Dear Mark Day families,
First, and most important, we hope that this note finds you and your family doing well together, taking care of one another, and staying healthy. I am writing with a series of brief but important updates.
To follow up on the letter from Thursday, March 12, I wanted to update you on the potential exposure to COVID-19 mentioned in that email. We have confirmation from the family that a physician cleared the individual initially suspected of having COVID-19 symptoms, and determined that no quarantine was necessary. Further, in our communication with the Marin County Health Office, they stated that the other situations that we cited, which they defined as "a contact to a contact," are considered low risk, and that any confirmed cases would be investigated.
We took the step of closing the campus to students and transitioning to distance learning out of a desire to be very cautious and in support of social distancing. We will extend distance learning and the campus being closed to students through at least Friday, March 27, and be in touch regarding the next steps as that date approaches. The need for social distancing is very real, and it has led to the widespread measures taken across the U.S. over the past several days. As I noted in the Friday communication, please do all that you can as a family and as members of the broader Marin and Bay Area communities to reinforce social distancing by cutting out all non-essential gatherings.
At home, my family and I love to read the newspapers, and we have two or three delivered each day. We do not watch the news, so reading is the primary way we learn what is happening, follow our favorite teams, and more. Even without network or cable news on the screen, it is easy in the midst of the unfolding situation to get overwhelmed by news about COVID-19. I encourage you to attend to your own emotions and to those of your children; for young people, even for our 8th graders, the news can feel inescapable. While it is important to control what we can through good hygiene and appropriate social distancing, I encourage you to set the news aside, to read a book you love together, to connect with nature, to play, to build something or take something apart, to clean your bicycle chain, to plant or weed in the garden. School Counselors Theresa Hall and Danielle Javadi will be sending a letter today with more ideas and resources, including counseling availability.
As a reminder, on Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., those of you who have not picked up classroom materials (grades K-5) may do so by coming into the Creativity Lab. There are a few important notes for parents and guardians of 3rd to 5th graders. The digital devices that we sent home to use for distance learning do not have mobile digital filters installed, as they were set up for use only on campus. Our expectation is that they only be used for school work, and that they be shut down otherwise. Parents and guardians, please supervise the use of these devices and let your children know of this requirement, which we will also communicate directly to students. Please do not install any other software or apps onto the devices. We will follow up with an email dedicated entirely to technology use soon.
Mark Day students are eager students, which we love! Please also remind your children to hold off on doing work that was sent home in the K-5 bags until directed by teachers beginning on Wednesday. On that day, we will begin taking student attendance. We will have a schedule to share very soon, and Mr. Reichley, Mr. Hickman, and your students' teachers will also be in touch soon with expectations and support for students as we launch distance learning K-8. There will be a combination of synchronous and asynchronous work each day. More to come!
Sincerely yours,
Joe Harvey
Head of School