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Dear ICS Families,
Thank you for your prayers and messages of encouragement this week. Here are a few items to keep you updated as we continue to evaluate next steps regarding Coronavirus. This is an unprecedented and evolving situation and the status can change daily. We are monitoring the situation closely.
1. Please refer to the CDC for the most up-to-date information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html We are following guidance from the CDC and PA Dept of Health to protect our faculty, staff, students, and community.
2. We understand that the top three items that are recommended for school safety in regards to Coronavirus are:
Please keep sick children at home.
Disinfecting surfaces: We have a routine for disinfecting desks and classroom surface areas, railings, doorknobs, lunchroom tables, locker surfaces, and more.
Hand-washing: All students receive hand sanitizer upon entry to the school and we have routines setup for handwashing throughout the day (morning, after recess, before and after lunch).
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE DURING THIS TIME? Mrs. Knecht and I spend at least 1 hour each, daily cleaning surfaces at school and we would be grateful for your help. All of the office staff are supporting classroom teachers as they line up students for handwashing multiple times per day. Teachers are disinfecting desks and other surfaces in their classrooms. Lunch tables need to be cleaned multiple times per day. It will greatly benefit ICS if volunteers can help:
Morning—When you bring your child to school, can you please stay and help us disinfect surfaces?
Lunchtime—Please come in and help us clean after lunch.
End of day—Please come 1⁄2 hour early to pick up your child and help us clean at the end of day.
Do you know a young adult who is free at any of these times? Contact Lisa Knecht.
3. The latest communication we received from HASD is: “There has not been any additional information from PDE or the Governor on the State of the Commonwealth. No decision has been made to close at this time.”
ICS will be evaluating daily as we get new information and we may or may not follow HASD decisions. We also may or may not have a choice. Things could change at any time and we are seeking God and doing our best to make informed decisions that best serve the ICS families and students and keeps our students and staff healthy. I listened to Governor Wolf’s press conference today and I understand that on Friday, March 12th, superintendents across the state will be on a conference call with Pedro Rivera, the State Secretary of Education and we will be gathering information from the outcome of that meeting. As of the writing of this letter we do not have plans to close and we are planning on having school on Monday. We will notify you via email and Remind should anything change.
4. In the event that ICS has a school closure of more than two days, we will be offering remote learning: “ICS Classroom to Cloud.” We have been setting up a plan for remote learning this past week and Mr. Cathers will be finalizing our draft plan with teachers at tomorrow’s teacher in-service. He hopes to have the plan in final stages by Tuesday and he will be in further communication with ICS families and students about a date to test our plan and for implementation when necessary.
ICS Classroom to Cloud will be a combination of Instructional Time and Assignments in all core subjects, as well as a few non-core subjects (Spanish, P.E., Spelling). We will utilize technology including Google Classroom, MobyMax, and the Google Meet Video Conferencing App. Student attendance and hours will be tracked via Google classroom and during Instructional time.
God is faithful and we know he has great plans for ICS. We are praying for His protection and we are praying for His healing hand on our country and the world. Let’s join together in prayer and in praise and let’s live into God’s perfect love that casts out fear. We have so much to be thankful for.
God bless you,
Susan Selby
CEO
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. - 1 John 4:18