3 School Newsletter
Cooper Landing, Hope, and Moose Pass Schools
October 12, 2020
A Note from Our Nurse
Living in a Pandemic Every Day
The school district policy of symptom-free protocol has been a tough one for everyone. The School Nurses have historically kept kids at school with a runny nose, headache, stomachache, sore throat, cough, etc.
I have been the school nurse for eleven years now and my practice has dramatically changed due to Covid-19. I am sending kids home with one or more of those symptoms. Staff have been affected by this as well because they have to go home too if they have one or more symptoms that can be Covid-19 related. I spend 99-100% of my time dealing with Covid-19. It reminds me of the movie Ground Hog Day with Bill Murray. When is the end game?
I stole this from a recent article that I read written by a musher and this is what he said:
“Planning for forever is essentially impossible, which can actually be freeing: It brings you back into the present. How long will this pandemic last? Right now, that’s irrelevant; what matters is eating a nourishing meal, telling someone you love them, walking your dog, getting enough sleep. What matters is that, to the degree you can, you make your own life sustainable every day.”
What sustains me? My family, my bubble of friends, hiking with my dogs, and reaffirming that Covid-19 does not define me.
Nurse Yoly
Just in From the CDC per Nurse Yoly
COVID-19 Can Sometimes be Spread by Airborne Transmission
1. Some infections can be spread by exposure to virus in small droplets and particles that can linger in the air for minutes to hours. These viruses may be able to infect people who are further than 6 feet away from the person who is infected or after that person has left the space.
This kind of spread is referred to as airborne transmission and is an important way that infections like tuberculosis, measles, and chicken pox are spread.
There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away. These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.
- Under these circumstances, scientists believe that the amount of infectious smaller droplet and particles produced by the people with COVID-19 became concentrated enough to spread the virus to other people. The people who were infected were in the same space during the same time or shortly after the person with COVID-19 had left.
Available data indicate that it is much more common for the virus that causes COVID-19 to spread through close contact with a person who has COVID-19 than through airborne transmission. [1]
Spread from touching surfaces is not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spreads.
All Three Schools Need Substitutes
COOPER LANDING SCHOOL
End of Quarter
This Friday, October 16, is the end of the quarter. There will be no school.
Halloween
On Wednesday, October 28, we invite all the kiddos to dress up in costume for the day. Please have them arrive at school with their costumes on. We will have some fun activities throughout the day, but due to COVID-19, there will be no Halloween Parade this year.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 29 and 30. There will be no school on these days. Mr. Gossard will be reaching out to parents soon to schedule a time to discuss your child(ren)'s progress. All conferences will be held by remotely.
Cooper Landing School Website
Our new website is up and running! If you'd like to take a look, please follow this link: https://kpbsd.org/schools/cooper-landing/
Hope School
NO SCHOOL FRIDAY! We have a scheduled in-service day, so enjoy the short week.
Parent teacher conferences are coming up at the end of the month, October 29th and 30th. All conferences will be remote this year. We will send out a schedule by the end of this week, so be on the lookout, and let us know right away if the time slot you've been assigned will not work for you.
One important piece of news is that Molly, our PTO Treasurer has resigned. We are still accepting nominations for a new treasurer, and have not yet received any. Fear not, she has agreed to come to the next one or two meetings to help train the new treasurer before passing the torch - no accounting experience necessary, just a willingness to come to meetings. Please email nomination to Molly at mtrostel@kpbsd.k12.ak.us. Nominations are due by Friday, October 16th. Voting will occur at the following PTO meeting, Tuesday October 20th. We will have a virtual attendance option at this meeting for those that do not feel comfortable participating in person.
School lunches will be free through the end of the school with the help of additional CAREs Act funding the school district was just able to secure and the generous support of some of our parents, who will be headed to Moose Pass each Wednesday to pick up a week's worth of lunches at a time. In order to receive lunch, you will need to submit your order form by the preceding Friday at noon. You can find the order form here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ot7EdCqbD0Oa80hzQ1qrlyxwHXtEP9JNvt4nmYctNbhUNTlNNjBRQUJWQTVENTJWMFBKR1NWQUg4Vi4u
Please note, you will need to fill out one form per child. Lunch delivery will begin next week on Wednesday the 21st, so be sure to fill out your request forms by Friday this week! Let Molly know if you have questions.
Moose Pass School Families
You can access Ms. Barron's and Mrs. Thomas's Zoom and Google Classrooms from the 'Access Online Learning' Tab on the webpage.
Moose Pass School October Dates to Know
October 12-15: Moose Pass School 100% Remote Learning- See daily schedules at the bottom of the page.
October 14: Lunch menu change: Ms. Susanna is out for the day- sack lunches w/PB&JsOctober 15: Great Alaska Shakeout Earth Quake Drill- special Zoom meeting for all students 10am (Check out Google Classroom for more information)
October 16 : End of Quarter: No school for students
October 19 & 20: Lunch Menu change: Ms. Susanna will be out- sack lunches w/PB&Js
October 28: Halloween Celebration: Students may wear costumes to school
October 29: No School: Student-Led Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 30: No School: Student-Led Parent/Teacher Conferences
Click Doc. at bottom of page to learn more about Conferences
October 8, 2020
Dear KPBSD Staff and Families at Moose Pass and Seward area schools,
Late in the day on Thursday, October 8, 2020, the school district learned that a new positive COVID-19 case is connected to someone at one of our Seward area schools. Without ample time to conduct contact tracing, positive cases trending upward, and out of an abundance of precaution, Moose Pass and Seward schools will shift to 100% Remote Learning beginning Friday, October 9, 2020. On Friday, no students will attend school onsite, in person.
On Friday, KPBSD will work with public health to assess any interactions in the time period the person was connected with school, and everyone who is determined to be a close contact will be called personally.
Your school and KPBSD will share further information as it becomes known, and announce midweek next week if we will reopen to onsite at school learning on Monday, October 19, 2020, or need to extend the 100% Remote Learning. This decision will be determined by COVID-19 risk level and community spread in the Eastern Peninsula.
KPBSD honors HIPAA and FERPA privacy laws, so the identity of a student or employee will not be revealed by the school or KPBSD, unless permission is given to do so.
Each case of COVID-19 is interviewed by public health, and our team. As part of this public health investigation and contact tracing at school, and based on CDC guidance and Alaska DHSS protocols:
- Everyone diagnosed with COVID-19 is kept home from school until they are no longer infectious.
- The person’s activities when they could have spread COVID-19 were assessed.
- The people who were close contacts of the person with COVID-19 are instructed to stay home from school for 14 days after the exposure. This is called quarantine and there is no way to test out of a 14-day quarantine when someone is identified as a close contact.
What to know during 100% Remote Learning in COVID-19 High Risk
- Free Get-It-And-Go meals are available for all students during 100% Remote Learning. Daily pickup is at your school between 12:00-12:30
- No students will attend school on Friday, October 9, 2020. Schools will contact Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Special Education Intensive Needs students directly about school starting Monday, October 12, 2020, based on the 2020 Smart Start plan
- Activities operate with ASAA High Risk Protocols in effect
- Schools will communicate an update status mid-week to aid parent planning for the following week specific to if school reopens to onsite at school learning on Monday, October 19, 2020
If you have questions, kindly contact your school principal, or public health at 907-335-3400.
You can find specific information for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District on our dedicated COVID-19 in KPBSD Hub webpage that includes communication updates, safety protocols, 2020 Smart Start Plan, sports and activities, risk levels on the Kenai Peninsula, and the COVID19 Confirmed Case in School Response Matrix.