Dear Nantucket Lighthouse Friends and Families,
We are bustling with energy as we prepare the building for our return on September 8, 2020 in person!
HEALTH PLAN UPDATE:
We request that all NLS families comply with local health ordinances and exercise sound judgment to mitigate the risk of their exposure to Covid-19 to ensure the health and safety of our NLS community and beyond.
Local ordinances regarding travel off-island, mask wearing, exposure, testing, can be found at https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/.
If you and/or your child are traveling off-island after AUGUST 25, your child’s negative Covid-19 test is required for school entry.
Thank you for helping keep us all healthy.
Our finalized Health and Safety Document will be online and available for viewing next Friday, August 14.
CAMPUS UPDATE:
- We will have Roberto Santamaria tour our school and we are working with Meredith Lepore, RN, FNP-BC to prepare faculty and staff for the school year.
- Five outdoor learning pergolas have been ordered and will be arriving on our campus in the next week. Thank you to NLS parent Eric Nordby.
- Our HVAC system has been cleaned, serviced, and is sporting new filters. We also have our double HEPPA filters for each classroom. While we are continuing with the air quality motto that ‘dilution is the solution’ (thank you, teacher Barrie), the times when our windows need to be closed will be safe for students and teachers.
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL UPDATE:
With all the physical safeties in place, we are not forgetting the social and emotional ones. We know that this re-opening will take a community effort. We are asking for your trust as we take hands and step forward together. We know that children and our school community are going to be strengthened by the social cohesion that being in school will provide us all.
The media narrative is painting a picture that can sometimes inspire great fear. We want to remind you we are a very small school, in a place where current community transmission levels are low. We are lucky to have great outdoor opportunities for learning at NLS. While we can always find terrifying stories in the news, we can also find hopeful stories about the innovation and creativity that COVID is ushering into our world. Outdoor learning, always a valued concept at Nantucket Lighthouse School, is now a focal point. Our teachers are preparing outdoor teaching plans as a result of a multi-week outdoor learning course they have participated in from the Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools. We are being reminded that school can look many different ways, and we are being invited to make some revisions that bolster our emotional and physical health. Thank you, again, to the teachers whose dedication give this place the magic that it has.
NLS Health & Safety Committee
Christine Hanson
Candice Tetrault
Maryann Hedda
Jillian Fraker
Alana Cullen
Jamie Foster
Jean Witt
Consultant: Meredith Lepore RN, FNP-BC
REMINDERS FROM LAST WEEK’S LETTER:
- Please purchase face coverings for your child.
- Each will need 5-10 face coverings as they will need to wear a clean one each day.
- Students in Kinderclass through 5th grade will wear face coverings within their classrooms.
- Small School students will not be required to wear face coverings within their classrooms.
- We advise you visit local stores to purchase your face coverings because of the delays in shipping to the island.
- Gaiters or masks: you can choose the best option for your child.
- Your child must be able to put the covering on easily and be comfortable wearing it for an extended period of time.
- Below is a list of businesses where you can purchase face coverings for your chlid:
- Local Shops:
- Pinwheels Nantucket
- Peachtree Kids
- Bookworks
- Bartlett's Farm
- Island Variety
- Online:
- Etsy
- Target
- kovacovers.com
- sleefs.com
- bondiband.com
- Local Shops:
For further reading:
