Good afternoon ICS West Parents and Families, after our Covid testing of the returning 2nd and 3rd graders and their teachers this morning, our numbers are increasing.  Yesterday, 11% of the students and staff members tested were positive, and today, 14% were positive (78 tested, 11 positive).  Also, we are up to 14 staff members who are home due to Covid. As mentioned last night, with this increase in numbers, we feel it is in the best interest of our school community to move to fully remote instruction for the next 2 weeks.  We will begin remote instruction tomorrow (Friday, January 7th) and be fully remote until Friday, January 21st, with in-person instruction starting again on Monday, January 24th. This length of time is intentional – the CDC is predicting that this current “spike” in Covid transmission should settle down over the next 2 weeks.  This also means that any member of our school community who currently has Covid will be through their quarantine and able to return to school by the time we return for in-person instruction on January 24th. We will have Covid testing available at school for all students and staff members at the end of the 2nd week of remote instruction, before we return to school on Monday, January 24th.  We will send details next week so that you can sign your students up to be tested. Here are the details for remote instruction:

• Beginning tomorrow (Friday) morning, 3rd through 8th grade students should log into Zoom and follow their online schedule.
• Kindergarten through 2nd grade students will have asynchronous instruction tomorrow (Friday) as teachers prepare for next week’s online learning.  You will receive an email or a Class Dojo message from your student’s teacher tomorrow with details, and remote instruction through Zoom will begin this coming Monday morning, January 10th.
• If you need Chromebook repairs or replacement over the next 2 weeks, please email helpdesk@icswest.org

 As mentioned last night, we know this creates a hardship for you, and we can’t say enough times how much we appreciate your partnership as we navigate the challenges of Covid.  Our goal is to be in school, in person, in the safest way possible, and we are looking forward to a full return to in-person instruction on Monday, January 24th. CEO Sean