Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Are they going to institute weekly testing (of everyone)? That would be a good measure to add to make people feel safer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I have young learners in FCCPS. We are desperate to get back to school. Every week matters. No, I am not okay waiting for just a 'few more weeks' for everyone to be vaccinated b/c 1) I don't believe it really would be just a few more weeks- It's 28 days from first shot (this Monday) to the second shot. That means the earliest FCCPS teachers are getting the second shot is Feb 15th. And so if we are waiting for that to kick in fully, we are looking at Feb 22nd at the earliest. AND and this is a big and, that assumes that everything goes smoothly on Monday and the 2nd doses are available right on time.
2) We were told at the end of the summer that 'give us a few weeks to get things together...' then 'we'll go virtual week after thanksgiving...' it keeps on getting pushed back. No more excuses.
3) our rates are simply not increasing. They are stable/ declining.
4) IF there really is a new variant coming that is going to shut us down again, we need to push even harder to get some in person learning in.
I have been crazy careful. I have followed Dr. Noonan's directions about mask wearing, not going to indoor gatherings, social distancing, etc to the nth degree. I have 'done my part to stop the spread.' My kids need to be back in school now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is very large. Stop comparing to tiny districts. The sign up for FCPS is 4 weeks and other groups are also scheduling appts. I would predict Groups 1-6 going back before SB and 7-8 after spring break. Just be happy that vaccinations are happening.

Off topic and not a popular talking point, but FCPS should have vaccinated the teachers going in the buildings first (special education, ELL, K) and then gone from there.

That is how it's scheduled. They sent us an email based on who's going into the building first, next and then last; and we were supposed to sign up for our vaccines accordingly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In a surprise announcement Thursday, F.C. City Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan told an online town hall that the Fairfax Health Department will deploy a “closed pod” to Falls Church Monday to provide doses of the Moderna vaccine to all Falls Church City Schools’ teachers and staff.

Dr. Noonan hailed the decision, saying that once the teachers and staff then receive a second dose a month later, that all City schools’ classrooms could be open for direct teaching by Feb. 22 or 23.

Noonan said he was informed of the new policy early this morning after the health department suffered a crash of its website due to the volume of inquiries today.

Source: https://fcnp.com/2021/01/14/all-f-c-teachers-to-receive-covid-19-vaccine-monday/

Why does Falls Church City get this and not the rest of Fairfax County? It's not fair for the county to treat people who don't even pay taxes there better than our own residents. WTF?

Falls Church is an independent city on the borders of Fairfax County and Arlington County. It's very small (only one high school), so they can do things much more nimbly than Fairfax. However, if Fairfax weren't so concerned about keeping everything equitable, and instead focused on letting each district within Fairfax manage itself, it could do better. The bigger the bureaucracy, the slower (and worse).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.

If she truly cries EVERY morning, about 80 mornings by now, why haven't you pulled her out? for homeschooling? Or do K next year? Maybe that would help with the zen. Take care of your family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.