COVID-Times - WHPS Weekly Update 12/23/2020

Written by Seth Pozzi, Head of School on 23 December 2020.

WHPS families:

I mean this in the nicest possible way, and I know many of us are tired of hearing it...but there is absolutely no room for bending the gathering or travel rules right now.

We seriously advise everyone to reconsider any plans that could expose your family and the school. If you are spending time with people who don't live in your home or traveling, we are not judging, but you must quarantine for 14-days before returning to school.

AVOIDING A SCHOOL SHUTDOWN

Essential services such as schools and grocery stores are starting to see outbreaks, where this was not commonly happening before. I am appealing to everyone, as hard as this is, please do not put us in the difficult position of potentially exposing the community, having to send children home, and potentially having to terminate your services for breaking the guidelines. An outbreak at WHPS could mean a two-week school shutdown for the whole school, let alone risk to the health and safety of your class family group.

POTENTIAL SHORT-TERM CLASS CLOSURES

We have been working tirelessly since June to ensure the most seamless school year possible. This includes working with families on how to be safe off campus and continuous hiring of qualified substitute teachers, while meeting the many staffing COVID-19 guidelines and limitations. However, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, it is possible that we may exhaust our available staff, and families need to be prepared for potential classroom closures and switching to remote learning.

Weekly Update: 12/23/2020

LA COUNTY COVID METRICS

We remain in the most restrictive Tier 1 (widespread)

SOCAL ICU capacity = 0% (leading to potentially rationed care)
Hospital capacity currently going to COVID patient care = 75%
LA County has surpassed 600K cases (up from 500K in an 8 day period)
New COVID-19 cases per day per 100K: 106 (doubled in past 2 weeks)
Adjusted case rate per 100K: 53 (doubled in past 2 weeks)
Positivity rate: 14.3% (up from 11.4% last week and from just 3% in October)
Health equity positivity rate: 20.3% (up from 17% last week)
Hospitalizations: 5,866 (up from 4,864 last week)

QUARANTINE UPDATES - Alert WHPS immediately of any of the following:

14 Day Quarantine Required for:

Any non-household gatherings
Travel (including travel within CA - e.g. Northern California)
Known exposure (being within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period)

10 Day Quarantine Required for:

Confirmed COVID positive individuals

Symptoms:

Quarantine/Isolate immediately if you develop COVID-like symptoms. Don'tt wait for the positive test result before quarantining from household members.

CLASS & CAMPUS NOTIFICATIONS - You will always be notified if:

A positive case is reported in your class/on campus (where the individual was presumed to have been positive while on campus)
A possible exposure to someone testing positive for COVID-19 is reported in your class
Someone in your class has developed a symptom that can be synonymous with possible COVID-19 infection (cough, fever, diarrhea, vomiting)

VACCINE FAQs

Vaccines are rolling out; even some WHPS parents who are essential healthcare workers have begun to get vaccinated. It appears that teachers will receive priority in the next phase (1B), but some details are still being worked out by DPH. Because children are at lower risk of serious complications from COVID-19, they may be among the last to receive the vaccine. What does all this mean for schools?

SUBMIT YOUR VACCINE QUESTIONS

We will be sharing answers to some of the most common school-related COVID-19 vaccine questions in next week's newsletter. Submit your questions for our expert panel to review and answer. Watch for a full list of FAQs next week.

SCHOOL NEWS

Registration is now open for fall 2021:

DUE by 1/15/21: Preschool Registration (Tuition Schedule)
DUE by 3/1/21: 1st-5th Grade Registration (Tuition Schedule)
A select few spaces available in TK & K (Virtual Tours January 5 & 19)

Thank you for your continued support and happy holidays!

Seth Pozzi

Head of School

WHPS Blog