Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – September 3, 2020

Aloha Saint Mark Parents!

I hope and pray you are doing well.  I am writing with the latest Saint Mark updates.

Improving Community Conditions 
The numbers of new daily COVID-19 cases are still high with triple digit reported cases for the past 32 days and a 7-day average of over 200 new cases per day; however, the good news is that the numbers are trending in the right direction and the positivity rate has been swiftly decreasing. Today’s reported positivity rate was just 3%.  Below 5% is where we want to be, so let’s do our part to keep these numbers moving in the correct direction.

Stay At Home Order
The current stay-at-home order (Emergency Order No. 2020-25) is due to expire next Wednesday September 9, 2020. However, it is still unclear whether or not the order will be extended. Below is an explanation of the two possible scenarios as we currently see them.

Scenario 1: Stay at Home Order is NOT Extended
If the order is allowed to expire on September 9 and is not extended (while the number of new cases continues to move in the correct direction), Saint Mark will look to bring grades K to 2 back on campus on Friday, September 11 and grades 3 to 5 back on campus on Monday, September 14, while keeping the middle school online.  We believe the staggered re-start will be good for everyone.

Scenario 2: Stay at Home Order IS Extended
If the order is extended past September 9 (while the number of new cases continues to move in the correct direction), Saint Mark will still look to bring grades K to 2 back on campus on Friday, September 11, while keeping grades 3 to 5 and the middle school online.  The reason that K to 2 will be permitted back on campus even if the Stay at Home order is extended is because the feasibility/effectiveness of long-term remote learning for the younger students is questionable. Therefore, if it is deemed safe to bring back the younger students, then we will do so.

Middle School Students Staying On-Line
The middle school students will be our last group to return to campus and will be online for at least the next two weeks.  We will evaluate the community conditions for a possible return to campus on Monday, September 21 or Monday, September 28.  This would allow for a week or two of on campus instruction before pausing for the fall break. As has been explained in the past, this is our largest group and as such we want to make certain we are comfortable with the community conditions before bringing them back to campus. The next packet pickup for the middle school students will be on Friday, September 11.

Distance Learning Going Well
While online learning is not the most desired form of instruction for many of us, I’m happy to report that the feedback we are receiving regarding our distance learning program has been very positive. We have worked to intentionally keep the distance learning schedule/experience as similar as possible to the on campus schedule/experience with the hope that our students can easily transition back to campus when the time is right. We need to recognize the possibility that the students may need to shift back and forth between distance and on campus learning until this pandemic is over.

Mahalo for your patience and commitment to seeing us through these extremely challenging times and please do not hesitate to contact the school office should you have any questions.

Thank you for your time and support!

Mahalo, Blessings and Stay Safe,

David Gaudi