COVID-19 Information

Hello SCS Families,

While the situation continues to evolve around COVID-19, we wanted to communicate to you what we know at this point and the plans we are making accordingly. Yesterday, Governor Inslee announced a mandatory six-week closure for all K-12 schools public or private in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. In accordance with this executive order, Seattle Christian School has moved to a remote learning framework beginning Monday, March 16 through Friday, April 24. Know that your teachers, principals, and staff are committed to ensuring our students continue to receive a high-quality education during this time. The following important announcements are relevant to this update. 

Campus & Building Access
The campus and building are only open to faculty and staff. Please reach out to your principal should you need to schedule an appointment to meet with a teacher. Please note that Monday's Board meeting and Wednesday's Middle School Washington DC trip meeting have been postponed (date TBD).

High School InterSCesssion
Due to severe complications with InterSCession, all high school InterSCession activities have been canceled. More information will be coming from Ms. Anderson. Please note, this week-March 30-April 3, will instead be a week of remote learning. This decision to shift this week to remote learning allows us to include instructional hours and reduce the likelihood of a lengthened school year.

Spring Break
There will be no remote learning the week of April 6-10 and Spring Break will continue as scheduled.

Athletics & Activities
Practices for Friday, March 13 and Monday, March 16 will continue as scheduled. Games scheduled for the week of March 16-20 are canceled. We are awaiting word from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) on the application of Governor Inslee's executive order to all school athletics and activities. We will communicate more information about athletics and other student activities after we receive instruction from OSPI.

Dear SCS Families,

Thank you for your trust and understanding. Your comments and suggestions have been very encouraging and helpful in framing decisions for your student and family.

We had thought that our COVID-19 updates would be weekly. However, because of recent developments, you will be receiving more frequent updates and information from me and your principals.

For today’s communication, I thought it would be helpful to share the following.

• You may be aware of Governor Inslee’s Executive Order today expecting K-12 schools in our region to continue remote learning until April 24. We will receive the specific parameters of this order from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in the days ahead. This information will help us make warranted adjustments to our current remote learning plan. However, the Governor’s announcement does not impact what we had planned for the next two weeks. So our intention is to move forward as planned for the next two weeks while we assess and adjust to this new reality.
• Since we have not had an active COVID-19 case, our school and campus are not closed while we are engaging in remote learning. The specifics from the Governor’s Order will help us determine what this means for student activities, athletics, InterSCession, teacher availability, and what can or might happen on campus.
• Your Principals are ready and completely committed to supporting your family and student. They will be doing this primarily through their setting up and providing on-going support for faculty. Mechanisms for monitoring and adjusting remote learning will be in place so that the experience is as positive and productive as possible.

You can expect your Principal to email you at the end of the day tomorrow – Friday, March 13 – with details about what remote learning will look like for your child(ren). Teachers will then be communicating with you and students about their specific plans.

Because remote learning is new for SCS, we want to make sure teachers are prepared before beginning instruction. Faculty and staff will be on campus Monday to continue preparations. Please email or call your Principal if you are not connected with your teacher by mid-day on Tuesday, March 17.

This unsettling situation that the Lord has placed ourselves in is going to challenge us all. We will get through this together. Let us continue to lean on each other. Give grace to one another. And take our anxieties and worries to the Lord so He can sustain us!

Thank you for your continued grace and patience.

Warmly yours – Laird
Superintendent-Head of School

Dear SCS Families,

Together, our SCS community and region has been facing a serious health crisis. We have appreciated all your collective efforts over the last few weeks to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

We are so fortunate to have been able to look to wise health experts from Washington State Health and Education departments and the CDC to guide our actions these past two weeks and we have been fortunate to not have an active COVID-19 case in our community. At this point, we believe the best way we can serve and work for the good of the city God has placed us (Jer. 29) is to adhere to Governor Inslee’s request that schools prepare to continue learning remotely.

With this in mind and in consultation with your principals, managers, and the Board, we will move into a remote learning posture from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27.

Our Friday, March 13 Professional Development day will help us further prepare for beginning remote learning. You can expect communication about how students will be supported during this two week period as well as what this means for the week of InterSCession, athletics, student activities, spring break, and many other questions. Be watching for more information about what this will look like for your child(ren) in the coming days.

Because students will not be in school this Friday, please remind them to bring everything they need for school home when they leave tomorrow – Thursday, March 12.

Elementary families, please have students bring a bag (ie reusable grocery) with them to school tomorrow to carry supplies home.

We know this is going to be a hardship for many in our community. Thank you in advance for your understanding as we move into this new territory together. I am confident this time of testing will reveal the amazing heart of SCS Warriors who are for one another and band together when times get tough. Please look out for each other. Lend a hand with fellow families as you are able. Pray for your teachers and the students. Let’s join together in new ways and with renewed commitment to be the family of God.

Seattle Christian is committed to utilizing this time of unrest to be a light to the community, increase our faith in Christ, and operate out of trust instead of fear. May the Lord guide our hearts, minds, and actions as we walk the path He has set before us.

Gratefully – Laird
Superintendent - Head of School

Hello SCS Families,

Thank you for your continued prayers and patience as we seek to walk the path the Lord has carved out before us. While we do not know exactly what might be around the corner, we do know we can fully trust the Lord as we work together to get through what could be a bit of a rough patch in how we usually do school at SCS.

Thanks in advance for reading this week’s COVID-19 updates below and for continuing to pray for SCS and the community God has called us to serve (Jeremiah 29).

COVID-19 Updates
In consideration of the important decision to continue school at this time, SCS is following guidance from the Seattle & King County Department of Public Health:

Public Health is not recommending closing schools at this time unless there has been a confirmed case in your school. The reason we are not recommending school closures at this time is because children have not been shown to be a high risk group for serious illness from this virus. As much as possible, children should be allowed to carry on with their education and normal activities.

Additionally, Public Health has recommended that if organizations can “feasibly avoid bringing large groups of people together, consider postponing events and gatherings.”

With this in mind, the leadership team has made the difficult decision to postpone our March 21 Annual Auction to a later date in the spring. This decision is being made with the health, safety and well-being of students, families and the entire SCS community in mind. The Auction Leadership Team will announce the NEW date as soon as possible.

The Auction was postponed because it is a large group event, populated with individuals from outside our community, some of which are more than likely to be an at-risk population.

Other school related events will be reviewed on a case by case basis and we will cancel any event that poses an undue risk to the community. This is NOT a perfect science, but we will do our best to strike a reasonable balance with these important decisions.

Preparation for Possible/Likely School Closure
If and/or when we have a confirmed COVID-19 case in the SCS community, we will follow the guidance of the Health Department which most likely would include closure for an undetermined period of time. The standard with other schools has been a 14 day closure. Faculty and principals are talking through how we might be able to determine and best prepare for what schooling might look like during the period of time.

Student Illness & Absences
In order to keep our community safe, please take extra precautionary measures when considering sending your student to school. Public Health is now recommending that if a student exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath), they must stay home. Students must be symptom free for 72 hours without the aid of medication before returning to school or any school-related activity.  

We understand that it may not be prudent for your student to attend school at this time due to individual circumstances. We encourage families to make a decision concerning school attendance that is in the best interest of their student. If necessary, parents may opt out of school attendance or attendance at school related activities.

Additional Updates
Because the situation is fluid, a webpage on our website has been created that will house school communications related to COVID-19, list events that have been cancelled or modified, and provide links to COVID-19 related information. Please visit seattlechristian.org/covid-19/ to view a list of recently cancelled events.

Thank you very much for your attention to this email. Please send any insights or questions to me as we’ll use this information to guide our discussions and decisions.

May the unsettledness we feel reveal the Lord’s grace.

Warm regards,

Laird

Superintendent/Head of School

Dear SCS Community,

In an effort to keep everyone informed about COVID-19 and it’s impact on SCS, we wanted to send an update before the weekend. The health, safety and well being of our community is of utmost importance as we consider our response in the days ahead.

We at SCS are staying informed of this evolving situation and are closely monitoring official communications and recommendations from the following government agencies:

• Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Washington State Department of Health
• US Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Seattle & King County Public Health 

With local businesses moving to working remotely and some schools closing for a period, one question that is on many people’s minds is whether SCS might proactively close. In consideration of this important decision, we continue to follow guidance from the Seattle & King County Department of Public Health:

Public Health is not recommending closing schools at this time unless there has been a confirmed case in your school. The reason we are not recommending school closures at this time is because children have not been shown to be a high risk group for serious illness from this virus. As much as possible, children should be allowed to carry on with their education and normal activities.

We are also observing the recommendation of the Washington State Board of Education to begin making contingency plans should school closure become necessary for a duration of time.

In our email communication on Monday, we shared the best practices for preventing transmission of COVID-19 and we invite you to review that information here.

As outlined in our Parent-Student Handbook (p.13) , if a student exhibits flu-like symptoms, s/he is to remain at home. In order to keep our community safe, please take extra precautionary measures when considering sending your student to school with a cough or runny nose.

Reminders about when to keep a student home:

• If your student has fever, diarrhea, vomiting, excessive coughing, or potentially communicable disease, they must stay home.
• Students must be symptom-free for 24 hours without the aid of medication before returning to school or any school-related activity
• Keeping your student home will speed the healing process, as well as help to lessen the spread of illness at school.

Students will be sent home during the day if it is determined by the office staff that they are too sick to remain in school; he/she will need to be picked up by a parent/guardian or an adult designated by the parent/guardian. To report an absence, click here for online absence reporting. Or, call the appropriate office:

• Elementary Office (206) 246-8241 ext. 1000
• Secondary Office (206) 246-8241 ext. 1200

SCS Flash Alert System
School closures and other urgent information will be posted on the home page of the school website, our Facebook page and sent via email through the FlashAlert system. To receive instant notification via your home or work email addresses, register for the Flash Alert system, click here or download the iPhone app or Google app.

As a Christ centered school community, we trust the Lord to guide us as we “work for the good of the (community) in which God has placed us "(Jeremiah 29). At this time, this means doing all we can to help our community weather what could be a very serious outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. As we travel down this road together, we trust that the Lord will be faithful to provide the counsel and resources we need to navigate what is to come.

Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Laird Leavitt

Superintendent – Head of School