Winter Calendar Update

Dear Parents,

Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to the recent survey from the Faculty and Administrative Council on the topic of an extended Winter Break from the typical two weeks to four weeks. We received an amazing 80 survey responses with many of you sharing details of your thinking with 75% of the responses supporting the extended break. With the response rate, there was much to glean from the responses.

There was a genuine expression of good will for the school community for keeping the school open with no need to shut down over these past months. Overall recognition was heartily expressed that we have collectively managed something very difficult. There is a collective hope that health continues to pervade our school community, and support for the extension, lives in this hope. With these thoughts, there were equally weighted concerns that this additional time away from school will affect parent work schedules negatively, whether at home or in the office. There is an overarching desire that the days are made up rather than simply reducing the number of school days. Lastly, there is a strong expressed desire that should travel outside of the valley occur during this period, that all take seriously the need to quarantine based on school policy.

With your thoughts and the focus on health, we have elected to extend the Winter Break for the additional two weeks from January 4 - 15. The days taken will be made up and school will now be extended until June 11 versus the current ending date of June 3. Please review the now updated school calendar for some important changes to be noted. Highlights of those changes will reflect:

• Parent-Teacher Conferences for the grades are scheduled for January 14th and 15th, and will be re-scheduled in such a way that they will not require time away from classes. A revamped schedule for these important meetings will be released before the Thanksgiving Break.

• Similar to local schools that have readjusted calendars, we will return to classes on Monday, January 18th and celebrate Martin Luther King Day at school. The curriculum that day will be dedicated to his legacy through story, history, poetry and song, leading ideally to increased awareness and education surrounding his message of inclusion and diversity.

• In addition, three early dismissal days currently scheduled have been vacated and will return to full teaching days.

• Parents in the K-2 grades, please be reminded that these classes have ten days in deposit from our early start which based on the potential of distance learning may have an impact on the ending date of school for these classes.

As we made this decision this week, news reports from the State of Colorado shared that Covid case counts in Colorado are on the rise. Three weeks ago, we were at approximately 225 cases daily statewide, and as of now, the case count is approximately 1,250 on a daily basis. Planning to take these two weeks off during a time when the school typically endures many student and teacher absences continues to make sense to try to avoid the contagion with a more health driven schedule. If you choose to travel during this time, please be aware of the school policy related to quarantining based on where your travels may take you, and the impact that Covid has had on your destination. This continues to be a facet of our re-opening plan that we feel monitoring has helped us tremendously, thus far.

We carry concern with the "what ifs" of what may occur if we need to stay off campus and work remotely before or after this time. There are no perfect answers, and yet with the cold of January mornings in combination with outdoor studies, we feel impelled to find solutions during an imperfect time in our lives. We value your input and thank you for joining us in continuing to place ourselves into a situation where health may prevail, and we attain the goal of keeping us all safe during a trying period.

With gratitude and appreciation,

Tim, Larry and Anne

On Behalf of the Faculty and Staff