Regional News

Coronavirus Update – 03.12.2020

Posted On: March 12, 2020

Dear KIPP Families,

This letter describes the steps KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools is taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The health and safety of students and staff continues to be a top priority for KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools.  We continue to work closely with the School District of Philadelphia and the Department of Health to inform our practices. While there is a high level of uncertainty as the disease spreads around our country and the world, it is absolutely clear that we have a responsibility to be overly cautious by instituting practices of social distancing to help minimize that spread. As a result, here are the actions that we are currently taking:

To date, we have:

 

  • Suspended all field trips and staff travel to conferences outside of Philadelphia.
  • Launched an internal taskforce to monitor the situation

 

  • The taskforce will meet daily to assess our status and make plans to support our students, families and staff. We will continue to adjust course as necessary.
  • The taskforce is proactively planning in the event that the coronavirus becomes more widespread in the Philadelphia area.

 

  • Taken active measures to more frequently sanitize all areas including classrooms and common spaces throughout the day.

 

There are a few items that we hope that you can help with: 

  1. Preventive hygiene practices – the most important things we can all continue to do are:
  • wash our hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds regularly
  • use our elbows or a tissue to cover our noses and mouths when sneezing or coughing, then wash our hands afterward
  • avoid touching our eyes, nose and mouth
  1. Attendance: Please keep sick children at home. As a reminder, students may return to school if they are fever-free for 24 hours. We understand that strong attendance is a concern for families but a day home will help ensure they are healthy for the rest of the week as well as keeping classmates healthy. 
  2. If a member of your household has tested positive for COVID-19, please alert us before sending your student to school with direct communication to your school leader so that we can support you and your family  and work with health officials to make the best decisions for our school.

We will stay in close touch with you and continue to appreciate your partnership.

Thank you,

Jessica Cunningham Akoto

For more information on the Coronavirus, you can visit these websites: