---

Regional News

KIPP Families,

I hope you and your family are enjoying a restful and restorative summer! Our staff has been making careful preparations to start the school year and we could not be more excited to welcome our entire school community back for the 2021-22 school year.

We are beginning this school year with a 5 day a week, all students in person program. We feel confident that we can safely offer an in person program, and therefore we will not be offering a virtual option for the 2021-22 school year.

Please note that we have significantly updated our Health and Safety Protocols, which continue to be guided by local public health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  While we are continuing the “Swiss Cheese” model of prevention, we are making adjustments to those layers based on the year of research of schools in session, our own experience during the spring, and updated health guidance.  As we have throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, one of our primary goals is to remain as flexible as possible, so that we may adapt our protocols as recommendations change and our entire community has the opportunity to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Our Updated in school Health and Safety Protocols include:

• Requiring masks indoors for all staff and students. Students may only remove their mask to eat/drink and while outside.
• Continuing diligent cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces throughout the day.
• Updating and more thorough ventilation and HVAC systems including adding ionizers to classrooms and increasing ventilation per the CDC recommendations.
• Continuing cohorting and limited student interaction when possible.
• Providing and having students eat breakfast and lunch in classrooms.
• Adhering to physical distancing recommendations whenever possible.
• Responding quickly to symptomatic and positive Covid-19 students or employees with contact tracing, quarantining, and isolation.
• Allowing only bottle filling at water fountains.
• Monitoring the health of the community, clarity of expectations, and adherence to procedures.

As part of our community, we ask that you support us in the endeavor of minimizing the exposure to Covid-19 for members of our school community.  With this, we ask that you and your family:

• Follow all city and state health guidelines and precautions.
• Reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure for your student and your family wherever possible.
• Wear a mask in indoors or in crowded locations.
• Obtain a Covid-19 vaccination for you and your student (if eligible).
• Keep your child home if they meet any of the criteria below.

Please keep your student home if:

1. KIPP student tests positive for Covid-19 (regardless of vaccination status). NOTE: Please contact the front office immediately.

2. Unvaccinated KIPP student is a close contact of or in the same household as someone who tested positive for Covid-19 (close contact means being within 6 feet of someone 15 minutes or more).

3. KIPP student is experiencing any of the following symptoms (regardless of vaccination status):

• New/persistent cough
• Shortness of breath
• New loss of sense of smell
• New loss of sense of taste

4. KIPP student is experiencing any two of the following symptoms (regardless of vaccination status):

• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Nausea/vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Congestion/runny nose

5. If a household member of an unvaccinated student is experiencing the symptoms above in #3 or #4.

Guidance from CDC, PA Dept. of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics and CHOP.

Adhering to our health and safety protocols kept our community safe last year and enabled us to bring many students back into our buildings last Spring. We are asking for your continued partnership as we enter a new school year together.

Thank you in advance for your support as we prioritize the well-being of our whole community. We will send additional updates as more details become available. I look forward to the start of the school year.