October 23, 2020
Dear Shaler Area families,
We want to start off by thanking you for your support, which has contributed to a relatively smooth first two weeks of hybrid instruction. We know this transition is not without its challenges, but we are so proud of your students’ resilience in the hybrid model of instruction as well as their compliance to our health and safety protocols this year. We love having our students back in our schools.
Unfortunately, much like other school districts, we are seeing a few positive COVID-19 cases and other potential cases within the school district. According to the Allegheny County Health Department, most if not close to all of the cases surrounding schools since late August have been traced to parties, restaurants, weddings, funerals, and other community gatherings outside of school. With this in mind, we ask that you and your children use precaution not only at school but also outside of school and at home. We have seen a steady rise of positive cases within the county over the past week, and we all want to do our part to slow the spread of the virus and maintain the health and safety of our students and staff.
As a reminder, all students are required to wear a face covering (including on the school bus), and families are to perform a daily symptom screening for their student(s) before sending them to school. Please watch this video from our school nurses about what to look for, https://youtu.be/iinrIXTHLtY, and post this checklist on your refrigerator or close to your door as a reminder.
Now that we have transitioned to hybrid instruction, the next question is when we can move to a traditional model of five days in person instruction. With the current rise in case counts within the county, this is not a transition that we are considering at this time. Our goal is to have our students back in our schools five days per week, but we want to be very strategic about when and how we make that transition. The health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority. We will continue to monitor the situation on a weekly basis and communicate with you regularly.
As we look ahead to the coming weeks, we’d like to remind you that there will be no school (virtual or in person) on Tuesday, Nov. 3. We will have parent-teacher conferences (K-6) on this day as scheduled, however, conferences will only be offered virtually. Additional information about how to sign up for a conference time will be shared by your building principal next week.
Thank you again for all that you are doing to ensure that our transition to hybrid has been as smooth as possible. This has been a total team effort, and everyone is needed to ensure our future success as a district.
Sincerely,
Sean C. Aiken
Superintendent of Schools
Bryan E. O’Black, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent