Hearst Family Update
December 19, 2021
Principal's Message
Good evening, Owl families,
I write today as someone who, like you, has been seeing the news about rising case numbers in DC and around the country. It feels to me a bit like deja vu except that we now know much more about COVID than we did in March of 2020, have vaccines for most kids and adults, and have layered mitigation strategies in place at school to help keep us all safe, strategies that include masks, distancing, hand washing, eating outdoors, HEPA filters, etc. These measures and the vigilance of everyone in our community means that our school has had significantly fewer cases than so many other schools in DCPS.
In case you missed my earlier Bloomz post, several folks have reached out over the past few days to ask about COVID case notification protocols. As previously shared, all official communication to close contacts, classes in which a positive case occurred, and the school community must come from DCPS after approval from the Mayor's office. Principals are only able to unofficially contact families of potential close contacts to let them know of their child's status as a potential close contact. Until official communications come from DCPS, I am unfortunately unable to share anything about cases at Hearst with the class (outside of close contacts) and the school community.
Finally, for the safety of our school community, DCPS and Hearst is strongly suggesting families follow the recommendations from DC Health if traveling over the winter break. These recommendations include :
- Students get a COVID-19 test 3-5 days after returning home from their trip and self-quarantine for 7 days after returning home.
- Even if test is negative, you should still self-quarantine for a full 7 days.
- If your test is positive, stay home and isolate.
- If no test is done, unvaccinated people should self-quarantine for 10 days after returning home.
Thanks for your understanding and your continued support,
Jen
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Upcoming Key Dates
- December 21 - Lockdown Drill
- December 23-January 2 - Winter Break for Students and Teachers
Quick Updates
- Reminder: For the safety of our kids, dogs are not allowed on school or playground grounds, particularly at arrival and dismissal. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!
Staffing Updates
As we wrap up this calendar year, there are a few staffing updates to share with you. Rachel Wiggins has resigned from her role, effective 12/17. Post-winter break, Amanda Liberman will step into the 4th grade math/science role and Farai Madzongwe will step into the 4th/5th grade partner teacher role.
Additionally, Dani Shea will be resigning from her ECE CES role effective 12/22. We hope to have someone in place in this role in January.
We thank Farai and Amanda for their work during the 1st semester, as well as their continual flexibility and teamwork in supporting our students and colleagues. We also thank Dani for her dedication to our youngest kids and wish her all the best in her future endeavors!
Note from Rachel:
Hi Families,
Regretfully, I am sorry to let you know that I won’t be returning to Hearst as expected after Winter Break. While this was an extremely difficult decision due to kind Hearst families and stellar students, I have decided to temporarily forego my teaching career in order to stay home with my two children for the remainder of the school year. As a parent, it is always a difficult juggling act to balance work and the needs of your family and I have come to this decision only after much deliberation.
Ms. Duvall and Ms. Souza have told me many stories of your amazing children that are now in class. While I will miss these epic owls, it is reassuring to know they are left in good hands! So in Monsters Inc. fashion, I hope you can let your child know to “Dream BIG. And never let anyone tell you you’re not good at scaring (or math, or writing, or….).”
I look forward to hearing about your child’s further successes this school year and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
FAQs From Families
Q: Could you please clarify the rules on quarantining for students who have had both doses of the coronavirus vaccine? If their vaccination status is a factor in determining whether they need to quarantine, will the school be verifying students’ receipt of the vaccine by asking families to submit a copy of their student’s vaccine card? In general, does the school have any plans to ask families to submit copies of vaccination cards to school, similar to submissions of the universal health certificate?
A: If a student is fully vaccinated 14 days prior to the exposure to the COVID-positive individual, the student does not need to quarantine if they have no symptoms. The student must be fully vaccinated at the start of the quarantine and becoming fully vaccinated during quarantine does not affect the quarantine exit date.
At this stage, DCPS has not shared a plan for verifying students' vaccination status. I've asked DCPS if we can start to track this information at the school level and am awaiting a response. Know that the tracking of universal health certificates is not a Hearst-specific issue and occurs because there is an agreement in place between DCPS, DC Health, and Children's (the contractor for school nurses) that details the process for doing so. I've asked if these agencies are moving toward a similar tracking process for COVID vaccinations and have yet to receive a response.
ADULT ENGLISH LESSONS
Hello Hearst community, I am offering English lessons to adults at my home on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10:30-12:30.
I am an experienced ESL teacher. The lessons are free and I will provide the materials. If you are interested please contact me.
Wanda Bieloszabski
202 2582914
Reminder: 2021-2022 Class Names
- Dawkins - Silly Spiders
- Haith - Trusty Turtles
- Shea - Blue Birdies
- Clark - Efficient Superstars
- Gray - Rocking Rainbows
- Prince - Cool Cupcakes
- Ouellette - Black Tip Sharks
- Schiers - Powerful Pepperoni
- Volpe - Golden Falcons
- Boyle - Elegant Eagles
- Solms - Smart Serpents
- Marber - Mighty Minions
- Thompson - The Golden Phoenixes
- Burleigh - Creative Corgis
- Halpern - Daring Dalmatians
- Duvall - Super Snakes
- Madzongwe - Shadow Clan
- Dilley - The Fierce Ferruginous Pygmy Owls
- Lee - Special Snowy Owls
- Diaz - Brilliant Blue Whales
Reminder: 9th Annual Hearst Elementary Day at AU Men's Basketball on Jan. 1, 2022
Reminder: Asymptomatic Student Testing on Wednesdays
Starting the week of 11/8, our asymptomatic testing time will move to 9:45am on Wednesday. During a typical week, we will pull test a random sample of approximately 25% of students who have not opted out of testing. Knowing that some students in this group will not be able to produce a sample or their saliva sample will be rejected, this will allow us to ensure we are hitting the goal of testing 20% of our students each week. Know that we will attempt to test at least one student from each homeroom each week. Here are a few things to know about asymptomatic testing :
- Teachers will be provided with names of students to be tested and those students will be escorted by staff to our testing location.
- Because the test is a saliva test, students identified for testing cannot eat, drink, chew gum, or have on chapstick an hour before their testing window.
Families of kids who are tested will receive notification that their child was tested and information on how to access the online portal where they will be able to view results. Your child may indicate that they were pulled for testing but they were not given a letter with online portal log in information. If this is the case, this means that your child did not produce enough saliva to fill the test tube. Please reach out to Ms. Johnson (kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov) with any questions and/or if you would like to opt your child out of asymptomatic testing. If you wish to opt-out your student from receiving any COVID-19 test at school, you must complete the available at osse.dc.gov/page/school-based-covid-19-testing and email it to the school at kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov.
The website to access results is: https://shieldt3k12.pointnclick.com/ and our Agency Code is: HearstES and the website . As a parent, you should be able to enable notifications be sent to you if a testing result is available for your child.
We believe that the email you use to register on site has to be the primary contact's email used to enroll your child. You will also have to wait at least 12 hours until after the student was tested for the agency code to work.
News and Announcements from DCPS
Holiday COVID-19 Vaccination Sites
Holiday Travel Reminders
With the fall and winter holiday season approaching, please continue to review and follow DC Health travel guidance. We encourage families to limit travel as much as possible as part of our Stronger & Safer Together Pledge.
DCPS will continue with in-person learning throughout November and December, and schools will be closed for students on the following days per our school year calendar:
- December 23-31
Addressing a National Mental Health Crisis
•Helping students understand their learning style,
•Providing strategies and skills to help students improve their focus and concentration,
•Linking students to practical resources to help families gain access to food, clothing, and transportation,
•Providing therapeutic intervention to help students cope with stress and trauma,
•Leading small-group sessions to support students with relationship building,
•Providing substance abuse prevention and intervention, and
•Completing comprehensive assessments to help school teams make data-informed decisions.
To learn more about our services, please see our Here For You Mental Health Guide.To help you get the necessary support, the DCPS School Mental Health Team has developed a universal referral process. This process allows you to access all mental health and counseling supports in your school by completing one form. There is a form for adults who are referring students for services and a different form for students who are requesting services for themselves. Fill out the appropriate form and share it with your School Behavior Health Coordinator. A school-based clinician will follow up with you within ten school days. Please reach out to lakeri.sartin@k12.dc.gov or caroline.dewerd@k12.dc.gov with any questions.
News and Announcements From Other Organizations
Next W3EdNet Meeting on Mon, Jan 10 at 7pm -- Council Member Christina Henderson
The next meeting of the Ward 3 Education Network (W3EdNet) is on Monday, January 10 at 7pm via Zoom (link below).
We are very happy to host At-Large Council Member Christina Henderson, who will share her vision for education in the city and take questions
Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Upcoming meetings:
- Monday, February 7 at 7pm, Topic/Guest TBD
- Monday, March 7 at 7pm, Topic/Guest TBD
- Monday, April 4 at 7pm, Topic/Guest TBD
- Monday, May 9 at 7pm, Topic/Guest TBD
- Monday, June 6 at 7pm, Topic/Guest TBD
We look forward to seeing you there.
Melody, Karin, and Brian