Back To School News (January 5th 2022)

Greetings and Happy New Year WSRF Families!

We hope you all have had a wonderful three week break! WSRF’s faculty and staff are all excited to see everyone back on campus to begin the 2022 year. We would like to outline a few criteria as we begin school again on Monday, January 10th. 

Fall semester was rich with many of the exciting community driven events such as Winter Faire, Friday assemblies, and string concerts. We thank you all for a wonderful semester. As we look forward we need to acknowledge that COVID cases in our area are extremely high and we want to take precaution in assuring the safety of our students, faculty, staff and community. Our COVID protocols last semester held high integrity as we were able to maintain in-person learning. As such, we will continue with our policies from last semester, but please recognize that with extremely high case rates, testing has become a challenge due to high demand. We are committed to in-person learning but this starts with screening for symptoms at home. As we navigate these challenging times, please be hypersensitive in monitoring symptoms at home prior to coming to school. 

Please see below for certain criteria as we begin school Monday and move forward with our 2021-2022 school year. 

Starting school on Monday, January 10th

  • We will continue to prioritize in-person learning and school will resume as planned on Monday, January 10th.

  • We feel that screening for symptoms is the best first step in reducing transmission in and out of school due to the inaccuracies of antigen tests when non-symptomatic and the challenges in obtaining these tests. While we are not requiring testing as a means to return to school on Monday, we are asking families to screen for ANY symptoms. If a student or employee is symptomatic, please see below for stipulations on returning to school.

  • We ask that all students who do not have a documented medical mask exemption to continue wearing masks while indoors. We will have air purifiers running to ensure proper air flow and circulation. Additionally, teachers are prepared to spend time outside and to offer mask breaks throughout the day to do our best in limiting the amount of time students are wearing a mask.

  • We ask that over these days leading up to our return that you are cognizant of your presence in communal spaces and take precaution with exposure.

If symptomatic:

If exposed:

  • Students and/or employees who have been in close contact with a positive COVID case within five days of our return on Monday, January 10th, should NOT attend school. A negative test on the fifth day following exposure is required to attend school (assuming no symptoms have begun). Attendance may be permitted if proof of vaccination and boosting can be provided.

New CDC guidelines on isolation and quarantining

As we move forward, new guidelines for quarantining and isolation have been published by the CDC. We will continue to seek guidance from the CDC and local public health authorities as we continue to navigate these challenging times. Please see the updated guidelines from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html

Moving forward

As mentioned, in-person learning, along with upholding guidance to minimize transmission of COVID-19, is our first priority. Please help us in monitoring symptoms prior to attending school, staying home and getting tested when necessary and staying in close contact with us with any questions or needs. We look forward to a great Spring semester and continuing to offer a rich Waldorf education to our community. We are all the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork and each of us creates the beauty that makes this school special.

In gratitude,

Administrative Council 

New Day's Lyric 

by Amanda Gorman 

May this be the day

We come together.

Mourning, we come to mend, 

Withered, we come to weather,

Torn, we come to tend,

Battered we come to better.

Tethered by this year of yearning,

We are learning

That though we weren't ready for this,

We have been readied by it.

We steadily vow that no matter

How we are weighed down,

We must always pave a way forward.

This hope is our door, our portal.

Even if we never get back to normal,

Someday we can venture beyond it, 

To leave the known and take the first steps.

So let us not return to what was  normal,

But reach toward what is next.

What was cursed, we will cure.

What was plagued, we will prove pure.

Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,

Those fortunes we forswore, now the 

future we foresee,

Where we weren't aware, we're now awake;

Those moments we missed

Are now these moments we make,

The moments we meet,

And our hearts, once all together beaten,

Now all together beat.

Come, look up with kindness yet,

For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.

We remember, not just of the sake of yesterday,

But to take on tomorrow.

We heed this old spirit,

In a new day's lyric,

In our hearts, we hear it:

For auld lang syne, my dear, 

For auld lang syne.

Be old, sang Time this year,

Be bold, sang Time,

For when you honor yesterday,

Tomorrow ye will find.

Know what we've fought

Need not be forgot nor for none.

It defines us, binds us as one, 

Come over, join this day just begun.

For wherever we come together, 

We will forever overcome. 

Liesl Bellack