November 12, 2020 

Dear WSSD Community,

I’m writing today to provide you with an update to Friday’s e-blast.  Yesterday, we became aware of an article quoting Dr. Rubin from CHOP Policy Lab in which he references a recommendation for schools to return to fully virtual learning.  By contrast, on Tuesday, we received correspondence from the Chester County Health Department (CCHD) that supports school districts staying in a hybrid model (click here to see letter).  To reconcile these two different views, I remind everyone that CCHD serves as our medical authority for guidance and recommendations regarding school operations.  Specifically, CCHD has communicated to Delaware County Schools the following:

“At this time, the Chester County Health Department are in support of Delaware County schools continuing in their current instructional model plans while continuing to monitor data against the thresholds. It is also important that schools make a renewed commitment to ensure that all prevention measures are adhered to on a daily basis. While we have cases in schools, the majority of the cases are coming from outside activities. Despite this, we have evidence of in-school transmission when the prevention measures are not being followed. Schools are in a unique position to quickly identify cases, exposures and close contacts, and make timely decisions for sending students and staff home. This results in the spread of the virus being limited once identified.”

CCHD is uniquely situated to make decisions regarding our county schools as they are involved in the contact tracing and review of metrics specific to our area. During the past few weeks, I’ve shared a number of COVID notifications with you about positive cases among our students and staff.  I know it is concerning to receive this information, however, it’s important for you to know that we do have positive cases within our School District. Individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 have contracted the illness in off-campus activities.  The increase in community transmission rates is the result of transmission occurring through gatherings and other community-based activities outside of school.  We have not had spread or linkages within our schools.  What’s very important to note is that the mitigation strategies in our schools are working.  These strategies include:

• Symptom Monitoring Tracker – Thank you for completing the symptom monitoring tracker each morning.  We know parents are keeping their children home when they are sick. 
• Masking - Thank you for sending your children to school with a mask and for reinforcing the message about why it is important for them to wear a mask while they are in school, on school grounds, or on the bus.
• Physical Distancing – Thank you to everyone for maintaining a six-foot distance from others at all times.  We know this is critical to keeping everyone safe.
• Hygiene – Thank you to everyone for practicing proper hygiene at all times.  I wonder if we are all humming Happy Birthday (twice) as we wash our hands, or is it just me?
• Contact Tracing – Thank you for cooperating with our WSSD School Nurses and CCHD when they reach out to you regarding contact tracing.  This is a vital component to controlling the spread of COVID within our community and our schools. 

We still need to watch these COVID data carefully and monitor what is happening within our schools.  Some factors that may cause us to change direction and move to virtual learning at a school, some schools, or all schools would include:

• Linked transmissions within or among schools
• A point where the CCHD could not contact trace the positive cases to control the spread of the disease
• A time when we don’t have enough staff to open our schools
• Mandates from PA Department of Health, Pennsylvania Department of Education or CCHD to return to an all-virtual environment

If we are mandated to return to fully virtual learning by CCHD, PA DOH, or PDE, I will provide you with notice as soon as the District is notified. 

Thank you for your personal responsibility, partnership, and ongoing support as we continue to work together for the health and safety of our community.

Very truly yours,
Lisa A. Palmer, Superintendent of Schools

November 6, 2020

Dear WSSD Community,

There have been rumors regarding health authorities requiring Delaware County schools to switch from hybrid to virtual learning due to the increased incidence rates in the region.  As of today, no mandates have been issued, and we plan to maintain our current hybrid delivery model, continue the implementation of our health and safety plan, monitor our cases, and quarantine or isolate individuals as recommended previously by the Chester County Health Department.  For an update on student and staff positive cases, the community can access our District COVID-19 Data Chart by clicking here.  For an update on the CCHD most current 7 day COVID data as of 11/06/20, click here. 

We still need to watch these COVID data carefully and monitor what is happening within our schools, but we are not at a point where we would change direction.  Some factors that may cause us to change direction and move to virtual learning at a school, some schools, or all schools would include:

• Linked transmissions within or among schools
• A point where the CCHD could not contact trace the positive cases to control the spread of the disease
• A time when we don’t have enough staff to open our schools
• Mandates from PA Department of Health, Pennsylvania Department of Education or CCHD to return to an all-virtual environment

Our WSSD community figures have increased this week.  This means that we, as a community, must be even more diligent with our safety measures if we want to keep our schools open.  That means we must:

• Mask properly – even with our friends
• Practice social distancing – and that does mean 6’
• Practice good hygiene
• Not send children to school when they are sick
• As staff members, not come to school when we are sick

The CCHD is in the still in the process of revising their guidance to public and private schools. When it is posted, you will be able to find it at:  https://www.chesco.org/4397/Coronavirus--Resources-for-Schools. 

As I’ve said before, the COVID situation remains dynamic and may change quickly.  Today’s information is based on my latest meetings.  The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/10.  If I learn anything new, I will be in touch with the community and our staff.  In the meantime, if you have concerns about your child attending school in person, please contact your principal.

Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to work together for our students and staff.

Very truly yours,
Lisa A. Palmer, Superintendent of Schools

PS:  Please remember to complete the Symptom Monitoring Tracker for each of your children.  We are asking you to do this small part to assist us in keeping sick children home.  Thank you!!!

November 1, 2020

Dear WSSD Community,

At Monday evening’s School Board meeting, I spoke about Delaware County’s COVID numbers and the approach we were taking within the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District to keep our schools open.  Today, I would like to provide you with an update.

On Friday, October 30, the Chester County Health Department (CCHD) published its most current 7 day COVID data as follows:

What does this mean?  The number of cases in our county has been rising, however, the number of cases within our District has been reasonably stable.  In addition, we have not seen linkages between cases within our schools which is critical to note. 

I’ve spoken numerous times about the fact that I meet with the CCHD and Drs. Rubin and/or Brennan weekly, and sometimes even more than that.  This week I met with CCHD twice - first on Tuesday, then again on Thursday.  We discussed actual COVID data, forecasting models and projections, and where the transmissions are taking place.  The CCHD continues to recommend a measured, thoughtful approach to safely keeping schools open. 

We still need to watch these COVID data carefully and monitor what is happening within our schools, but we are not at a point where we would change direction.  Some factors that may cause us to change direction and move to virtual learning at a school, some schools, or all schools would include:

• Linked transmissions within or among schools
• A point where the CCHD could not contact trace the positive cases to control the spread of the disease
• A time when we don’t have enough staff to open our schools

I still believe if we collectively continue to be diligent, we will be able to keep our schools open.  That means we must:

• Mask properly – even with our friends
• Practice social distancing – and that does mean 6’
• Practice good hygiene
• Not send children to school when they are sick
• As staff members, not come to school when we are sick

The CCHD is in the process of revising their guidance to public and private schools.  I thought it might have been released on Friday but it was not.  When it is posted, you will be able to find it at:  https://www.chesco.org/4397/Coronavirus--Resources-for-Schools. 

As you know, the COVID situation remains dynamic and may change quickly.  Today’s information is based on my latest meetings.  The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/3.  If I learn anything new, I will be in touch with the community and our staff.  In the meantime, if you have concerns about your child attending school in person, please contact your principal.

Thank you for your continued support.

Very truly yours,
Lisa A. Palmer, Superintendent of Schools

PS:  Please remember to complete the Symptom Monitoring Tracker for each of your children.  Thank you!!!

PROTECTING OUR PROGRESS - 2020-10-30.pdf 

PROTECTING OUR PROGRESS - 2020-10-30 - wssd specific.pdf 

October 28, 2020

Dear WSSD Community,

My reason for writing to you today is twofold:  first, to be more explicit about some components of our Education Plan, and, second, to share my sincere gratitude to all of our teachers and staff for their commitment and dedication to our children.

Education Plan:

The 2020-21 school year has been extraordinary, to say the very least.  Planning for this school year began last year and continues to evolve each and every day as we individually and collectively learn better ways to support our children. 

Our Education Committee worked all summer in developing the Education Plan that was submitted to the School Board for their approval.  In an effort to continuously improve, our Education Committee continues to meet so we can adapt our plan to better support our children.  To keep the community apprised, we had several in-depth, School Board meeting Focus Topic presentations outlining the various components of our Education Plan. 

In reality, we have been planning and continue to plan for three instructional models, with two of them occurring simultaneously: 

• Virtual:  where all children attend school virtually
• Hybrid:  where cohorts of children attend in person on select days of the week while other children attend school virtually
• Online Academy:  where some children learn online through a WSSD Academy that parallels the learning in our other instructional models. 

The planning that we have been doing is considerable and filled with challenges, some of which are outside of our control.  However, while I will not say our Education Plan is perfect, I will say that I do believe we have risen to the challenge and are offering our children a high quality educational program.

Critical to providing that high quality educational program is the outstanding teaching staff that we have in WSSD.  My colleagues have more than risen to the challenge. They brought our plans to life!  They started their year planning for hybrid learning only to have to switch to virtual learning just before the school year started.  Then this month, they had to switch to hybrid learning with limited time to prepare for the transition.  Not only do they remain poised for whatever transitions lie ahead, they are positive and continue to advocate for changes to our Education Plan that will better support our children.  I am very proud of them and honored to be part of our WSSD team. 

In addition to being the dedicated professionals that they are, I believe our teachers are successful because of how our school week is structured.  Our Education Plan calls for our children to be learning from home on Wednesdays.  There appears to be some thought that because our children are not in school or synchronously learning on Wednesdays, our teachers are only working four days a week.  Nothing could be further than the truth.  Our teachers are very busy on Wednesdays, and I believe the success of our virtual and hybrid learning plans depend greatly on the work accomplished on Wednesdays. 

When we presented our Education Plan, I should have placed more emphasis on explaining what work actually occurs on Wednesday.  I apologize for not highlighting this area more and would like to provide more detailed information now. 

USE OF ASYNCHRONOUS WEDNESDAYS

ACROSS ALL SCHOOLS:

• Curriculum development as individuals and across the grade bands, departments and WSSD Online Academy
• Lesson planning for 60 and 80 minute lessons
• Curricular Pacing adjustments
• Technology, including virtual learning and multi-model learning (Simultaneous zoom while teaching in-person) along with the advancement of teachers’ general technology skills
• IEP/GIEP Meetings with case manager, a team of teachers and administration in attendance and prepared for discussion
• Data evaluation for formative and summative data points and student progress
• Responding to e-mails
• Student support via Google Classroom, Seesaw, and Small Groups

In addition, school levels have needs specific to their schedule and student population:

STRATH HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL

• Clubs & Extra-curricular activities across three timeslots in the afternoon - these clubs are moderated by a teacher and provide essential outlets and socialization for student wellness.
• Office Hours held during the traditional 5^th Block time for student support

STRATH HAVEN MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Weekly Faculty meetings
• Weekly Department meetings
• Weekly Team meetings
• Team zoom meeting w/parents
• Clubs: These clubs are moderated by a teacher and provide essential outlets and socialization for student wellness.
• Office Hours held from 1 to 3 pm (work w/individual or small groups of students)

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

• Morning meeting with all children (social emotional check in with all children)
• Grade level meeting across District for weekly planning across both Hybrid and WSSD Online Academy Learning platforms.  This is essential so all children pace equally through their lessons weekly. 

In Appreciation:

The 2020-21 school year has been extraordinary, and our staff has been nothing short of amazing.  I would like to extend my sincerest and deepest appreciation to all of our teachers and staff.  You are extraordinary; you are amazing; you are SUPERSTARS!  You are dedicated, positive, strong, and unwavering in your commitment to our children and our families.  On behalf of all of our children, THANK YOU for everything you do every day.  I know many of you are working morning, noon, and night, and often well into the weekend.  I think our families should know this too. 

Sincerely,
Lisa A. Palmer, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

October 19, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is committed to protecting the health and safety of our students, staff, and families. The Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Chester County Health Department are actively responding to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Today we learned of a potential COVID-19 exposure on one of our school buses. We have reported the incident to the Chester County Health Department for further action. The Health Department investigates all suspect or confirmed reports of COVID-19. This helps the Health Department give guidance to the people involved and to the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District. COVID-19 investigations include finding close contacts during the contagious period (contact tracing). Contact tracing helps manage the spread of COVID-19 and prevent future surges of cases. If the Health Department finds you are a close contact, they will give you information including:

• Your last date of exposure, which decides the timeline for quarantine
• Expectations for quarantine
• How to report new or worsening symptoms
• Information about COVID-19

If you are not contacted by the Health Department because of this exposure, you should still watch for symptoms consistent with COVID-19. These symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, abnormal sense of taste and smell, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, congestion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you or your child develops any of these symptoms, please stay home and contact your physician.

We follow public health guidance to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in our school and community.

NOTE:  This notification is being sent to all students in the building.  If students are deemed to have been in close contact with a potential COVID-19 exposure, an additional notification will be sent to those individuals.

For more information, please visit the Chester County Health Department website at https://www.chesco.org/4376/Coronavirus-COVID-19 or visit the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/covid19.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Patti Diaferio

Transportation Director

This message was recorded and sent by phone to all parents/guardians the evening of Sunday, October 18, 2020:

Good evening. This is Lisa Palmer, Superintendent of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District.

As we end the first full week of cohort instruction, we wanted to update and remind you of the importance of completing the WSSD Symptom Monitoring Tracker. As this process supports the district in ensuring the safety of all students and staff, it is imperative that we have the most accurate and updated information on the health of our students. Some key reminders include:

1. Please complete the Tracker each day other than Wednesday. If you child is not scheduled to be on campus, you should answer no to the first question.
2. It is imperative that you complete the Tracker as early as possible, at least 30 minutes prior to the start of school.
3. Please ensure that you actually complete the survey. If it is not finished, your child’s information will not be identified as completed.
4. The survey is related to the instructional day, it does not include activities or athletics. The staff assigned to activities or athletics will monitor the Symptom Monitoring Tracking for those activities or athletics.

As previously shared, if you are having difficulties with the WSSD Symptom Monitoring Tracker, please reach out to Brian Leipold at bleipold@wssd.org.  

Thank you again for all of your support as we continue to navigate these challenging times.

 

October 16, 2020

Dear WSSD Families & Staff,

I’m writing to you today about COVID symptom monitoring and notification.  As the weeks progress and positive cases present in our schools, parents/guardians and staff will be notified as follows:

• We will send a general notification to the parents/guardians and staff members in a building whenever there is a potential COVID-19 exposure.  (sample notification) 
• If students and/or staff are deemed to have been in close contact with a potential COVID-19 exposure, an additional notification will be sent to those individuals.  (sample parent/guardian notification)  (sample staff notification) 
• As a District, we will add a COVID-19 Data Chart on our website to keep the community informed weekly of these in-school COVID-19 positive cases. 

If a student or staff member who tests positive was in our building during the contagious period, we will work with the Chester County Health Department to support contact tracing.  Contact tracing includes: 

• Identifying those individuals who were in our buildings or on our buses and were less than six feet from the COVID-19 positive person for more than 15 minutes.
• Please note: It is important to remind our students to remain socially distant from others even when wearing masks, during recess, and while waiting for the bus.

If your child must quarantine due to a close contact at school, we will provide you with the Close Contact Information Sheetoutlining the steps to follow. Your child’s building principal will work with you regarding your child’s plan for instruction. Unless notified otherwise, the siblings of students who have been advised to quarantine are permitted to attend school. Those siblings were not in direct contact with the COVID-19 positive person. 

You will be asked to monitor your child for symptoms of COVID-19. These symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, abnormal sense of taste and smell, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, congestion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If your child develops any of these symptoms, please keep them home, and contact your physician. 

Please remember to screen your child before leaving for school in the morning using the Symptom Monitoring Tracker.  This should be completed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the school day.  Children who exhibit symptoms should stay at home; doing so will help to keep our classrooms and schools open.  If your child develops symptoms while at school, you will be contacted to pick up your child and will receive the Symptomatic Student Information Sheet.

We ask you to notify our school nurses when you have a positive COVID test result or you have been exposed to someone who has a positive COVID test result.  Why?  Because we need to contact the Chester County Health Department.  The CCHD will ultimately receive the information about positive COVID cases, but the sharing is not instantaneous.  There have been times when we have been the first entity to notify the CCHD about a positive case.  This notification allows them to begin their contact tracing sooner.

• Keep your child home if they are sick
• Contact our school nurses when you have exposure or are unsure if your child should come to school
• Cooperate with the CCHD if they reach out to you about contact tracing
• Complete the Symptom Monitoring Tracker for each of your children

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is committed to protecting the health and safety of our students, staff, and families.

Sincerely,
Lisa Palmer, Superintendent of Schools

October 9, 2020

Dear WSSD Community:

It has been a wonderful week!  There are children in our schools once again.  The return of our elementary students to our schools is a moment we will long remember.  And, dare I say, next week may be even better as our secondary students mark their eagerly awaited return.

As our students entered our buildings, they saw many changes to support their health and safety.  These changes are included in our WSSD Health & Safety Plan which we discussed at recent School Board meetings and I shared with you in prior e-blasts.  In today’s message, I would like to focus on the requirement to wear masks.

• Each student and staff member is required to wear masks throughout the school day
• Masks must meet the following criteria:
  • should fit snugly, but comfortably, and should not have gaps around the sides of the mask
  • should cover the nose and mouth and go under the chin
  • should be made of more than one layer of fabric
  • cannot have vents or openings
  • cannot be a neck gaiter or bandana
• Individuals who meet the exemption criteria, as identified by PA Department of Health, are not required to wear masks
  • teachers and related service providers are encouraged to teach them about masking and use strategies to build mask tolerance when appropriate
  • staff or students who are in close proximity to students who are exempt will have access to additional PPE
• Masks will be worn to lunch and will only be removed when the student/staff is eating

Mask breaks in schools are permitted according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) FAQs (updated 08/17/20), the CDC, and the Chester County Health Department.  Further, when I was on my weekly call with the Chester County Health Department, I confirmed that their guidance has not changed, and it has not. 

• Students will be provided with opportunities for brief, structured, and safe mask breaks
  • breaks must occur when students are not talking, seated and at least 6 ft. apart or outside and at least 6 ft. apart.
  • teachers will develop clear expectations and directions for how, when and where students will be allowed to take mask breaks
  • the maximum time for a mask break should be 5-7 minutes (Elementary) and 5 minutes (High School & Middle School) though a shorter time when possible
  • additional mask breaks can be requested on an individual basis and teachers should develop clear expectations and procedures for how, when, where and how long additional breaks will be granted

Please let me explain a bit more about short mask breaks. We believe that if we do not design a break that outlines specifically where, when, and for how long students can take off their masks, students will be more likely to take off their masks in unsafe ways. Behaviorally and from a behavioral health perspective, it is important to consider that if we don't teach a functional and appropriate "escape," students will develop their own escape strategies that may not meet health and safety guidelines. Each of the students in our classrooms is unique and has varied needs.  In addition, elementary students have different needs than secondary students.  Therefore, implementation of these breaks is at the discretion of the individual teachers as part of their classroom management.

Thank you in advance for your family’s compliance with our masking requirements.

Very truly yours,
Lisa Palmer, Superintendent of Schools

Good afternoon:

As the cohorts of students in grades 6-12 return to school starting Monday, October 12, 2020, please be aware that the District is operating under the District’s Health and Safety Plan.  The students are required to wear masks at all times.  There are assigned seats on the buses.  Please note that the windows on the buses will be open.  Please remind your children to bring a jacket/coat with them as it is getting chillier.

Please check the Parent Portal to obtain your child’s busing information including the seat assignments.  The bus information for your children can be accessed over the weekend, starting October 10, 2020 through the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

When you enter the Parent Portal, on the left hand side below the PowerSchool logo, you will find the Busing Information icon at the top of the “Navigation” area

When you click on the icon, your child’s bus information will be shown to the right.  You will see the bus number, bus stop time, and bus stop location for both the AM and PM routes.

Additionally, we are assigning seats to students this year.  To access your children’s seat assignment, click on “Forms” at the bottom of the “Navigation” area (see yellow highlight on prior image).

Scroll down to “WSSD Information” and click on “[WSSD] – Transportation Seat Assignment”

 

The form will open and you will see the child’s bus and seat assignment

If you have any transportation questions, please contact the Transportation Office at 610-892-3470, ext. 1701 or 1702.

Good morning,

As we begin our first pre-season scrimmages, I wanted to share an update on transportation to athletic events.

We have reduced the number of athletes traveling on each team bus to 21 students and 1 coach (1 athlete per bench). In addition, will have a seating chart for the bus rides in the event we need to conduct contact tracing.

Several parents have been asking about procedures to drive their child to games. If you intend to drive your child to ALL away games, please complete the Full Season Travel Waiver. This will take your child off the seating charts for the bus.

Full Season Waiver.pdf 

If you have a specific game that you need to drive your child to and from, please use the Single Event Travel Waiver.

Single Event Transportation Waiver.pdf 

These forms should be submitted directly to the coach - they no longer need approval from the athletic department office.

With the Governor sharing updated guidelines for public gatherings, effective Friday 10/9, we are revisiting our spectator policy. We will communicate our final spectator plan as soon as it is available, and have coaches share spectator guidelines of the schools we travel to throughout the season.

Thanks,

Pat Clancy