Happy New Year D56 Families!

Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic/endemic, a new calendar year always provides an opportunity for hope and possibilities. As this year moves on, I have attended more student activities and teacher meetings that have to do with education! It is exciting to participate in things that feel “normal” and provides the needed energy to move forward.

The good news is the new guidance that was shared earlier this week should allow students impacted by COVID to return to school sooner, which is a good thing! The safest place for our students is in our schools. The Lake County Health Department has indicated that the transmission rate, in our schools, is around 1%. Prior to the break, and due in a large part to our mitigations, we had few transmissions that took place on any of our campuses. This makes us hopeful, as well.

Our return, however, brought the huge numbers that were being predicted. After two weeks away from school, we have approximately 125 students out due to either close contact or a positive test from exposure over break. We are hoping that now that students are spending most of their time in a highly protected environment we will begin to see those numbers reduce. After completing our first week back our number of new positive cases has returned to numbers we experienced prior to break, 8.

Finally, as I shared in my notice sent over break, we are experiencing staffing shortages in all positions due to absences and vacancies. This week we did have to cancel or delay some bus routes as we do not have enough drivers. We do not want to cancel bus routes. School bus driving requires a specific license. We started the school year short nine drivers and that has not changed. All of our substitute and backup staff are on the road. Please know that we are trying not to impact the same route over and over. Not everyone can drive their child and we don’t want the same children missing school. Please be sure to listen to any automated call you receive, or read any text or email you receive, as it could be a notification regarding your child’s transportation plan for the day.

Before the holiday break, Spaulding School students worked

on running skills and then enjoyed a day of working with scooters.

Spaulding Drama Club students performed the play "Stone Soup" for second-grade students and staff.

Spaulding School students enjoyed a holiday movie while wearing their pajamas

in the gym just before winter break.

Along with getting vaccinated and boosted, wearing a well-fitting mask helps protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Learn about the different types of masks and how to make sure you’re getting the best protection. More: https://cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html