Sidwell, GDS, Maret: Keep schools open

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all the parties on the 31st and 1st, will the back to school testing on Sunday-Tuesday be too early to detect the spread of Covid? I want to keep the kid home for the first week anyway and would prefer virtual classes for the first week.

Schools should at least offer those cautious families a virtual option for the first two weeks

No, they should not. "Cautious families" need to get over themselves and realize that the entire framework of producing an elite education does not revolve around having their children beamed in online.

What are you so cautious about anyways? Aren’t your kids vaccinated. Ugh.

Good for you you’re so confident nothing bad will happen to your kid.

There are those of us with younger kids who can’t be vaccinated yet, or immune compromised adults, living under the same roof.
A little empathy for those with different circumstances would go a long way.

But then again, we are on DCUM… How could one expect nonjudgmental or civil debate that doesn’t involve mean labels for others they don’t agree with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all the parties on the 31st and 1st, will the back to school testing on Sunday-Tuesday be too early to detect the spread of Covid? I want to keep the kid home for the first week anyway and would prefer virtual classes for the first week.

Schools should at least offer those cautious families a virtual option for the first two weeks

No, they should not. "Cautious families" need to get over themselves and realize that the entire framework of producing an elite education does not revolve around having their children beamed in online.

What are you so cautious about anyways? Aren’t your kids vaccinated. Ugh.

Good for you you’re so confident nothing bad will happen to your kid.

There are those of us with younger kids who can’t be vaccinated yet, or immune compromised adults, living under the same roof.
A little empathy for those with different circumstances would go a long way.

But then again, we are on DCUM… How could one expect nonjudgmental or civil debate that doesn’t involve mean labels for others they don’t agree with?

Sorry, but where is the mean label and the judgment?

I agree with PP. The schools need to be open and the kids need to be there, in person. If you have extenuating circumstances that affect your family, that's up to you to deal with. But you should not expect the school to accommodate those extreme needs. There is cost involved, you know. Not everything is "free."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a local private. We are lucky to have a few long-term subs on campus everyday. However, we still don’t have enough subs to cover for everyone who’s been sick, experiencing mild symptoms but awaiting PCR test results (3-4 days in DC), or home with a sick or quarantined child. Our division heads and admin staffers are covering classes and duties. It’s meant that we don’t always have people available when a child needs to be sent to the office or school counselor. It’s meant canceling parent meetings or attending them for just a few minutes so that teaching staff can substitute for absent staff. That’s sustainable for a week or two, but if post-break absences are any higher than they were throughout December, sustaining operations will be difficult. We can’t magic up more personnel, no matter how many angry letters the HoS gets.

Parents will sub.

We’ve seen our tooth private schools kids - particularly lower school - fall quite behind in their foundational skills. And no review this year after 1.5 years of 2.5 hours of virtual school a day.

Great time to be a $100/30 min tutor!

Don’t know what school your kids go to, but having parents sub is not easy. They have to pass a lengthy background check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who wishes that we would stop testing? I want my kids to go to school. They are vaxed, they have masks and statistically should be fine. Why are we still doing all of this?

Ah, the old Ostrich strategy. Reminds me of Feb 2020 when Prez said there’s only 15 cases and it’ll be zero soon. Just don’t test and it’ll all be fine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a local private. We are lucky to have a few long-term subs on campus everyday. However, we still don’t have enough subs to cover for everyone who’s been sick, experiencing mild symptoms but awaiting PCR test results (3-4 days in DC), or home with a sick or quarantined child. Our division heads and admin staffers are covering classes and duties. It’s meant that we don’t always have people available when a child needs to be sent to the office or school counselor. It’s meant canceling parent meetings or attending them for just a few minutes so that teaching staff can substitute for absent staff. That’s sustainable for a week or two, but if post-break absences are any higher than they were throughout December, sustaining operations will be difficult. We can’t magic up more personnel, no matter how many angry letters the HoS gets.

Parents will sub.

We’ve seen our tooth private schools kids - particularly lower school - fall quite behind in their foundational skills. And no review this year after 1.5 years of 2.5 hours of virtual school a day.

Great time to be a $100/30 min tutor!

Don’t know what school your kids go to, but having parents sub is not easy. They have to pass a lengthy background check.

Even still, Nobody is addressing the bigger question – what does having parents sub solve? Those pushing for such a thing are only confirming to me that they don’t really care about education, they just want a babysitter.

[Anonymous]

SFS exams should be postponed by a week. And classes should be virtual and/or asynchronous the first week back. With weekly testing after that, we should be fine to be back at school normally very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all the parties on the 31st and 1st, will the back to school testing on Sunday-Tuesday be too early to detect the spread of Covid? I want to keep the kid home for the first week anyway and would prefer virtual classes for the first week.

Schools should at least offer those cautious families a virtual option for the first two weeks

No, they should not. "Cautious families" need to get over themselves and realize that the entire framework of producing an elite education does not revolve around having their children beamed in online.

What are you so cautious about anyways? Aren’t your kids vaccinated. Ugh.

Good for you you’re so confident nothing bad will happen to your kid.

There are those of us with younger kids who can’t be vaccinated yet, or immune compromised adults, living under the same roof.
A little empathy for those with different circumstances would go a long way.

But then again, we are on DCUM… How could one expect nonjudgmental or civil debate that doesn’t involve mean labels for others they don’t agree with?

Sorry, but where is the mean label and the judgment?

I agree with PP. The schools need to be open and the kids need to be there, in person. If you have extenuating circumstances that affect your family, that's up to you to deal with. But you should not expect the school to accommodate those extreme needs. There is cost involved, you know. Not everything is "free."

I think that was a broader reference to the comments taking a mocking tone with the more cautious parents.
The “aren’t your kids vaccinated, ugh” tone in the message quoted, along with a few more before. Not limited to the PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all the parties on the 31st and 1st, will the back to school testing on Sunday-Tuesday be too early to detect the spread of Covid? I want to keep the kid home for the first week anyway and would prefer virtual classes for the first week.

Schools should at least offer those cautious families a virtual option for the first two weeks

No, they should not. "Cautious families" need to get over themselves and realize that the entire framework of producing an elite education does not revolve around having their children beamed in online.

What are you so cautious about anyways? Aren’t your kids vaccinated. Ugh.

Good for you you’re so confident nothing bad will happen to your kid.

There are those of us with younger kids who can’t be vaccinated yet, or immune compromised adults, living under the same roof.
A little empathy for those with different circumstances would go a long way.

But then again, we are on DCUM… How could one expect nonjudgmental or civil debate that doesn’t involve mean labels for others they don’t agree with?

Sorry, but where is the mean label and the judgment?

I agree with PP. The schools need to be open and the kids need to be there, in person. If you have extenuating circumstances that affect your family, that's up to you to deal with. But you should not expect the school to accommodate those extreme needs. There is cost involved, you know. Not everything is "free."

I think that was a broader reference to the comments taking a mocking tone with the more cautious parents.
The “aren’t your kids vaccinated, ugh” tone in the message quoted, along with a few more before. Not limited to the PP.

In all fairness the “more cautious parents” are generally PITAs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So with all the parties on the 31st and 1st, will the back to school testing on Sunday-Tuesday be too early to detect the spread of Covid? I want to keep the kid home for the first week anyway and would prefer virtual classes for the first week.

Schools should at least offer those cautious families a virtual option for the first two weeks

No, they should not. "Cautious families" need to get over themselves and realize that the entire framework of producing an elite education does not revolve around having their children beamed in online.

What are you so cautious about anyways? Aren’t your kids vaccinated. Ugh.

Not all vaccinated people are like you. We are all fully vaccinated. We are also willing to wear masks and strictly follow social distancing rules to reduce the spread of the virus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who wishes that we would stop testing? I want my kids to go to school. They are vaxed, they have masks and statistically should be fine. Why are we still doing all of this?

Ah, the old Ostrich strategy. Reminds me of Feb 2020 when Prez said there’s only 15 cases and it’ll be zero soon. Just don’t test and it’ll all be fine!

There's a legit question now, with circumstances much different, as to what testing shows. If you have a community (most schools) where virtually everybody is vaxed, and a varient (Omicron) where the symptoms, if any, are minimal for vaxxed folks, what is testing telling you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SFS exams should be postponed by a week. And classes should be virtual and/or asynchronous the first week back. With weekly testing after that, we should be fine to be back at school normally very quickly.

I agree with this, particularly since this week is just prep for first semester finals anyhow.

They should do what they did with the sports from last year and let them continue to practice, perhaps with daily tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS exams should be postponed by a week. And classes should be virtual and/or asynchronous the first week back. With weekly testing after that, we should be fine to be back at school normally very quickly.

I agree with this, particularly since this week is just prep for first semester finals anyhow.

They should do what they did with the sports from last year and let them continue to practice, perhaps with daily tests.

With today's note about almost 40 students/staff already sick with covid, we can assume the school-wide testing will reveal many more positive tests. There is no way in-person classes will happen next week. The school should announce it and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

+ 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SFS exams should be postponed by a week. And classes should be virtual and/or asynchronous the first week back. With weekly testing after that, we should be fine to be back at school normally very quickly.

I agree with this, particularly since this week is just prep for first semester finals anyhow.

They should do what they did with the sports from last year and let them continue to practice, perhaps with daily tests.

With today's note about almost 40 students/staff already sick with covid, we can assume the school-wide testing will reveal many more positive tests. There is no way in-person classes will happen next week. The school should announce it and be done with it.

Leave it to Sidwell to just leave exams everything in place with no accounting to what happens to the kids who test positive.

[Anonymous]

To the couple of SFS parents who keep dragging the school in these public forums: this practice is really tiresome. It’s a phenomenal and caring community that’s trying to do the best for all on balance — I’d suggest being grateful, enjoying it, trying to do the right thing, remembering our values and thinking of others before you speak/act. To me, a magical Charlie Brown-esque thing happened cca 2020 — the perennially aggrieved posts started sounding a whole lot like wah-wah-wah-wah