risk.
We continue to be committed to bringing kids and faculty back to campus and are working towards that goal, but given the data in King County, next week is not the time for our Upper School students to be on campus. We know that cancellation fatigue is a very real thing for our SAAS community. We feel it and would like this to be a different message.
What does this mean?
- SAAS will not be holding Upper School Retreats on Campus as scheduled next week (October 26-30). Remote classes will be held per the usual 5-day block schedule for all Upper School students each day.
- All indoor Upper School athletic pods will be cancelled. Outdoor Upper School athletic pods will continue to be held until further notice.
- All future Retreats on Campus will remain on the calendar. The next scheduled Retreats on Campus are for Middle School students (November 9, 10, and 12). Any changes to the plans will be communicated during the week prior to the scheduled retreat.
And as a reminder, the week of November 2-6 will be a 4-day, fully remote schedule as planned with Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, as a non-school day. We encourage our SAAS community to exercise their right to vote and use this day to civically engage.
We have been alerted to prepare for a third surge in King County between now and the end of the year and are evaluating how that may impact our continued Fall Tri and early Winter Tri planning. We have a couple of weeks before our next scheduled Middle School Retreats on Campus so will announce the decision the week prior as we have been doing so far. If additional information becomes available that will inform our longer term plans, we’ll be in communication.
We appreciate all of you who have attended the recent Town Halls and parent meetings and have offered your insights and guidance. We value your feedback as we move through this together.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out. Be well and be safe.
Head of School
