February 5, 2021

23 Shevat 5781

Dear Families,

We are writing, as promised, with detailed information about our reopening plan.

Our faculty and staff have been working tirelessly to develop a reopening plan that meets the needs of our students, families, and faculty. We are proud of the plan that we have developed, and we are confident that it provides for a safe environment to which students can return.

We also recognize that many challenges lie ahead. There will be new technology to master, new protocols to follow, new ways to use the spaces on our campus, new ways to engage with our students. We are relying on your continued support as we face these new challenges to offer hybrid learning.

What does hybrid mean?

Students whose families choose on-site learning will be in-person, full-time, Monday - Friday, in the classroom with one teacher and one instructional aide.
Students whose families choose to have their children continue with distance learning will participate in the classroom lessons with the use of technology as much as possible. There will be times when children in distance learning will be engaged in asynchronous work, off the screen while their classmates who are in-person will be doing similar work in the classroom. Students who are in distance learning will not be expected to be on their devices on Zoom all day. There will be a schedule, similar to what students currently use, which will indicate synchronous times to Zoom into the class and asynchronous times to work independently. Synchronous time will happen several times throughout the day so that students at home and in school may learn together in community.
We will send another survey early next week asking every family to commit to either in-person or distance learning for their child(ren).

K-5 Reopening Schedule - Click here for a calendar

March 1-4: K-3rd grades will begin hybrid learning and have half-days only.

March 1-4: 4th-5th grades will continue full-day distance learning.

March 8-12: K-5th grades will begin a full-day, five-day-a-week, hybrid program.

We strongly believe that K-3 children will benefit from the four half-days to get accustomed to being back in a classroom with other students, following many new rules about how to conduct themselves and how they move around the building, and building stamina for a longer day of social interaction.
Our staff also needs a soft start to practice with new arrival and dismissal procedures, new technology, and new systems.
There will be additional teacher prep days added to the calendar so that your children’s teachers can prepare classrooms, lessons, get trained on new protocols and new technology. The additional teacher in-service days are February 22nd and 23rd for K-5th grade. (See below for more information about adjustments to the school calendar.) Click here for a visual representation of this information.

Arrival/Dismissal Schedule and Procedures

Arrival will take place between 8:30 and 9:00 to accommodate the Early Childhood staggered arrival schedule which happens at the main entrance of the school.
Dismissal will take place between 3:00 and 3:30.
The arrival and dismissal times must be staggered for screening and safety purposes.

School Calendar Adjustments

In light of the need for additional extensive planning for in-person/hybrid learning, we have decided to cancel Spring Conferences.

We have added two inservice days on February 22 and 23 for Lower School teachers to plan and prepare for in-person/hybrid learning.
Lower school students will now be in school on March 18 and 19 in lieu of conferences.
Middle School students will be in school on February 22 and 23. March 18 and 19 will be inservice days for Middle School teachers to plan and prepare for return to in-person/hybrid learning.

If you wish to meet regarding your child’s progress or any concerns you may have, please contact your child’s teachers or Middle School Advisor to schedule a time to meet virtually or by phone. The decision to cancel conferences was not taken lightly. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding.

Early Release Wednesdays

February 10 and 24 will remain early release dates with a 12:30 dismissal time.
March 17 will remain an early release date with a 1:00 dismissal time.
Beginning in April, every Wednesday will be an early release day with a 1:00 dismissal. This provides our teachers with the additional time they need to prepare to offer daily lessons for both in-person and distance learning students.

Passover Break

Passover Break will be March 26-April 2.

OHA and ODE strongly discourages travelling out of state for spring break or gathering with extended families and friends. We hope and expect our families to be respectful of these guidelines for the safety and well-being of the entire PJA community. We will enforce whatever recommendations or requirements are in place in Multnomah county in early April regarding out-of-state travel, which may include a mandatory quarantine period.

Covid-19 Exposure

If a student or staff member has been exposed to Covid-19, they will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus. This is the current guideline from the Multnomah County Health Department and is subject to change.

Safety Protocols for on-site learning

Please read our safety protocols here.

Middle School Reopening

Oregon schools are expected to follow the recommendations from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), and the Multnomah County Health Department, regarding the resumption of in-person learning through an on-site or hybrid model. There are a number of metrics that are used to determine when it is safe to do so, primarily the county case rate (i.e. # of cases per 100,000 in Multnomah County). The revised guidance, announced on January 19, indicates that only elementary schools should have on-site or hybrid instruction when the case count is between 200 and 350, and that middle schools should remain in distance learning with limited in-person gatherings even when the case count is between 50 and 200. Please see this char t for up to date information on the OHA and ODE metrics. With Covid case numbers declining, we are planning to reopen Middle School for in-person and hybrid learning in April. We will be sharing more information regarding Middle School schedules in the next two weeks.

Until that time, we will continue to invite MS students to campus for limited in-person gatherings. Our goal has been to give students and teachers opportunities to gather in community under the appropriate guidelines. We understand that for some families, it is not possible to bring your students to campus for these short, optional sessions, and look forward to bringing them back for on-site learning soon.

We know this is a lot of information to absorb. We are hosting a meeting on Tuesday night, February 9th, 8:00-9:00 pm to answer questions about our plan. In order to use that time as efficiently as possible, we request that you submit questions in advance through this form. If time allows, we will take questions during the session, but we will prioritize questions submitted in advance. The Zoom link for the meeting is here.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation throughout this challenging school year. We look forward to seeing our students back in the building soon.

Shabbat shalom,

Steve, Merrill, Amy, Michael, and Sarah