97% of WRM faculty staff members stated they would voluntarily wear a mask for the first few weeks of the school year in order to maintain access to our campus and avoid learning loss for our students.

Dear WRM Community,

We have a beautiful ‘soft start’ to the school year last week, with 52% of this year’s student population on campus. What a joy to have children back in the building once again! Our new/transitioning students joined us for orientation and last week also marked the successful start of our Year Round Toddler and Primary programs. Experiencing this expansion has been joy-filled and watching our littlest ones learn how to become a community was inspiring!

On Wednesday, August 7, WRM’s COVID-19 Advisory Panel met for the first time to review the current state of the pandemic and make suggestions to WRM on how to adjust our COVID-19 protocols to reflect the current state of the pandemic. And, as I imagine you already are aware, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its updatedOperational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning. Integrating the information from both sources has been a thoughtful process and our mitigation measures have been revised to reflect the information from both sources. Some highlights to consider include:

• According to theColumbia School of Public Health, the BA.5 surge in Dallas was predicted to ‘peak sometime in August.’
• This variant is highly contagious and easily spread between people.
• A majority of the population has developed some immunity to COVID-19, preventing serious illnesses and lowering fatalities. 
• Those who are fully vaccinated and up-to-date with their vaccine series are not protected from this variant. 
• The 90-day immunity provided by previous variants is not applied to BA.5. Many people test positive again for COVID-19 within weeks of previous diagnoses.
• Individuals who test positive are required to isolate themselves from others for 5 days.
• People who have known or suspected exposure to COVID-19 should also wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from their last exposure, regardless of vaccination status or history of prior infection.
• The requirements to quarantine post-exposure to someone who has tested positive have been removed from the CDC guidance.
• If someone develops symptoms post-exposure, it is recommended they stay home and get tested as soon as possible.

We have updated ourWhat To Do If Your Child Is Ill/COVID-19 Protocols document to reflect these changes. You will notice that we are moving from masks ‘required’ to masks ‘strongly recommended’ status. In making this switch it is important to note:

• The CDC cites the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) guidance as setting a national standard of 10% of a school campus or three individuals (faculty, staff, &/or students) per classroom to be defined as an outbreak (with symptom onset or positive test result within 14 days of each other and no other no epidemiological link outside the school setting). 
• This, along with the highly contagious nature of the BA.5 variant and its know ability to evade established immunity, leaves our campus and/or classrooms vulnerable to closure due to illness. Even though we are moving to ‘masks strongly recommended’ status, I highly encourage you to still send your student to school wearing a mask. This may be the one measure that allows us to avoid outbreaks and keep our campus accessible to as many students as possible as this current surge peaks. 

During our faculty/staff meeting on Friday, we talked at length about the possibility of classroom or campus closures, as well as the need for faculty/staff members to isolate themselves for five days should they contract COVID-19. 97% of WRM faculty staff members stated they would voluntarily wear a mask for the first few weeks of the school year in order to maintain access to our campus and avoid learning loss for our students. I acknowledge them for their dedication to your students!

Thank you for your patience and support while we navigate the current phase of the pandemic. I look forward to seeing all of your students tomorrow on our first official day of the academic year!

Warmly

Connie