Superintendent Dr. Rydell Harrison has informed the ER9 community that all Easton schools will transition to hybrid learning beginning Monday, Jan. 11. Samual Staples Elementary School and Helen Keller Middle School will return to full in-person classes on Jan. 20.
Below is the entire text of Dr. Harrison’s Jan. 6 email :
Dear ER9 families, faculty and staff,
Happy New Year! We are excited to welcome all students back to the school buildings in a hybrid learning model on Monday, January 11th. PreK-8th grade students will transition to full in-person learning on January 20th. While hopeful that once open we can stay open, if the indicators and our health departments suggest otherwise, we will continue to make data driven decisions and follow their lead. As we wait for vaccines to become widely available, the mitigation strategies that you are all familiar with will be more important to adhere to than ever before. We have shown that our efforts in school work. We are moving into the “homestretch,” so don’t let up now!
As a reminder, here are the protections that we are asking everyone to continue to comply with:
- Do a daily health check at home each morning. Students with fever or symptoms of illness should stay home and be assessed by a healthcare provider.
- Wear a mask. Every student should have a set of masks made from tightly woven, two ply material. Masks should fit well and cover the nose and mouth completely and comfortably, thereby requiring minimal touching and adjusting throughout the day.
- Keep your distance. Keep as much space as possible between yourself and others during the day. Pay attention to the distance markings and signage in all of the schools.
- Wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds and don’t touch your face. If soap and water is not available, use hand sanitizer. Most viruses, including COVID-19, enter the body through mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth.
- Inform your school nurse if you have traveled to an affected state or country since December 27th. Visit the CT Travel Advisory for more information.
- For ER9 Schools, the required time for quarantining before returning to school (whether for close contact/direct exposure to COVID-19 or for travel) is 14 days.
COVID-19 resources:
- There is a DASHBOARD available on the ER9 website. The intent of the dashboard is to provide information on the leading and secondary indicators that contribute to decisions about what mode of learning we are in. It includes a chart summarizing the numbers of staff and students who are currently isolated or quarantined due to having COVID-19 or direct COVID-19 exposure. Cases are listed by school and by the date that they were reported to the district.
- COVID Testing locations: Testing
- COVID Vaccine: Currently, limited information is available from the state on when there will be vaccines available for the general public. There is planning for local vaccine distribution underway for when that time arrives.
Best,
Rydell Harrison, Ed. D
Superintendent of Schools
Easton-Redding-Region 9 School Districts
654 Morehouse Road
Easton, Connecticut 06612
Phone: (203) 261-2513
Email: rharrison@er9.org
Twitter: @RydellEdLeader
