Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update & Reminders – April 23, 2021

Happy Aloha Friday Saint Mark Parents!

I hope and pray you all are doing well.  I am writing with the latest updates & reminders.

COMMUNITY CONDITIONS 
The current `Oahu numbers (which are available on the Hawaii Data Collaborative) have remained fairly stable for the past few weeks.  

Current Numbers
The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases is 80 (57 on O`ahu) and the 7-day state average of the positivity rate is 1.5% (2.0% on O`ahu). 

April 1 Numbers
The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases is 98 (56 on O`ahu) and the 7-day state average of the positivity rate is 1.9% (2.1% on O`ahu). 

IMPACT/ALERT LEVELS
The state of Hawai`i is at impact level YELLOW (Act with Care – Minor Disruption) of its Reopening Navigator; the City and County of Honolulu is now in TIER 3 (YELLOW) of its Honolulu Reopening Strategy; and Saint Mark is at level GREEN in its Reopening Campus Plan.

VACCINATE! VACCINATE! VACCINATE!
While it’s great news that the vaccine is now open to ALL 16 and older, it’s being reported that demand for the vaccine “seems to be softening”. This is unfortunate as only 32% of Hawaii residents have been fully vaccinated to date (48% have received one dose).  We need to have at least 70% of our residents fully vaccinated before reaching herd immunity.

With that, Saint Mark continues to strongly encourage all those eligible (ALL 16 and older) to get the COVID-19 vaccine to please do so!  We understand that getting vaccinated and establishing community (herd) immunity is our best chance of getting Hawai`i’s kids and teachers fully back-to-school and resuming more normal/traditional school activities.

As we complete the school year, we will all continue to wear face masks and face shields during the school day and follow other guidelines according to our policies.  We don’t want to create an environment where the virus is more easily spread within the student body and then potentially taken home to families. 

COVID-19 IS NOT OVER YET!
As increasing numbers of Hawai`i residents get vaccinated and we move closer to the summer, it’s easy to grow complacent. However, we must remain vigilant and continue our steadfast commitment to all of the safety protocols (daily health screenings, PPE, hand hygiene & sanitation, distancing, ventilation, cohorting, etc.) as we move into the home stretch of this school year.

I strongly encourage everyone to fight any COVID fatigue and please reinforce the importance of these safety measures that have kept our campus safe to this point!  Mahalo!

DAVE’S ICE CREAM FUNDRAISER – Winners and Pickup 
Mahalo for all of the wonderful support of our first ever Dave’s Ice Cream Fundraiser!  Thanks to your hard work and generosity, over $13,000 was raised for our important Financial Aid and technology programs.  Congratulations to our top selling students and classes!

Top Sellers: 1st place – Felicity Caranguian (PK3) with 188 pints sold; 2nd place – CC Inouye (gr 5) with 124 pints sold; 3rd place – Jacob Wong (gr 1) with 118 pints sold.  Raffle Winner – Charlee Harbottle (PK4A) 

Top Classes: The winning class from PK to gr 5 – Ms. Alissa’s PK3 class with an average of 41 pints sold per student; and the winning class from gr 6 to 8 – Mrs. Sanborn / Ms. Chang’s grade 6 class with an average of 18 pints sold per student.

Drive-Thru Pickup: Ice cream pickup is tomorrow, Saturday, April 24 in the Saint Mark parking lot. We are kindly requesting that families with last names beginning with A to M please try and pick up between 9:30 and 10:45am and those with last names beginning with N to Z please try and pick up between 10:45am and 12:00pm.  The details went home earlier this week and are available on-line. Thank you for your support!

SAT & OLSAT TESTING  (May 3 to May 7)
After not being able to administer our annual standardized testing last spring, we are happy to be resuming that assessment this year.  Specifically, students in grades 1 to 8 will be taking the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) & Otis-Lennon School Abilities Test (OLSAT) during the week of May 3 to May 7.  While many believe there to be both pros and cons to standardized testing, we see it as another valuable tool in Saint Mark’s ever important assessment tool box.  Mr. Markillie will be sharing more testing details next week.  

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK (May 3 to May 7)
This year perhaps more than ever, the Saint Mark faculty & staff stepped up!   Putting any personal fears aside, they bravely entered the classroom last July with confidence that they could safely and effectively bring the students back to campus as Hawaii was beginning its worst COVID-19 surge.  I’m so thankful to them (and to you for your trust in us) for their courageous dedication to the students of Saint Mark.  I humbly invite all of our families to consider sending a quick note to their teacher(s)/aid(s) during this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week.  I promise that it will bring a smile to their faces.  Thank You!

INAUGURAL SAINT MARK CROSS COUNTRY COMPETITION 
It was just announced on Wednesday that all Saint Mark students (PK-8) will be participating in the first ever Saint Mark Cross Country Competition in the coming weeks.  All students (PK-8) will participate on Friday, May 14 and the top three male and female finishers in grades 5-8 move on to compete in the finals on Friday, May 21.  Both races will take place on-campus during the school day. With the loss of our school athletics and other activities due to COVID, we thought this would be a great opportunity for our students to have a little on-campus fun while promoting physical activity and fostering some healthy competition as we enter into the home stretch of the school year.

READY TO PIVOT BACK to DISTANCE LEARNING
Saint Mark Lutheran School continues to remain very attentive to the fluidity of this pandemic and will continue to carefully monitor the daily data.  While we will not be overly reactive to expected variance in community conditions, we need to be ready to quickly pivot back (cohorts or larger groups) to distance learning should a student or staff member test positive or community conditions dramatically worsen again.  

Mahalo, Blessings and Stay Safe this Weekend,

David Gaudi
Head of School