Category: school

Last week shook us a bit and, although not unexpected, we all felt like it was a bit early. But, like I wrote last week, we learned much from it and, despite our general success, we can now move to improving our response and solidifying our practices. Middle School returned yesterday and settled back into class without losing a beat. Everything is, thus, generally on track.

Please help us on morning surveys. This is our main issue right now with entry and a critical component of our STOP plan. Daily morning completion of the survey is required and we would like to get our numbers down much lower in order to manage our systems in this regard. This is the reason for the 7:30 a.m. deadline each morning (except Wednesday and weekends). We need the time to check on any issues and we must have this in order to avoid checking children with you based on our lists. There are very few remaining application related issues. The vast majority of our challenge is the 100 -150 entries to the survey that come closer to 7:45 or 8:00. That overwhelms us and is critical to being prepared in the morning and being able to direct our time elsewhere.

To help with this, we are making some changes this coming weekend that we believe will help streamline your survey completion and minimize absences. Mainly, we will be moving to a four symptom focus:

• non-productive dry cough
• serious unusual tiredness
• loss of taste or smell
• serious muscle aches and chills

Please read the attached letter for details on the change and how this will help us focus on the most concerning symptoms and separate them from allergies and common cold symptoms. The link to the document below:

We will also be changing the time period AFTER symptoms and reducing the exclusion to 24 hours, with a requirement for re-test to re-enter. This will minimize absences without adding any risk to our identification as the letter explains.

Attached below is an addendum to our Data Processing declaration that you confirmed in PowerSchool at the beginning of the year. It clarifies the data exchange with EpiXpert and notifies you of the foundation for that exchange. We’ll also post this in PowerSchool and on our FAQ page for reference.

Thanks to those who have sent many messages of thanks and encouragement for our handling of last week’s exposure. You have all been wonderful partners in helping us to achieve our goal of responding to threats and minimizing the time out of school whenever a case emerges. You have all been wonderful.

And, finally, I’m going to change the schedule on Town Halls starting next week. I think we can relax a bit to every other week going forward in hopes of slowing down the communication incrementally. I’ll keep the morning Daily Updates for a bit longer. If we can get a few weeks under our belts without a new case, we’ll look to relax a bit further as we inch our way to the next crisis level. Looking forward to achieving that goal in short order.

Our community was challenged this week with our first COVID-19 infections and we moved right away to put our plans into action in the face of new challenges. As we move through our first day of “no further cases,” it is too early to reflect comprehensively, but the early insights are beginning to crystalize.

Learning #1 – We did well at school. The methods we used at school, both for protection through masks, distance, and hygiene, are limiting the spread of this virus when it intrudes. If that were not the case, we would have seen more cases yesterday. While we hope for no infection, we are also aware that infection will still emerge. Identifying it quickly is the core of our REACT strategy. What we do here limits the impact. It’s too soon to say for sure, but we seem to be on the right track.

Learning #2 – We need to finish fixing our systems to support this. Our app will get increased focus in the coming days and starting on Monday, we will all default to what the app tells us no matter what. Nothing with the app caused the problems, but it confused some of us and we have to regain your trust in it as a key tool. We’ll have to work hard to get there to earn your faith.

It should be noted that the App has been adjusted for exclusion for symptoms and will now flag a student as NOT OK4School if symptoms are reported and, further, will also flag family members for the same. As announced this morning and yesterday, going forward students who experience any of the following symptoms will remain home for 72 hours AFTER symptoms are gone (without medication).

• Temperature greater than 37.8C
• New or worsening cough
• Shortness of breath
• Significant reduction in sense of taste or smell
• sore throat and/or muscle aches
• fever or chills
• diarrhea or vomiting
• tiredness or weakness
• difficulty swallowing, extreme thirst, or loss of appetite

Learning #3 – We have to let this be our wakeup call about what we are doing outside of school. Many of the cases revolved around parties and gatherings during the weekend – birthday and otherwise. We have other students who are self-isolating because they came in contact with our subject or others not at ASW who were positive carriers. I’ve received many reports of this both directly and indirectly.

Let me put it simply: We just CAN’T do this! If we want a safe community and if we want to avoid future closures, we must avoid the things that you all know well. Let me try to list them:

• Do not attend any gatherings with mixed populations
• Do not let your kids play with others outside of the school community
• Do not join large groups in enclosed settings (concert, etc)
• Do not travel (I know – but that’s the way it is – it’s just not safe)
• Do not frequent restaurants and bars (confirmed by multiple studies as high risk)
• Do not have close contact with High-Risk individuals (close contact = no mask, within 1.5 meters for more than 15 minutes)
• Report ALL symptoms (see above) to school when known
• NEW: if one child is sick with the above symptoms, all children in the family stay home. Contact the school for guidance.

Learning #4 – It is good to be back at school. Despite this challenge, good things were already starting to happen. Kids were getting used to masks. They were washing their hands. They were learning and getting back into the swing of school.

So, I’m still convinced we are doing the right thing in the most prudent way possible. We were challenged by this sequence of events, but in the process, we tested and improved systems, confirmed that our tests work (all have been externally validated), and added to our resilience in times of adversity. Continuing our partnership, now and always!

Despite the difficult circumstances, we have begun our extraordinary year with only some general glitches to be resolved. All around the building, I’m hearing the joy in the voices and hearts of children as they reconnect with their friends, their teachers, their learning. As I said to all the Upper School assemblies, I missed you all terribly and it’s so good to have you “home.”

We are doing everything we can to work out the remaining glitches in various systems, but the core is working well and most are finding success with the various controls. From remembering that all temperatures should be in Celsius to the daily routines, I can sense that we are settling into some degree of stride, absorbing new practices as we go. Students are already starting to think creatively about how we can all contribute further to the PROTECT portion of our model and I’ve seen good attention to hand washing and appropriate practices throughout the building. There is a powerful understanding of our limits and the value of taking care of each other.

My thanks to all parents for your patience and I hope that our process has been helpful while making sure it’s not too daunting. It is change after all and change is always hard.

In terms of keeping you further informed, the following is a weekly feature from EpiXpert that will come occasionally and as needed to give you more information on their process.

Testing protocol

We have gone through the first round of testing during which we are using anterior nare swabs and antigen tests. Antigen tests detect the viral protein on the surface of the virus (vs PCR which detects the inside of the virus – its genetic material). As mentioned before, our tests have demonstrated 96+% sensitivity and 99+% specificity, with very narrow 95% confidence intervals (this is the range in which 95% of results fall into, the narrower, the more consistent the performance). These results are on par with PCR tests. The biggest advantage is speed and simplicity. They are also well suited for pooling because their sensitivity and specificity are not affected by pooling (samples are direct swabs so undiluted by transport medium). Antigen tests are being touted as the future of population-based screening – dependent on their availability.

Independently, we are working on validating RT-LAMP tests for use with saliva. RT-LAMP tests are a modern and simpler version of the “dinosaur” PCR method (PCR has been a novelty since the 1980s). We will provide an update on this within the next 2-3 months as this would further simplify the sample collection.

To ensure completeness of the process, if a pool comes out positive, we will isolate and retest each individual in the pool — and whoever tests as positive will be isolated and quarantined.

Swabbing technique

There are now four places accepted as equal for sample collection – nasopharynx, oropharynx, mid-turbinate, and anterior nares. We chose the anterior nares because it is less invasive for children and for more efficient for sample collection in populations. There are studies that actually demonstrated higher sensitivity of anterior nare samples as compared to the nasopharynx. Additionally, children have been shown to have 1000 times higher viral loads as compared to adults when shedding. We have also validated our tests on anterior nare samples. Hence, until we have validation of the RT-LAMP tests on pooled saliva samples, we will continue the current approach.

Even with the anterior nare swabs, there is an odd chance of discomfort or even minor irritation of the nasal mucosa. However, this is the only risk of the testing and is rather transient.

Hopefully, you will be able to join us tonight for our weekly Town Hall. We’ll have more time for your questions tonight with only brief introductory comments on status. As of this writing, only 6% of our school population is choosing a Hybrid opening with more than 85% of our community confirming their consent and readiness to begin. We expect that the remaining parents who have not yet completed their consent forms will do so along similar lines before we open on Tuesday. Please remember that your child cannot start school next week unless the consent form is completed. I send a special message to the remaining parents as a reminder today and we will make phone calls later in the week.

Teachers started work yesterday on their planning toward our opening, as is the normal practice at this time of year. But, their special charge was to consider how to address the needs of our students in hybrid mode at the start of the school year. You will be receiving messages, age and grade dependent, on how we are starting. I saw some of those messages starting to come out to you today.

As we start to create a community of trust associated with behaviors suggested by science to protect us, I’m asking your cooperation in the coming days to return to a more closed status and avoid any of the areas of risk that you well remember from spring. Keep your children close to you and stay away from crowds where social distancing is not being practiced. The community standard we all set is about protecting the health and well-being of each other – a theme associated with our core values that will be oft repeated in our goal to educate and persuade in the short and long term.

Students who have come to be tested this week have generally had a good experience, giggling with the tickle and understanding the loving approach to checking on our health. For those who had a few tears, we are hopeful of more practice and dialog at home as we build a habit around healthy attitudes toward this extreme situation.

Note that the country list has been updated on our FAQ page and will now be aligned with government publication of travel restrictions, which is likely a more accurate representation of current risk. I have appreciated the stories from parents about how they have protected their families during the summer period. The result is that we have not had a positive case yet amongst our students or staff. With almost a third of our population tested, this is good news and supports our decision to go ahead with opening.

We will have a partial opening for our new families on Monday, where we will provide limited access for small groups to the administrative core. They will not be allowed into the cohort areas this year as we will be in preparation for opening. This will give us one opportunity to share with them the story of the school and connect them with mentors that will guide them through their arrival and acclimation. I look forward to greeting you on Monday at your designated time.

Enjoy your final weekend before school begins. Our school is almost ready with only final touches before us. Thank you for all your continued partnership and involvement throughout the summer as our plans have formed and crystalized. Our collaboration continues in the days and weeks ahead.

Dear Parents,

ASW is about to embark on a course of action gleaned over many months of interaction and discussion with leading experts and wise counsel of the broadest reach possible in and outside our community.  This journey will include significant changes in our routines and habits, and we all need to work together to succeed in this goal, as our core values prescribe.  For sections below, you will find a checklist at the end of procedures you must follow to get ready for your child’s first day.  The rest of the divisional details will come next week, so these steps are a priority for you and your family.

Our health and safety work is based on our core values. There are important rules for us all to know well and follow closely. But for us to ensure everyone’s health and safety, it will take much more than enforcing a series of rules. It will take collaboration and commitment at the highest level, supporting each other, and affirmatively taking all the actions necessary to keep ourselves and our whole community safe. 

Earlier this summer, we received the recommendations of our partner, Epixpert, led by Dr. Jarek Oleszczuk, to assess our readiness and provide clear recommendations for the opening of school.  We have since undertaken the work associated with 23 key recommendations.  Part of this led to contracting Epixpert for further work with us.  Dr. Oleszczuk’s involvement in government sanitary guidelines reassures us that our approach will be consistent with government guidelines, which was confirmed by announcements released yesterday.

We will be implementing a multi-layered approach to the opening of school that will leverage the best options possible. We want to ensure that we prioritize efforts to create the best learning environment possible in each classroom. If you get a chance to watch the videos and review the materials of recent weeks, they will provide deeper insight into the procedures described below.  Two key web locations should provide access to all of these materials:

• https://zimplicity.org/directors-desk/
• https://zimplicity.org/covid-19-faq/

If you joined us for our summer Town Hall sessions, you should know that our planning is formed around our new key model:

STOP

First, the school will be implementing a broad-based required preventative testing program.  Our contract provider, Epixpert, will institute procedures to assure testing before the start of school and weekly thereafter.  The process will include a simple nasal swab test that eventually will be parent administered at home.  It’s simple, efficient, and will provide us good results for monitoring the overall health of the community.  We intend for this to be non-invasive and easy in order to assure that we offer a key layer of protection for all in this environment.

The testing solutions will be determined by our provider, Epixpert, and they will adjust procedures over time as the local area is assessed for community spread and risk, and should any case be identified through our process.  No one will be exempt from this testing regime and all necessary precautions have been taken to assure confidentiality and protection of data under Epixpert guidelines as the provider.

To serve our purpose, we will be implementing the OK4School application to provide for communication of test results and also implementing daily assessment of risk.  Parents will enter information into the app each day in order for the student to attend school. At the entrance to the school, you’ll find our final boundary protection in the form of ID checking, linked to the results from OK4School.  Next, special overhead cameras will check temperatures as students walk across sanitization mats.  Students will wash their hands for the first time each day at these entrances as well, as the last step of entering school.  Any student that is flagged at the entry for any reason will be further evaluated by our health office staff and you will be contacted for any concern.

Your checklist for STOP:

• OK4School – you will receive an email within the next week that will invite you to load the app or access the web portal to set up your account.
• In PowerSchool, choose whether you will attend regular school or select hybrid learning from home by filling out the Consent Form. (See below for more details on hybrid learning)  Also, complete updates to contact information and health/data questions.
• Login to PowerSchool, click on COVID Testing, and schedule your appointment for any available time beginning August 10th and according to the schedule provided. (You must have returned to Poland for at least 72 hours before testing can be performed.  For selected countries, there is a 7-day requirement).  After August 19, you can be tested at school at any time by calling the health office to schedule a time for that first test. Testing will be in a drive-up format at our main entrance.
• Get your child’s RFID wristband from the school when they are available and have your child wear it every day. (Wrist bands will be available during the first days of school.)

Your Choice -> In-Class or Hybrid Learning

We want to capitalize on our valuable and highly successful experiences with Virtual School from March through June in order to maximize learning opportunities for all students, whether they are present in the classroom or at home. The data we collected from students and faculty throughout the spring tells us that face-to-face, in-person learning is the most desired teaching and learning option for all. That said, we know there will be times when some in our community will not be able to be present in school, so we need to establish viable options for them.

Ultimately, we have learned throughout this pandemic so far that we have to live with uncertainty, and we have to remain as flexible and agile in our approaches to teaching and learning. Thus, establishing a hybrid model is important.

With regard to students who are learning from home, we will develop methods and strategies for teachers and students to connect both synchronously and asynchronously.  What specifically that will look like — from Zooming live into the classroom to following along asynchronously with assignments posted on Google Classroom — will be revealed closer to the opening of school, given that we need to iron out the details of hybrid scenarios with all of our teachers. This planning will constitute the bulk of the work we do together in the coming days. As details of these models are developed, we will publish them to all.

In elementary, for our youngest learners, we fully appreciate that a critical factor in ongoing learning achievement is the relationship between home and school during any learning period away from the school campus. We are committed to a model of frequent communication with families as they support the delivery model from home. Additionally, we will prioritize the need for social/emotional development in the activities that we design for the children as well as exploring ways to maintain the important relationship between the child and their teacher that lets them know they belong and we care about them.

PROTECT

Our protection regime at school will necessarily have the most impact on the way we operate.  Based on the recommendations from EpiXpert, we have made significant changes in the building to support these initiatives.  Handwashing and hygiene will be a focus, with stations throughout the school, along with reducing surface touching where possible.  Water fountains are gone and replaced with no-touch bottle fillers.  Surfaces will be more rigorously cleaned.  Sprayers will use non-toxic misting to disinfect daily and sometimes between uses.

Under this protocol, parents will not be able to access the school with their children.  We will have plenty of support for meeting children each morning as they are dropped off and will work with parents to nurture even our youngest into school in the best way possible. Divisions will provide greater detail on this, but our staff will be visible and present for children in the area just outside each cohort entrance to greet and make sure children are delivered safely to their teachers or first-period class.  Similarly, you’ll be asked about your pickup preferences and we’ll be prepared for kids to ride buses or be picked up in front of school entrances each day.

Another area of significant change is in the Cafeteria.  We will not have an open ala carte environment this year.  Information separately in this message will give you details on the limited food service options and how to order online since we will not be using cash at school.  Students are encouraged to start the year with a packed lunch brought to school.  Elementary students will eat lunch in their classrooms this year.  Middle school and High school students will eat in the cafeteria but in a socially distanced format.

Students will wear masks at school, particularly during movement, and where feasible in their classrooms.  This requirement is based on medical advice and may be relaxed in the future after our testing program demonstrates safety of students.  Staff will be wearing masks, too.  The CDC recommendations are being followed for a cloth or better mask.  Parents will provide this for their students to wear at school, but the school will have backup masks in case they are needed.

Your checklist for PROTECT:

• Login to PowerSchool and connect with our food service provider through the Cafeteria link on the left menu.  See the information below for more details on setting up your account if you haven’t done this already.
• Prepare to send your child to school with two masks each day.  One to wear and one as extra in case needed.
• Fill out the daily questions on the OK4School app and check your child’s status before sending them to school.
• Children may only enter the school at their cohort entrance.

REACT

In the react section, we prepare ourselves to respond to an infection when it is identified.  This is triggered by a positive result on any of our testing, but may also be initiated by information reported through the OK4School app or that comes from government reporting of exposure.  We are prepared to provide for quick response and action on an identified infection or threat through exposure identification and mitigation and follow-up testing.  This might mean that groups of children are temporarily excluded from school until they can be retested and returned to school.  It may also involve closing a cohort or the whole school until retesting that allows us to reopen.  In a group, cohort, or whole school closure, we will initiate our Virtual School approach and communicate how learning will continue until the threat or exposure is mitigated.  Our goal will be to return to school as soon as possible when medical evidence suggests it is safe.  Our chart for mapping this response is here:

https://zimplicity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ASW-Testing-Protocol-1.pdf

We will communicate regularly with parents about any concerns and the whole community will be updated whenever there is a positive case identified and the mitigation that was initiated.

Your checklist for REACT:

• Fill out the OK4School app each day
• Be prepared to follow-up on school medical advice
• Make sure that testing is completed as scheduled

CONCLUSION

We are not done tuning our approach and we will remain agile in our procedures so that we can respond effectively and efficiently when required.  The other questions regarding logistics and in school procedures will come more from divisional offices.

Please review this information and the information that follows.

Thank you for your patience and participation in making it possible for the school to begin despite the challenges.  Be reminded that there is no 100% solution that we can enact.  But, the actions we have taken help us to achieve an acceptable level of risk.

Looking forward to our first day together.

Regards,

Mr. Z

Also on Medium at: https://medium.com/@jon_zurfluh/making-the-case-for-preventative-testing-at-asw-b5f1f657ec02?source=friends_link&sk=fedc0fb0f04165a3a7c69713ffbd5d20

As part of getting ready to open schools, and understanding the potential that this might not apply in countries where there are limited resources for successful bid process to identify providers, this paper sets out to make the case for a critical safety measure that could allow the return to a more normal approach to schooling and allow for a degree of confidence in practices when this method is also coordinated with access and hygiene-related measures to provide a layered approach to risk reduction.

In coordination with Epixpert.pl, the American School of Warsaw engaged in a full epidemiological audit of our school facility to determine practices and assess components for a multi-layered approach to safe school opening. This work with Epixpert and Dr. Jarek Oleszczuk, MD, Ph.D., a founding partner, has been instrumental in laying the foundation for a safe and successful return to brick and mortar schooling in August.

The three goals of the audit were to 1) prevent the virus from entering the school, 2) ensure that in case the virus enters the school, it does not spread widely, and 3) keep our educational and programme delivery model as unchanged as possible. The audit provided a 14 point comprehensive set of recommendations for mitigation that will reduce the risk for our population and achieve these goals.

In addition to a comprehensive building plan and facility review, the overall audit provided to ASW included an aggressive preventative testing plan for the entire ASW population of students and staff, partnered with in-home risk assessment and facility entry control with temperature checking. The most significant of these proposals is the testing protocol and the following summary, provided by Dr. Oleszczuk, constitutes the structural backdrop to provide for the implementation of practices that being adopted in both the corporate and public service realms around the world, including, as noted below, schools at both the preparatory and post-secondary levels.

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SUMMARY

• 80% of outbreaks are caused by asymptomatic or presymptomatic carriers
• Frequent testing as a screening tool is the only approach to identify carriers
• Pooled testing has been validated both scientifically as well as in population settings as a valid approach of screening large populations while preserving resources and financial outlays, offering up to 70–80% savings
• The FDA has recently acknowledged pooled testing as a screening methodology for asymptomatic individuals
• Dr. Anthony S. Fauci has publicly announced that a US-wide strategy of pooled testing will be ready by the end of summer
• Numerous schools and universities in the US are implementing pooled testing as one of the key measures in 2020/21 academic year
• The FDA accepts nasal swab (both anterior outer nares) as an acceptable alternative to nasopharyngeal swab in SARS-CoV-2 testing
• On July 18, the Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization for a PCR test to be used with pooled samples in the U.S.

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In order to contain the spread of any pandemic (including COVID-19) before the broad availability of an effective vaccine, it is imperative to identify all carriers. An alternative is, of course, a broad lockdown that has been shown to have dramatic consequences — not only for businesses but also for schools.

In order to preserve the classroom learning, we need to employ every possible measure to identify all potential SARS-CoV-2 carriers and prevent them from entering the school.

Unfortunately, symptoms of COVID-19 appear many days after inoculation (3–12 days) so identifying ill individuals via body temperature measurements will not identify presymptomatic carriers. Moreover, over 50% of infections are asymptomatic, further confounding the identification of ill individuals. A recent study of more than 60 outbreaks in Japan demonstrated that over 80% of outbreaks have been caused by asymptomatic or presymptomatic carriers.

Thus, the only way, other than a lockdown, to identify SARS-CoV-2 carriers is frequent testing, frequent enough to occur within the window of 3–12 days.

Yet, with current lab fees around $100 per test, repeatedly administering COVID-19 tests to an entire student body will become prohibitively costly for schools. Moreover, no country has the capacity to process tests of every student.

Pooled testing is a well-established approach to track infectious disease, and has already been run successfully on coronavirus samples at labs in Stanford and Israel. In this approach, lab tests are batched in samples of several people and these batches are tested for the presence of active virus. If the test indicates at least one person in that pool is infected, repeat testing of the individuals in the infected pool can reveal the source. This follow-up step does not require a separate round of specimen collection. Rather, each person’s sample is split into two at the beginning of the process — one is subjected to pooled testing, and the other set aside in case individual follow-up testing is required. In contrast, if the pooled sample comes back negative, it could clear all members of the pool for work, at least until the next testing cycle. While there are inherent challenges in this approach, including choosing appropriate pool sizes and factoring in test-reliability concerns, estimates suggest that pooled testing could lower testing costs by up to 70–90% while the prevalence of COVID-19 remains low in the general population.

According to a recently published white paper by researchers at the University of Southern California Schaefer Center for Health Policy & Economics, this strategy can be used with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. The most efficient initial pool size depends on prevalence, with rarer conditions allowing larger pools. Given the current prevalence of COVID19, even five- to 10-person pools of employees or students are likely to test negative, obviating the need for administering tests to each person. A recent study suggests that it is feasible to pool samples on this scale without significantly compromising the integrity of the PCR tests. A simple example illustrates the logic.

Consider an employer with 100 employees in a region of the country believed to suffer from a 5% prevalence of active COVID-19 infection. This employer splits up its workforce into 20 groups of five workers each. For simplicity, suppose that exactly five workers have the disease so that the employer is experiencing the same prevalence as its overall region. Under pooled testing, no more than five pools will return positive tests. The employer then tests the employees in the positive pools individually. In this case, no more than 25 individual tests are run, since there are five pools testing positive, each with five workers. Ultimately, the employer has successfully identified all five of its COVID-19+ employees, but it only needed to run 45 tests — 20 initial pooled tests and 25 individual follow-up tests. The employer saved 55 percent of the cost that would have been incurred via individualized testing.

Pooled testing works best when the employer or school system chooses pool sizes correctly. For instance, if pools are set too large, every pool might test positive. In this case, the organization gains nothing from that round of pooled tests. This issue is particularly salient in high-prevalence regions, where large pools of employees might routinely turn up at least one positive case. By contrast, employers in lower-prevalence regions can afford to use larger pools, because even large pools of employees have a good chance of testing negative in these regions. However, even relatively high-risk regions stand to gain from pooled testing. For example, pool sizes of four to seven employees could help the vast majority of organizations reap most of the gains from pooled testing, even when they are highly uncertain about the prevalence of the illness in their workforce. We estimate that pooled testing could reduce testing costs by 80 percent in low-prevalence regions, and still save 50 percent for higher prevalence (5 percent) locations. Indeed, even if prevalence climbs to 10 percent schools can save as much as 40 percent via pooled testing strategies.

The pooled sampling approach has recently been validated on a population scale during the second wave of infections in Wuhan, China, where more than 11 million inhabitants have been tested in just days.

In a recent interview, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci hailed the approach and stated that “We’re in intensive discussions about how we’re going to do it…. We hope to get this off the ground as soon as possible.”

During a recent visit of Vice President Mike Pence to the University of South Florida, Dr. Deborah Birx announced that the federal government is working to support pooled (i.e., preliminary) testing, where samples from entire families or groups can be tested in a single collection medium and sent to a lab for quick results. In the event that one person in the pooled group tests positive, then individualized testing, using medically certified testing procedures, allows for contact tracing and self-quarantines. She said that, for example, entire classrooms can be tested in this manner, as well as students in a university residence hall.

In a call with reporters on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, Adm. Brett Giroir, deputy secretary of health and human services, said he expected the program to be up and running by the end of the summer.

On June 16 the Food and Drug Administration of the United States published an important update to its EUA requirements for test manufacturers as well as laboratories who want to perform pooled sampling. In its press release, the FDA states that “Diagnostic tests are an important tool in anticipating and meeting the continuing and evolving public health needs as we combat COVID-19. Today, the FDA took a meaningful step forward in getting more tests to more Americans more quickly and making that process even easier for developers by posting template updates regarding the validation of molecular diagnostic tests for developers that intend their assay to be used for pooling patient samples or for screening asymptomatic individuals not suspected of having COVID-19.

The FDA recognizes that organizations may want to conduct screening of asymptomatic individuals as part of a broader strategy to help ensure the safety of their employees, patients, students, and others.

This method works well when there is a low prevalence of cases, meaning more negative results are expected.

Oberlin College recently announced its reopening plans and weekly testing using a pooled sampling approach is one of the key measures taken to ensure safety in the College. President Carmen Ambar recently wrote to students and detailed her plans for reopening:

Oberlin is finalizing a contract with Tempus, a private testing firm that guarantees capacity for initial and regularized diagnostic (PCR) COVID-19 testing for students, faculty, and staff who will be on campus. PCR testing provides an indication of the presence of the coronavirus by looking directly for its genetic material. Such tests can determine if someone is carrying the virus, whether or not symptoms are present. We are working with public health experts to determine the parameters and frequency of testing, but our goal is to do surveillance testing for up to 25% of our population each and every week to get a snapshot of our campus.

We are fortunate to have a local hospital almost literally on our campus, Mercy Health-Allen Hospital. We are currently in negotiations with Mercy-Allen to administer a test to our students, faculty and staff, during the move-in period and to support our weekly testing strategy. This means we will test 3,500 or more people in August and then similar numbers each month.

This won’t be easy, as it will require significant logistics and coordination, as well as a substantial financial investment. The College will be fully funding our faculty and staff, and we will be asking for some family support in the form of a testing fee for students. We did not come to this decision lightly, but public health experts say this is the best way to help ensure viral spread does not catch us by surprise.

Similar measures are being introduced by Syracuse University, which recently announced pooled testing will be used to regularly test all of its 20,000 students.

Centogene N.V., a commercial-stage diagnostics, and genetic research company, and the OESIS Network Inc., an innovation network of more than 600 schools across the U.S., have announced a partnership for COVID-19 screening of schools. The partnership will offer RT- PCR testing that can aid schools in their return to campus in the fall and continued screening to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 over the course of the academic school year. Their approach will incorporate pooled testing, where test samples are batched — potentially reducing analytical costs.

According to the FDA, a nasopharyngeal specimen is a preferred choice for swab-based SARS-CoV-2 testing. If a nasopharyngeal specimen is not available, there are a number of alternatives.

The following specimen types can be obtained with a swab:

• Nasopharyngeal specimen collected by a healthcare professional (HCP);
• Oropharyngeal specimen collected by an HCP;
• Mid-turbinate specimen by onsite self-collection or HCP (using a flocked tapered swab); or
• Anterior nares specimen by onsite self-collection or HCP (using a round foam or spun fiber swab).

Multiple specimens from the same patient may be taken with a single swab. If a separate swab is used for collecting specimens from two different locations in the same patient, both swabs may be placed in the same vial in order to conserve collection and assay supplies. Other swab specimens (i.e., tongue swabs) may have decreased sensitivity, so caution should be exercised when interpreting negative results. More data are necessary to better understand the validity of buccal swabs, saliva specimens, or other specimen types for COVID-19 testing.

On July 18, the Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization for a PCR test to be used with pooled samples paving the way for broader use of this approach:

This EUA for sample pooling is an important step forward in getting more COVID-19 tests to more Americans more quickly while preserving testing supplies,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. “Sample pooling becomes especially important as infection rates decline and we begin testing larger portions of the population.

References

1. Furuse Y, Sando E, Tsuchiya N, Miyahara R, Yasuda I, Ko YK, et al. Clusters of coronavirus disease in communities, Japan, January–April 2020. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Sep [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2609.202272;

2. Hogan CA, Sahoo MK, Pinsky BA. Sample Pooling as a Strategy to Detect Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2. JAMA. 2020;323(19):1967–1969. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5445

3. Idan Yelin, Noga Aharony, Einat Shaer Tamar, Amir Argoetti, Esther Messer, Dina Berenbaum, Einat Shafran, Areen Kuzli, Nagham Gandali, Omer Shkedi, Tamar Hashimshony, Yael Mandel-Gutfreund, Michael Halberthal, Yuval Geffen, Moran Szwarcwort-Cohen, Roy Kishony, Evaluation of COVID-19 RT-qPCR test in multi-sample pools, Clinical Infectious Diseases, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa531

4. https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/wp- content/uploads/2020/05/USC_Schaeffer_PooledTesting_WhitePaper_FINAL-1.pdf

5. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19- update-facilitating-diagnostic-test-availability-asymptomatic-testing-and

6. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/health/coronavirus-pooled-testing.html

7. https://www.usf.edu/news/2020/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-visits-usf-to- address-floridas-spike-in-covid19.aspx

8. https://www.oberlin.edu/campus-resources/bulletins/covid-19-planning-2020-21- oberlin-college

9. https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/07/how-will-syracuse-university-test- 20000-students-for-coronavirus-by-pooling-their-saliva.html

10. https://www.technologynetworks.com/diagnostics/product-news/centogene-and- oesis-network-partner-up-for-covid-19-testing-for-us-schools-337103

11. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/faqs- testing-sars-cov-2#troubleobtainingviraltransport

A year comes to a conclusion, but not as we planned. We’ve done everything in our power to bring this year to a close in the best and most engaging way possible under the circumstances. Every ounce of energy has been expended and I’m well aware that we will all collapse from exhaustion on Friday, ready for some time to contemplate and understand what comes next.

We should all enter into the summer with hope in our hearts. The most important thing we may have learned from #lifesolation is the importance of our sense of community. It has both informed and sustained us. We now have proof of the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Forged by our absence, the longing for a return to our relationships has been profound, particularly in recent days. And, I know for some, this is almost overwhelming. We have learned how precious that opportunity to connect is for all of us. In education, we live in a kind of place where people are valued over product, where possibility and accomplishment flow from relationship and collaboration. We live to be together and the punishing separation of our weeks at home have taught us what we must now cherish and renew.

We wish you well for your summer sojourn, wherever it may or may not take you. We hope for peace, health, and safety despite an increasingly complex world.

This is your last eNotes for this year. We’ll be back again in early August to get us ready for the new school year. Other communication will come directly in the meantime. Throughout the summer, look for opportunities to continue Town Hall meetings and less frequent Updates from the Director for the latest information on planning.

Please plan on joining us on Friday, first for our online closing assembly with some wonderful surprises. Link is here to get ready and also in the Daily Updates. I highly recommend gathering around a big screen if you can set it up and watching this together as a family. It’s packed with important messages and special messages from our students. Please join us for this most important Livestream:

https://www.aswarsaw.org/about-us/livestream

To all of our special guests, faculty, staff, administration, parents, friends, and family members, whether here or online watching live – we thank you for your pride and presence as we celebrate this, our 27th

commencement exercises for the class of 2020.  Our special gratitude to our board members present here tonight including Board Chair Greg Liddle, and Board members, Sheri Brienza-Wypyski, Massimo Merighi, and Marek Zdziech, all proud parents of graduates here tonight.

Thank you to Ambassador Mosbacher.  Our partnership with the US Embassy is again enhanced and affirmed by her words and we honor the partnership that is again nurtured and supported through common purpose.

Mr. Sheehan, I almost can’t believe we pulled this off.  We took on a daunting challenge at every turn, but your commitment to possibility and potential has played out tonight in a gathering of immense proportion, both unprecedented and auspicious.  Thank you for your partnership in honoring these deserving souls before us.

A special additional thanks to what Michael already shared from me to the team that helped to make this happen.  I pause here to mention that Stan Pietruszynski has just announced his retirement this year after serving the school faithfully for 19 years. I don’t believe he is with us tonight but was here with me at 7:00 a.m. this morning to greet our setup crews.  Please look for opportunities this week to thank him for his almost two decades of service to ASW.

But special thanks go to my temporary, but nonetheless instrumental, Executive Assistant, Monika Skonieczna.  She now knows more about Drive-In theaters than anyone in Poland probably should and without her efforts and constant negotiations, this evening would not have been possible.  Please join me in thanking again all people and their colleagues working behind the scenes to make all of this possible.

Julia & Taylor, thank you for representing your classmates so well.  You both brought considered insight under the most difficult of circumstances.  You have represented your classmates wonderfully and offered us much to consider in what lies ahead for you and for all of us.

Dr. Taylor, your message was, as expected, a wonderful journey and a heartfelt message.  My thanks for your work and inspiration with your students and for your genius and energy here tonight.

To the faculty, staff, and administration of the American School of Warsaw. While you couldn’t all be with us tonight, your spirit is present on this field through your dedication and talent, demonstrated to all in the weeks that we have spent mustering every ounce of energy and capacity to serve the students we all love under the most difficult of circumstances. This year, more than any other, we need to thank you for the relentless and impassioned work that converted brick and mortar into virtual purpose and persistence.  I will never be able to thank you sufficiently for all that was required to preserve continuity of learning in the darkest of hours.  If there was ever a moment to honk your horn for our staff and all that they have done in service to you, now is that moment.

We know as an international community that many of our graduates have had other schooling experiences before joining us here in Warsaw. Some even stay with us for a time, leave for a bit, and then return. It is part of being an international school that we embrace this constant flux of change and transition. Over twenty nationalities sit on this stage tonight.  But, as has been my tradition in many schools over a number of years, I’d like to recognize some special Warriors, nurtured at ASW from the beginning of their schooling experience all the way to graduation. As I call these names, would you please step to the front edge of the tent area and remain standing there so that we can recognize all of you as a group:

15 Students have been identified as having been here since either Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten:

Kindergarten:

• Jing Jenny Wang
• Aleksander Adamkowski
• Helena Nowakowska
• Claudia Villar
• Hung Cuong Nguyen Duc
• Arsenij Holod
• Julia Owerko
  

Pre-Kindergarten – Age 4:

• Antoni Zdziech
• Guglielmo Merighi
• Maja Kozlowska
• Arnel Villamin

Pre-Kindergarten – Age 3:

• David Overweter
• Igor Stokowski
• Kaja Klimovicz
• Lily MacDonald

Please recognize these students and their families as this year’s Warriors of longest standing.

I don’t know about you, but I entered this calendar year with a tremendous sense of optimism.  For me, the whole idea of a new decade was exhilarating, almost more so that the turn of the century which I celebrated as an elementary principal in Buckley, Washington — Y2K as we called it. 

This year, 2020, was supposed to be an opportunity to bring, as the name implies, new focus and opportunity.  You know – 2020 vision.  It was supposed to be a time to build on great achievements and find a path forward to even greater prospects.  Like every year, my annual resolutions suggested hope, promise, and renewal. 

And, not only that, it was really MY year.  I celebrated the New Year with family in Guangzhou, China and relished the opportunity to get ready for the year of the Rat, MY year!!  I waited 12 years for this.  I even had my annual Chinese horoscope reading and found all the good luck signs as family members helped me translate the farmer’s almanac style descriptions.

Well, here we are and not so much.  That’s how I felt in the center of this dark cloud that has been hanging over us.  I felt, like all of you, buried by the despair and grieving that we have all felt during this crisis.  For me, the best parts of my life were missing – walking the hallways, chatting in the cafeteria, the occasional coffee, the events and sports, the art, the plays, the cherished PTO events — the comradery and banter that fills life with meaning.

But, class of 2020, I would offer here today that, despite the circumstances, we have been tested and have shown the true resilience of Warriors.  We’ve had much thrown at us and it is time to take stock.

You are graduating today and, quoting Mr. Sheehan from yesterday — Rain, Wind, Snow, or Shine…this thing is happening.  You are having a graduation today that will never be matched and will be remembered as the most significant event for graduates and ASW ever undertaken.  You will be remembered!

You are in the process of surviving one of the most pivotal events in human existence.  You went into virtual school for more than 10 weeks under the threat of a pandemic and during that time, you still complete your classes, you pulled off an IB Art Show, Model United Nations, Theater presentations, and countless other demonstrations of resolve.  You will be remembered!!

You were already a notable class long before lockdown.  You had numerous accomplishments under your belt through performance, athletics, talent, and service.  The many projects would be impossible to here list.  You can leave ASW proud of your accomplishments.  And that includes participating in removing your Director’s eyebrows.  You will be remembered!!

So, in reality, maybe 2020 is still going to bring focus and clarity.  Just not the way we expected.  Maybe, and particularly for you, this decade will be yours to mold and shape through recovery, renewal, and perseverance.

And, maybe it’s about time.  Maybe the lesson of all this is understanding what we can accomplish with collaborative spirit and a sense of community.  I suggest we will still need that in the months and years ahead because the story of the current crisis is only partially told. But I also know you are up to it, because graduates are always primed and ready for what lies ahead.

My heart continues to suggest to me that we are stronger now.

• Stronger together.
• Stronger in purpose. 
• Stronger when we seek possibility over despair. 
• Stronger when we leave no one behind. 
• Stronger when we hold hands. 
• Stronger when we share. 
• Stronger when we nurture the planet.
• Stronger when we love our parents and cherish family.
• Stronger when we protect the weak and vulnerable. 
• Stronger when we seek and offer justice and forgiveness. 
• Stronger when we carry a burden, our own and that of another. 
• Stronger when we serve and survive. 
• Stronger when we achieve the most challenging of things.
• Stronger when we pray. 
• Stronger when peace rules the day.

Be strong.  Be safe. Be well.

Class of 2020 – we love and admire you, proud of all you have done and will do.  Be Warriors, now and always!

While we are working towards August opening, we are watching around the world as different measures are being announced now to prepare for the fall. We had significant announcements today with regards to opening and relaxing of regulations, but unfortunately heard nothing new about schools. Many colleges around the world are making announcements and there is a wide spectrum of response in regards to the next steps and their predictions of future conditions. Some in the region are both announcing virtual and return to school, while we continue to affirm that we will open in a regular school with structures in place to address risk and health safety. Thank you again for your input on the election ballot and the important survey questions that we added at the end. This will help us find the right level of intervention and other surveys with more details will be coming later.

Similarly, on behalf of CEESA, we must now communicate their decision that has been made with regards to plans for the Fall. Their letter, linked below, confirms that we will not be traveling during the first semester for any CEESA related activities. This includes both athletics and activities as well as professional development for staff. Their letter provides the details of their decision and our team in the Athletics and Activities office has other messages further down in eNotes about their planning.

We will strive to provide the usual array of activities for Fall but within the boundaries of what we are allowed by local regulation and opportunities found through collaboration with our local school contacts and partnerships.

COVID-19 TESTING OPPORTUNITY AT ASW

We have organized a unique opportunity at ASW for drive-through testing next week. We were able to come up with a plan for families that includes lower cost and a trial run of any potential testing that we might do as part of our procedures come fall. We have partnered with Proteon Pharmaceuticals who have been approved to provide testing in Poland and are developing testing centers elsewhere in the country.

It is, as yet, unclear what role testing will play in our planning for August, but their willingness to establish a drive-through test center on our campus for our community demonstrates their commitment to supporting education and organizational safe practices under this viral threat.

This is optional for families and tests for current infection using their PCR genetic test. If you would like to schedule a time to enter our temporary drive-through facility, you can follow their link to sign-up. This is only open to ASW Community members including students and their families as well as staff. You will need your regular identification to enter the campus in your vehicle for this activity and the drive-through site will be set up in our parking lot near the front entrance. Currently, we have reserved June 1 and 2 for this activity but will leave the option open for additional days or times if demand suggests. School personnel, including myself, will be observing this process. All the appropriate protocols and methods will be in place. If you are interested, you can register here:

https://proteon.simplybook.it/

Each year, usually a bit earlier, we sum up the recruiting season and update the community about the changes for the next school year. You will find our page of departing and new staff updated and ready for your review. The nature of international schools is the constant movement of our population in and out of the school at all levels. For students, we average about 10-12% turnover each year. Staff turnover is about the same with age and adventure calling to some in our midst to take on either retirement (or re-invention) or a new challenge somewhere in the world.

Our update page is here: https://zimplicity.org/asw-new-facultyadmin/

We have a wonderful team of recruiters here that have scoured the planet for our new colleagues. My thanks to their diligence and talent in this regard. We look forward to welcoming all of our new Warriors in August. Similarly, in June we will bid farewell to some of our current Warriors. But, in the midst of our tears, we’ll remind them as we always do – Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior!!

A New Partnership

We are excited to announce a new partnership today in our preparations and planning for our August opening. We have concluded an agreement with Epixpert to coordinate with us on our practices and planning for our August 18 opening! Epixpert is a leading company in risk mitigation for effective organizational planning and installations under sanitary requirements and beyond. They will be completing a comprehensive audit of our plans and facilities advising us on final regulations and upgrades that will be needed in the Fall. Based on those recommendations, we will be proceeding with facility work in preparation for our opening day. We’re excited to have this team as esteemed colleagues and strategic partners in our planning and preparation. I’ll talk about this more tonight at our Facebook Live Town Hall. For now, you can get familiar with them here:

We are busy developing our plans for August and, on the heels of further government announcements today, satisfied with our approach and decisions to date in preparation for these next steps. One key piece is the structural approach to our planning and that can be seen in an early version of our planning arenas here:

To support this ongoing work of the administration, the board adopted in recent sessions the following resolution, now for community consideration. This action demonstrates support for the administration in providing an operational plan that will assure our August opening as projected. We’re excited and supported by this approach:

American School of Warsaw
Resolution of the Board of Trustees

Whereas there is a current health crisis that emerged as a result of a global pandemic,

And, whereas the Board of Trustees has reviewed relevant literature as provided by the Administration with regards to the current and ongoing health and well-being risks associated with schooling for the foreseeable future,

And, whereas there are complex government requirements in place and as adjusted over time,

Therefore, the Board of Trustees…

…supports plans and actions that are consistent with government direction following the edicts of governmental agencies regarding closure and other stipulations that may be announced and implemented.

…directs adherence to Core Values, Mission, and Vision in the development of plans associated with school operations going forward.

…directs the administration to develop agile plans in consultation with health experts in our community and more broadly in their planning for actions and procedures associated with the closing and opening of school on whatever basis is recommended or directed.

…directs the administration to review legal ramifications of decisions and confirm the requirements of all parties to proceed under existing or proposed contractual instruments and/or amendments.

…directs the administration to consider plans associated with ensuring staff and student safety that balances age-appropriate practices with guidelines for hygiene and other related methods for reducing the potential spread of disease in the community, now or in the future.

…directs the administration to purchase material and services as may be required for the implementation of plans associated with this crisis.

…recognizes the need to make available up to 15% of emergency reserves to support the planning and execution of the above mitigation and implementation to be allocated by subsequent Board resolutions.

Adopted May, 2020

With this authorization and direction, we will begin sharing our drafts of a comprehensive approach to addressing the ongoing infectious threat. As medical professionals around the world have stated and agreed, this is a long term reality that must be met with distinctive change in practice to minimize risk and promote health and safety for all in the community. ASW is committed to that belief and positive outcomes for all.

I had the lucky opportunity to be cursorily involved in the MUN program this year through my coaching of the MS team and many interactions supporting the ZYGMUN conference. It was a pleasure working with the kids as they prepared for their own conference, but, until we closed, found time to mentor the MS team as well in wonderful training sessions. The following from one of the members, Julia Anting:

For the past three years, ASW has hosted our own MUN conference, the Zygmunt Model United Nations conference here in Warsaw. When the Covid-19 outbreak hit this year and school was canceled we feared we would also have to cancel our conference. But after several weeks of hard work, the ZYGMUN team of students and directors has managed to successfully run a virtual ZYGMUN conference. Run entirely from our homes, the conference consisted of six committees and 150 participants from 33 countries. The positive feedback we’ve received has been overwhelming and it’s our pleasure to share this amazing experience with the rest of the ASW community. To take a look at virtual MUN, please go to the “ZYGMUN Secretariat” youtube page.

More about Model United Nations is HERE

Our thanks to Mr. Julien and Mrs. Smutek-Rusek for coaching at the HS level and for all the leadership that emerged amongst the participants. The kids were inspired and their work was nothing short of exemplary in handling the sessions, the outcomes, and the global reach. Way to go everyone!

I have to admit that there is much to process in recent days. We’ve done some diligence on understanding the depth of the information and trying to make clearer sense of it. That’s true of today’s information after another press conference.

What we know is there has been an option put on the table of the potential for preschools and nurseries to open, but only at the discretion of the founders and the local municipalities. This means we are still waiting today further details on that legitimately only applies to a small portion of our school population.

As has been stated in the past, the government’s willingness to allow opening is only one step in our process of any decisions on our part to open. Our risk review matrix expects a deeper understanding of risk and our ability to mitigate that risk and provide for student health and safety. As we gleaned from parent survey information over recent weeks, this is complicated and many parents took the time to write to me about their expectations for a safe pathway to opening, whether now or in August. We are working along those lines.

I know I’m asking a lot to continue to be patient. We want to make decisions with a high degree of caution and prudence. When the information is ready, we’ll put it in your hands for review and would hope for your continued counsel and partnership.

Please see further down our Warrior Way BINGO. I’ll be talking with Mr. Cuthbert about it on Facebook Live. Please join us or watch the recording tomorrow to find out how to participate as a family.

I sat in on a few of the CAS project presentations this week in the High School. Creativity, activity, service (CAS) lies at the heart of our Diploma Programme. Over the past three days, we witnessed a swath of presentations with a myriad of experiences in which ASW students were involved over their two-years CAS activities that align their two year IB experience. From exploring and extending ideas leading to all sorts of artwork, performances, sports competitions, and collaborative reciprocal engagements with local and global communities, we heard about students working in soup kitchens, caring for homeless animals, organizing English lessons for refugee children and children from orphanages, both in Poland and in Vietnam. Today, on the 50th anniversary of Earth day, students shared about their care for nature, how they initiate forest clean-ups, are involved in gardening, and helped us see into the many other ways they contribute to changing the world for the better.

Students were also involved in their own personal improvement including learning to sing, cooking, learning a new sport, painting, drawing, writing, or learning other new skills that they never thought they could do. Students reflected that their CAS program gave them a wider perspective on their perceptions of the world. Most all, after their CAS experiences, students see themselves as further contributing and finding ways to give back to the community well after graduation.

ASW has always been focused on a holistic approach. And while experiences abound throughout the school, whether virtual or in real life, the CAS program is truly a showcase of capstone learning and the insights that can be gleaned from making the whole world your classroom.

Board Elections

On Monday night we appointed our newest board members for next year and wish to welcome our newest board members, Esra Yavuz and Maria Grigorova, to the board. They were appointed along with the reappointment of Paul Rodriguez and Artur Banaszak for an additional commitment. Our board for next year is, thus, almost formed except for the upcoming elections. As a reminder, our form remains open for candidates, so please click on the link below to apply.

https://forms.gle/FTP4PVoh4Twkf3w39

The Board is currently seeking community members with experience in fields like human resources, fundraising, development, and strategic planning. We are also seeking members with strong social networks within both ASW and our host community. Most importantly, the BoT needs parents who are committed to the values, mission, and vision of our community and the long-term wellbeing of our school and its students.

You can find more information about the BoT, including the composition of the board and qualifications at the following link:

https://www.aswarsaw.org/community/board-of-trustees

Thanks to those who participated in our event last Friday. If you have any questions regarding the board or the process, please feel free to contact me or any current board member.

As would be expected at ASW, a number of giving and service-related projects are developing in our world of #lifesolation. Recent postings are included here and we are only getting started as the needs in our community become more apparent and urgent. We have many ideas emerging on how to address concerns and we know that more are coming where ASW can take steps to give back and to each other in a time of crisis and stress. We must continue to remind ourselves of the collective nature of a community. Ideas can be shared and we can gather together in spirit if not in person to tackle these challenges. I’m very proud of the work being done here!!

Face Shields

The ASW Design Center is helping local hospitals that are in need of critical safety equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by printing face shields.

Utilizing the school Design Center resources of seven 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines and a wide variety of high-tech workshop tools, the school is creating 3D printed face shields to help keep frontline medical workers safe. In addition, we are prototyping Arduino-based pulse oximeters, which are used to determine the severity of coronavirus symptoms. With our limited staff here at school, we can keep the machines running on behalf of students and provide this important service to our health care professionals on the front lines.

Masks

Moms are joining the fight against coronavirus by producing much needed protective face masks for medical staff on the front line. The picture at the right was the first set delivered to Banacha Hospital by our Service Learning Coordinator and the work continues on to help protect and defend those that are most vulnerable in the current situation.

Based on this inspiration, sewn, washable cloth masks are about to be produced by parents and students at home in isolation. Florence M., a 10th-grade design student, produced a mask prototype and tutorial to help guide our school community in sewing masks. ASW’s Design Center will be loaning sewing machines and supplies to our school community so our students and families can take up the cause.

One more way that parents, students, and staff at ASW are giving back to the community in small but important ways, demonstrating our commitment to the Warrior Way!

Teacher and Staff Appreciation

Our annual opportunity for sharing our appreciation for teachers and staff throughout the school is upon us and we are hoping for your virtual involvement this year. We won’t be able to have the traditional flowers or the wonderful lunch usually provided for all to enjoy. This year, we are hoping for messages of all kinds, whether images of colored pages, videos, or simply a short message to our teachers and staff for the wonderful things they do, but in and out of crisis. This is an annual tradition and we can’t entirely miss it because of the current situation.

First, the Facebook link this morning may have been a problem due to recent updates to the Facebook interface. But this link should work for our Facebook users on all platforms:

Additionally, we’ve setup a padlet for those who would prefer an alternative:

Finally, you can also email teachers directly at their email addresses that can generally be found on PowerSchool. Or, you can send messages to me with a name in the subject line and I’ll make sure it gets delivered.

And finally, Happy ?migus-Dyngus from all of us at ASW…