updates from GIS

Below are our updated masking policies and Covid procedures as we move into the last few weeks of the school year. Please note that this is differentiated between Grade School and Early Learning students, as we treat positive cases differently within these cohorts. In addition, we will continue to employ layered mitigation strategies (hand-washing, air-flow, hepa filters etc…) to maximize full-time, in-person learning and reduce disruptions for students, staff and families.

Grade School (1-5):

Masks:

Starting tomorrow, masks are again highly recommended, but optional for grade school students. Students who are on day 6-10 after a Covid isolation are required to mask. Students who display any symptoms will also be asked to mask out of consideration for those surrounding them.

Reporting Positive Covid Cases:

Please report any positive Covid cases to covid@gspdx.org. This email goes to leadership and the front desk so we can get back to you. Also, please remember that OHSU does not notify the school of positive results from the Tuesday tests, so please notify the school.

Isolation for Positive Grade School Students:

Students who test positive for Covid should count the positive test day as day 0 and quarantine for 5 days after that. Students may return to school on day 6 with a good quality mask for days 6-10. Returning students should have resolved symptoms, and be fever free for at least 24 hours. Students do not need a negative Covid test to return.

Exposure:

If your child has been exposed outside of school, we ask that you monitor your child for any symptoms. Please also inform us, so we can help monitor as well. Regardless of vaccination status, testing after 5 days of exposure is recommended.

If your child has been exposed at school, we will continue to notify you, and will ask you to help monitor symptoms.

If a family member is positive, we ask that you be cautious and keep your student(s) home if there is prolonged/repeated exposure or any symptoms. We have seen over the past weeks that at-home tests are not initially sensitive to the virus. Due to this, we also ask that if a student displays Covid or cold symptoms, to please keep them home. Your help in keeping kids home is crucial to continuing in-person instruction.

Guidelines for switching to at-home learning:

If a grade school class threshold number is reached (approximately one-third positive Covid cases), that classroom will consider switching to home-learning to maximize student learning.

Early Learning (2s - KG)

Masks:

Over the last few weeks, we have seen an increase in cases in both students and teachers. With the majority of our students still unvaccinated, we will require everyone to continue masking indoors. Having this extra layer of protection allows us to keep groups open and lessen interruption to the routines and learning of our youngest students.

Reporting Positive Covid Cases:

Please report any positive Covid cases to covid@gspdx.org. This email goes to leadership and the front desk so we can get back to you.

Isolation for Positive Students in Twos and Preschool:

Students who test positive for Covid should count the positive test day as day 0 and isolate for 10 days after that. Shortening isolation requires consistent mask wearing, which is not a reliable option with our youngest students.

Returning students should have resolved symptoms, and be fever free for at least 24 hours. Students do not need a negative Covid test to return.

Quarantine for Exposure

If your child has been exposed outside of school, we ask that you monitor your child for any symptoms. Please also inform us, so we can help monitor as well. Testing after 5 days of exposure is recommended.

If your child has been exposed at school, we will continue to notify you, and will ask you to help monitor symptoms.

If a family member is positive, we ask that you be cautious and keep your student(s) home if there is prolonged/ repeated exposure or any symptoms. We have seen over the past weeks that at-home tests are not initially sensitive to the virus. Due to this, we also ask that if a student displays Covid or cold symptoms, to please keep them home. Please reach out if you need guidance in this situation.

With the continued use of indoor masking, we will not require a group to go into quarantine after a possible exposure.

While our positive Covid-19 cases continue to be low, GIS will remain consistent in our ongoing proactive approach to safety. Starting on Wednesday, May 18th GIS will temporarily be requiring masks for all students and adults inside the building. While students are outdoors, masks will remain optional. In grades 4 and 5, where we have a few cases, we have distributed masks today, although we have not required students to wear them.

We have already increased ventilation throughout the building, and as the weather improves, teachers and students will spend more time outside.

We anticipate our temporary mask requirement to last a few weeks at most, so thank you for working with your students to understand, and for your support.

Thank you to our families and staff members for sharing your feedback in our recent survey regarding masks inside our building. Decision-making on Covid-19 restrictions has shifted to individual schools and districts, and our community understandably has a wide range of ideas on how the school should proceed. The results are as diverse as our community, which requires us all to compromise and come together.

Throughout the pandemic, GIS has thrived. We have had more in-person instruction than almost any other program in the state, while maintaining lower positive cases than most. Our community has pulled together, and been flexible, patient, and supportive. Let’s continue modeling these character traits during this next phase. With that in mind, we are sharing our Covid-19 Restriction Phase-Out Plan.

Phase 1 (March 7-April 1): Masks required inside, masks optional outside. This phase gives us one week after Spring Break to monitor case counts, and learn from other schools and agencies how their March restriction easements impact their programs.

• Positive cases must stay home for 5 days, and may return when fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. These individuals should wear a mask for 5 additional days after returning to school.

• Positive cases/exposure will continue to be shared with families.

• Our youngest students will continue to quarantine for 5 days after exposure.

• Kindergarten-5th grade vaccinated students are not required to quarantine after exposure.

• Unvaccinated students must quarantine for 5 days after exposure, closely monitor for symptoms, and submit a negative test result on the 5th day.

Phase 2 (April 4-April 15): Masks optional outside. Teaching students about unmasking indoors during limited phases of the day. Teachers will spend this phase working with our students to learn how to be unmasked inside during phases of each day. Focus will be on controlled language learning times without masks, making sure individual decisions on masking are respected.

• During the other phases of the day, masks remain mandatory.

• Positive cases will continue to be shared with families.

• Our youngest students will continue to quarantine for 5 days after exposure.

• Kindergarten-5th grade vaccinated students are not required to quarantine after exposure.

• Unvaccinated students must quarantine for 5 days after exposure, closely monitor for symptoms, and submit a negative test result on the 5th day.

Phase 3 (April 18-beyond): Masks are optional, inside and outside for both students and staff. A focus on respecting everyone’s choices regarding masking continues.

Additional information and context:

• GIS will continue to encourage mask wearing for students who present cold-like symptoms while in school as we continue to support our layered approach to minimizing the spread of all sickness. We will remain diligent, and ask you to keep any student(s) home who are feeling sick.

• As the weather improves, our team will utilize our outdoor learning opportunities frequently.

• Anyone in our community who chooses to continue masking will be supported, and that decision will be respected.

• While masking is optional outdoors, please respect the space of our teachers and other families when interacting during pick up and drop off times.

• We will continue with our ventilation, cleaning, handwashing, and other protocols. We now have more than enough masks (thanks to many of you!) and tests on site.

• Should positive cases rise, or a situation require it, we still have all the layers of protection to bring back. Protective measures may be reinstated should it be determined as necessary by school leadership.

Thank you for your support as we incorporate this teaching-and-learning phase, which is a crucial step for students. The long-term impacts will keep our community safe and cohesive.

For those of you interested in the results from our surveys of parents and staff members, here is an overview:

Families:

Our family (123 responses) prefers that GIS continue to require masks to be worn inside the school building.

Agree: 41.5%

Disagree: 43.9%

Neutral: 14.6%

Staff Members:

I (30 responses) prefer GIS continue to have masks be worn inside the school building.

Agree: 63.3%

Disagree: 16.7%

Neutral: 20%

The written responses from both surveys mirrored this feedback as well. The plan we are implementing is our best effort to meet the needs of all constituent groups as well as we possibly can.

The Oregon Department of Education will lift the mask requirement for schools on March 12th. GIS is currently working to establish our own school-specific procedures in the coming weeks. As we have throughout the pandemic, we will continue to take a thoughtful and measured approach, and work together to keep everyone safe.

Due to the timing of Spring Break, we will not take further steps to unmask inside until after the break, as we monitor numbers after travels. After break, we will assess cases, evaluate feedback from our staff and family surveys, and will communicate to the school community about the next steps. Between now and then, we will work to re-learn what being unmasked is like.

For example, starting Monday, students will have the option to take off masks outside while they play and learn. For those families wanting to keep their child(ren) masked outside or have requests, particularly regarding the youngest learners, please let your teacher(s) know so that we can support that family choice. In addition, please send an extra mask (or two), since we anticipate some ‘oops’ moments and losses outside!

Nearly half of our students are unable to be vaccinated due to their age, and more than a few of our teachers want to continue wearing masks. With that in mind, we want to make clear that as we remove mask requirements, there will likely be many in our community who choose to continue masking. Our team will model respecting and valuing the choices of each of our community members, and we encourage you to join us by reinforcing the same at home.

GIS continues to have great results due to our community’s efforts. Our positive rate is low, our vaccination rate is extremely high (staff 100%, eligible students 85%).

We greatly value our community’s input, and hope that you will give us your feedback by taking a few minutes to complete this survey. We are looking for feedback on where families stand as we enter into this next phase.

Sincere thanks to all of you for the support of our learning community.

On Tuesday, the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education announced masks will no longer be required at schools starting March 31st.

GIS will be working closely with OHA, ODE, and the Washington County health authorities between now and March 31st to clarify new guidelines and recommendations that impact our school, and share them with our community.

We will also soon be seeking input from parents and staff about your perspectives and concerns.

For now please continue to adhere to all our established safety requirements as we continue to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment for everyone.

And be sure to check the GIS Covid Dashboard for the latest case counts and information.

We continue to have a relatively low number of students and staff members who have tested positive for Covid, 8 in total as of today, or approximately 2%. Thus far, and gladly, everyone is experiencing mild symptoms. However, the number is rising, and our staff is extremely stretched.

I am coming to you with some crowdsourcing ideas and updates today:

-KN95 Masks: We would like our entire community to be wearing high quality masks when on campus. GIS ordered KN95 masks for our staff and our students, but the dreaded supply chain has delayed delivery. If any families have access to masks or would like to donate any that you have, please bring them by or reach out to me with sources.

-Tests: Supply chain is again causing real problems with our rapid (BinaxNOW) tests. We are down to less than 15 tests, which makes it impossible for us to maintain our current Test to Stay protocol for students and staff ages 5 and up. If you have access to this type of test, please let me know. For now, we will be connecting with families of exposed students to ask families to test at home to continue in person instruction, while keeping our dwindling supply for emergencies. Please be understanding that without testing, remote learning becomes a very strong possibility in the coming days/weeks.

Quarantine Duration: For now, we are following these quarantine times for exposed students in these age groups. The duration is different for each is related to age, how ‘well’ masks are worn, and social distancing opportunities.

*2s-Preschool: 7 days with a negative test on day 5 or later, otherwise 10 days

*Kindergarten-5th Grade: Students with fully up-to-date vaccinations (2 weeks since second shot) and with no symptoms are able to continue

attending school, with parents monitoring very closely for symptoms. Students who are not fully up-to-date will need to quarantine for five days, and as long as they remain asymptomatic, they may return staying fully masked for the next five days. These students will also need to show a negative test prior to returning.

Students who test positive will be contacted directly by the school to discuss their isolation timing.

We strongly recommend all students, regardless of vaccination status, test 5 days after exposure, just to be extra cautious. As always, do let us know if any test result is positive.

-Remote Instruction: If your class is placed in remote learning, expect communication from the teaching team regarding schedules and any supplies needed. Chromebooks are available to borrow if you do not have a device at home for your student.

-Early Release Tomorrow: Early learning groups have pick up time from 12-12:30pm and grade school starts pick up time at 12:30pm. Please pick up your youngest students first.

-Extended Care: Please remember that we have temporarily closed EC starting tomorrow. For reference, check your email from Ashley Parsons on January 9, or on our Covid Response Site.

We know how rapidly things are changing. Thank you for your support of our teachers as we work through this together.

This is a good news message to inform you that we finally have a program to do Covid testing for our youngest students!

Color has partnered with Perkin Elmer to make this happen. Here is how it works and the actions we are asking you to take:

Testing Tuesdays: our 2s and Preschool students (those that opt into the program) will have samples collected here at school by our team on Tuesdays. GIS then sends the samples to the lab, receiving results (both school and families) within 48 hours after arrival at the lab, depending on capacity.

• The Color COVID-19 Test is a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) assay that tests for an active infection of COVID-19. It is not an antibody or a PCR test. The Color Test tests for an active infection of COVID-19. You will receive a full, downloadable testing report (PDF) from Color, a CAP and CLIA certified clinical testing laboratory.

• Administering the test is a nasal swab. The nasal swab, also known as an anterior nares swab, only goes into the nostril a bit. Click here for more information about the Color testing.

• If your student(s) do(es) not attend on Tuesdays, you are still welcome and encouraged to participate by coming by the school on Tuesday mornings.

We are asking you to:

-Sign up your student(s) in Twos/Preschool programs: registration is straightforward and only asks for basic personal information. Please give consent for participation and sharing information with the school so we can be swift reacting to any possible positive results.

-Practice ‘testing’ at home with the kids. Use a simple cotton swab, just to get them used to the feeling.

Participation is voluntary and also very, very strongly encouraged. Our first collection day is this coming Tuesday, Jan. 18, so please register and ask any questions early.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Daniela Williams or Sophie Matle.

In light of everything going on with the increase in cases around the area and GIS’ top priority being to keep our students, staff and entire community safe we have decided to put a two week hold on all Extended Care Programming. Please know that this decision was not made lightly as we know that so many of our families are dependent on this program. We are working to tighten up the cohorts and focus on keeping the school day operational.

What does this mean for you?

Extended Care will be closed starting Friday January 14^th until January 28^th. Our hope would be to reopen EC on Monday January 31^st, but we will continue to monitor the situation and provide advanced notification of any continued closure.

What does this mean financially?

Please continue to pay your GIS invoice as provided to you this month and going forward. GIS will be working to provide a credit for the remainder of January to all of our EC families. You should see these on your next invoice. For everyone who prepaid for EC for the school year, GIS will keep a record of the credit and reconcile these accounts at the end of the school year.

Below is a thorough overview of information released today for schools. Our team has already accomplished the vast majority of action items on the school's list, which sets us up for continued success and in person instruction. Please take a moment to review the action items for families below. We continue to appreciate your support as our community's best and first line of defense to keep our school safe and in person instruction going.

School Health Advisory for Continuity of Instruction

Advisory in effect statewide January 3 – January 31, 2022

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) are partnering to prioritize the safety protocols needed to reliably return to full-time, in-person school for all students. We know our students learn best in-person, where they have access to other on-site critical services.

Today’s School Health Advisory is the most critical and urgent issued to date.

As Oregon fully experiences the impacts of the Omicron variant over the next several weeks, student access to in-person instruction is under serious threat. While early data indicate that the Omicron variant may result in less severe disease than previous variants, it is increasingly clear that the Omicron variant spreads much more quickly and easily than all previous variants.

· Layered mitigation safety protocols (including vaccinations, boosters, face coverings, physical distancing, ventilation, frequent handwashing) are more critical now than at any other time during this pandemic.

· Based on the emerging experience of other countries, states and school districts, we expect rapid transmission of the Omicron variant in indoor settings in which people do not adhere with purpose and intention to masking requirements and other layered mitigation safety protocols.

Oregon schools have worked hard to reopen their doors to in-person learning and are diligently using the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in school settings. Thank you, educators!

Schools are managed settings. When administrators and staff in schools are trained and implement layered mitigation safety protocols fully, the risk of COVID-19 transmission can be lower than in general community settings without such protocols in place.

Current modeling from OHSU shows that Oregon will likely experience a significant COVID-19 surge, driven by the Omicron variant, beginning in January and continuing through February. This surge is likely to be much steeper than the Delta variant surge we have experienced. We expect impacts on workforce stability in schools, hospitals, and other sectors. Hospitals may be impacted even more severely than they were in the fall.

To maintain the continuity of instruction during school this year, OHA and ODE are issuing the following School Health Advisory, to remain in effect statewide January 3 – January 31, unless otherwise updated.

For schools:

· If students or staff show COVID-19 symptoms or the school is aware they are a close contact, they must exclude the individual as per OAR 333-019-0010 (3) & (4). Schools may offer testing to the individual through OHA’s Diagnostic Testing Program. Refer to this 12-13-21 message for information on current 7-day quarantine and test to stay protocols.

o COVID-19 symptoms can be found on page 9 of the Planning for COVID-19 Scenarios in Schools A Toolkit for School Leaders and Local Public Health Authorities.

o Test to stay protocol allows unvaccinated individuals who were exposed to a COVID-19 positive case in a K-12 school setting to remain learning in-person when certain criteria are met.

o If a quarantine is called for, prioritize a shortened seven day quarantine option. This means that when a close contact remains symptom free and tests negative at 5-7 days after exposures, they may return to school and other activities on day 8.

· To reduce spread and the number of students and staff excluded from school due to contracting COVID-19 or quarantining due to close contact, each school should review and update their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan (available on this webpage):

o When instruction resumes in January, schools should reinforce the importance of layered mitigation efforts. Plan to re-teach appropriate use of face coverings, reestablish consistent physical distancing practices, incorporate frequent handwashing, recheck ventilation systems, and attend to other layered health and safety measures.

o Schools should consider implementing additional layers of protection such as increased airflow and circulation, implementing free COVID-19 testing programs, retraining staff on all protocols, and educating staff, students and families about COVID-19 symptoms.

o To remain eligible for American Rescue Plan Act federal funds, school districts are required to updated their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan (available on this webpage) by February 25. This is an important time to carefully review plans and make changes that will help keep students and staff safe and keep school doors open to in-person instruction. School districts will receive information on the process for updating their plans on January 4, 2022.

· Schools should work with health partners to offer vaccination clinics and encourage eligible students and staff to get their vaccinations and boosters. More information about vaccinations can be found at Get Vaccinated Oregon.

· Schools and other organizations should pause extracurricular activities or ensure they follow the same layered mitigation safety protocols practiced during the school day (use of face coverings, screening and diagnostic testing, encourage vaccination, frequent handwashing, etc.).

o If schools and other organizations proceed with extracurricular activities, especially as these activities move indoors and individuals are unmasked, they should expect rapid transmission of COVID-19 that will prevent students from participating in in-person learning due to isolation for those that contract COVID-19 and lengthy quarantines for those that come into close contact with infected individuals.

o This risk should be clearly communicated to families participating in these extracurricular activities.

· Schools should hold events (parent/family conferences, fundraisers, etc.) online, rather than in-person. If events are held in-person, make every effort to hold the events under covered areas outside, ensure all participants wear masks, and maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet between individuals from different households.

For families and community members:

We need your help to maintain in-person instruction for children across Oregon. When community spread increases, more COVID-19 is introduced in our schools and causes disruption of in-person learning due to quarantine and isolation. You can help:

· If your child has COVID-19 symptoms, do not send them to school. Seek a COVID-19 test. COVID-19 symptoms can be found on page 9 of the Planning for COVID-19 Scenarios in Schools A Toolkit for School Leaders and Local Public Health Authorities.

· Get vaccinated now if you’re not. Vaccination remains the best protection against serious illness from COVID-19 and reduces spread of the disease. Get Vaccinated Oregon.

· Get boosted if you’re not. If you’re eligible for a booster, make your appointment today. Boosters provide an extra layer of protection needed to slow spread of the omicron variant.

· Families with school-age children and educators should limit gatherings and non-essential activities with people from other households to the extent possible throughout January and February. Before getting together with family, friends and loved ones, ask if attendees have received their COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and consider postponing visits if many attendees are not up to date with recommended doses. If you are visiting people from another household, you should wear a mask, maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet, and keep activities outdoors as much as possible.

CDC Updates to Quarantine & Isolation

You may be aware that the CDC made changes to the recommended quarantine and isolation guidance for exposed individuals. OHA officials are consulting with the CDC on what these changes mean for schools. More information will be forthcoming on the CDC’s changes. Thank you for tracking how CDC’s announcements impact our work in Oregon.

Future School Health Advisories

OHA and ODE will continue to issue School Health Advisories to identify additional steps families, schools, and/or communities can take to help keep our children safely learning in our schools. These advisories may be regional or statewide. The School Health Advisories name actions that individuals, families, schools, and/or communities can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and help schools stay open to in-person instruction.

Review these back-to-school COVID-19 safety tips for more information on how to keep everyone safe as students return to the classroom.

For previous OHA/ODE School Health Advisories and more information on how your school is planning for a safe return to full-time, in-person learning go to oregon.gov/readyschools.

Thank you for doing your part to ensure our children have consistent access to in-person learning.

Below is the message sent December 31. A few clarifications on January 2, 2022:

-January 3 is a no student day for all programming, two-year-olds through fifth graders, including no extended care.

-GIS is still fully committed to staying with our regular, in person instruction. The change for January 3 is a combination of gathering information from our community after so much holiday travel, supporting those in our community who have tested positive (luckily all we know of are recovering, and no cases were tied to contacts while we were in session in December), and to get ready for the possibility that we will have to go remote. We sincerely hope this preparation is overly cautious, and that we stay in person. However, being proactive on January 3 will allow for less down time during any necessary transition to remote learning.

-The thresholds for going remote are new for everyone. We will continue to refine and define what they are and how they will be implemented.

-The change in plans from Wednesday last week to Friday's decision to keep students home came from increasing numbers of community members testing positive, learning and listening to other school/organizations in the region and beyond. Keeping students home is the last thing anyone wants. Thank you for your understanding and support.

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Monday, January 3rd will be a teacher preparation day, while our team works together to prepare to transition to remote learning, if that becomes necessary, in the coming days/weeks. We plan to see students in school on Tuesday, January 4th.

Our goal is to control the spread of disease in our community, and as positive cases spike, our community has already been directly impacted. Considering all the travel during the break, this preparation day allows us to collect data, plan for smooth transitions, and build even better systems for safe, in person school starting Tuesday. A few points to share:

-OHSU Spit Test Pick Up: For those families (K-5th, only) who are participating in this program, please come by the school between 8am-11am (please contact the front desk, if you need to make other arrangements) on Monday to pick up your test.

-No Online Instruction Monday: Our teachers will spend Monday collaborating to get ready for a solid online experience, if/when that becomes necessary. Taking this proactive day will prevent closures later.

-Recommitting to Covid Protocols: As of Tuesday, we will be reverting to more closely separating cohorts, stricter mask monitoring, more sanitizing, and all the other measures we all know.

-Parents Are Our Best Defense: Please help us by keeping your student(s) home with any illness. Additionally, please send only high quality masks that fit well. No bandana or tube style masks, for example. See below.

-Test to Stay (K-5th): Whenever we have a positive case, the Test to Stay program is still in place.

-Absence Thresholds: A new piece of guidance to introduce are Absence Thresholds. If 30% of any class is absent, we will put that group into remote learning. If 20% of our staff is absent, we will close.

We appreciate your flexibility and support for this change in plans. Please continue to do everything you can to keep our community safe. We can’t wait to see you all on Tuesday and let’s look ahead to the new year together.

This is a message to inform everyone that we learned this morning of a student in a First Grade classroom with a positive COVID result through the OHSU testing program. We immediately contacted the Washington County Health Authority and are still waiting on a response.

In the meantime, we have tested all of our first grade, second grade Chinese track, and extended care students who were in close contact with the positive student. All tests have come back negative. Families of all these students have been called, and the students are being picked up early, just to be extra safe.

Once we learn more and receive direction from Washington County, we will further inform impacted students and their families. If you are not contacted, then no further action is needed. The student who has tested positive is feeling fine, and the family appreciates the support from our community.

Let’s all use this opportunity to recommit to social distancing, washing hands, and all the other things we know to do.

GIS will continue to work toward hosting an on-site clinic. However, that may take some weeks to get scheduled. In the meantime, families are sharing resources about where they are finding appointments.

https://coronavirus.providence.org/blog/uf/669097700?streamId=6734910

In addition, here is some information that we received from a local pediatrician that you may be interested in reading:

https://hhs.co.yamhill.or.us/publichealth/page/upcoming-vaccine-events

If your student has been exposed to COVID-19, GIS requires a 10-day quarantine for the unvaccinated, even when no symptoms are present. There is a small but significant chance of transmission on days 11-14, so it is important to continue to monitor for symptoms for a full 14 days. We ask families to connect with the school as soon as there is a possible exposure so we can work out a plan.

COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11 are soon to be available, and we have decided to add the Covid-19 vaccination to the list of vaccines we require for students aged 5 and older who attend GIS. We hope to approach this change as we have approached the many changes we have made in the last 20 months; with grace and support for our community members, and with the understanding that our goal continues to be to operate in the safest manner possible, using best practices and the guidance of experts to inform our decisions.

While we understand that there will and should be questions about the vaccine, our rationale for sending this communication now is to allow families as much time as possible to consult with their own healthcare providers, and to have their questions for the school answered in advance of the emergency authorization that is forthcoming from the FDA and the CDC. Please understand that we can not move forward with an official timeline until then, which is why we are only sharing the outline of our plan at this time.

GIS is proud to announce that we will be partnering with Legacy Health to offer on-site vaccinations for our students. While no one is required to participate in the event at the school, we hope to facilitate vaccination for as many of our students as possible, as easily as possible for our parents. We have already begun working out the logistics surrounding timing, parent involvement, volunteer needs, and more. GIS will be one of the first schools to offer an in-school clinic, and we will also be opening this on-site vaccination clinic to local community members after hours, which will further our efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our region. We wish to thank our own GIS parent Melissa Tom for her creative support to make this possible for our community members.

In August, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) mandated that all school employees statewide be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, allowing for exemptions. We are pleased to report that 100% of our GIS employees are vaccinated. OHA may issue guidance and timeframes for vaccination of 5-11 year olds in the coming weeks, and GIS may follow that timeline, or may choose to create a timeline for vaccination independent of OHA. Individuals may request an exemption to the Covid-19 vaccine, as with other vaccines, when necessary and applicable. Our vaccination rates are reported to OHA and will be available and published once we reach the vaccination deadline. Only total percentage rates are published, and individual or personally identifiable data is never released.

We appreciate that, for some families, there may be hesitation or nervousness surrounding the decision to vaccinate children against COVID-19; we want to do our best to support you through your decision. Rather than a general FAQ that may not address your specific questions, we have created an email address where you can send your questions to us. School community medical professionals have graciously volunteered to respond to your questions directly. Please send any questions you have to COVID19Vaccines@gspdx.org.

We look forward to a future that includes field trips, class breakfasts, parent volunteers in the building, and a multitude of other opportunities to celebrate our community safely. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the health of our community.

Should you find your family in the situation that you need to do a covid test, here are some guidelines to help make the process more efficient for your family and our school.

At home tests: Due to the potential for a false positive with an at home test, a family will need to schedule an appointment with a medical facility to get a rapid test & PCR test to confirm if the patient is covid positive. The medical facility or pediatrician will also give you guidance.

Should you end up with a positive case or a potentially positive case, below is the information on how to report and what to report.

1. Please email your classroom teacher and the Director for your program.

2. Include the following list of information in your email:

1. What symptoms, if any?

2. Symptom onset date:

3. Test Date:

4. Testing site (if known):

5. Did they have a recent exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case?

6. Did they recently travel out of state?

3. We will review the information and see if there is any additional information we need. The above information will help us make the best decision with OHA on the health and safety of the other students & staff in the school.

The following information was sent to schools across Oregon today to share with families:

School Health Advisory for Continuity of Instruction

Advisory in effect statewide September 7 – October 1, 2021

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) are partnering to prioritize the safety protocols needed to reliably return to full-time, in-person school for all students. We know our students learn best in-person and they have access to other onsite critical services.

Schools are already using the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in school settings. Because schools are controlled settings, with layered mitigation safety protocols in place, the risk of COVID-19 transmission can be lower than in the general community in settings without such protocols in place.

From time to time, OHA and ODE will issue School Health Advisories to identify additional steps families, schools, and communities can take to help keep our children safely learning in our schools. These advisories may be regional or statewide. The School Health Advisories may name actions that individuals, families and communities can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and help schools stay open. They may be issued in response to either an increased risk by adding mitigation efforts or a reduced risk by rescinding previous School Health Advisories.

This release includes the first of these OHA/ODE School Health Advisories.

To maintain the continuity of instruction during the first month of school this year, OHA and ODE are issuing the following School Health Advisory, to remain in effect statewide September 7 – October 1, unless otherwise updated:

1. All eligible youth and adults who come in contact with school-age children should vaccinate to reduce spread in the school community.

2. Families with school-age children and educators should limit gatherings and non-essential activities with people from other households to the extent possible. If you are visiting people from another household, you should wear a mask, maintain a physical distance of 6 feet, and keep activities outdoors as much as possible.

3. To the extent possible, schools and other organizations should reduce extracurricular activities and consider holding activities, such as meals, recess, physical education classes, music and choir, outdoors to maximize physical distancing. Likewise, if schools and other organizations proceed with extracurricular activities, they should consider holding them outdoors and implementing additional precautions like face coverings and physical distancing.

4. Schools should hold beginning of the year family events (open houses, meet the teacher nights, etc.) online, rather than in-person. If events are held in-person, ensure all participants wear masks, hold the events outside, and maintain physical distancing of 6 feet to the degree possible.

5. Families should check your school’s website or ODE’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners website to review your school’s Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan.

Review these back-to-school COVID-19 safety tips for more information on how to keep everyone safe as students return to the classroom.

For more information on how your school is planning for a safe return to full-time, in-person learning go to oregon.gov/readyschools.

Thank you for doing your part to ensure our children have consistent access to in-person learning this fall.

We have been hard at work getting our team and our campus ready to welcome our students next Wednesday for our first day of school. None of us wanted to spend so much energy on social distancing, masking, vaccinations, testing, air flow, cleaning, and the rest. However, our community is ready. We know how to do this. Our team is flexible and creative. Our campus allows for plenty of spacing.

A few updates and reminders to share with you before you arrive at campus:

• Please Note Slightly Changed Start Times to Help with Traffic

  • 2s-7:40 for before care, program starts at 8:30

  • Preschool-7:40 for before care, program starts at 8:30

  • Kindergarten-7:45 for before care, program starts at 8:15

  • Grades 1-5-7:45-7:55, program starts at 8:00

  • Please enter only through the south driveway (near enterprise). Twos and Preschool families park and bring students to the classroom doors. Kindergarten drop off loop near the playground gate. Grades 1-5 drop off at north end loop. (We’ll be outside to guide you!)

• Strengthening our Community Bubble: we have made the difficult decision to move many of our beloved traditions online for parents (First Graders with their Schultüten, for example) or postponed (Ice Cream Social, for example) them. We know how difficult this is for families. Our focus is to still create memorable in–person experiences for our students and to capture the moments for you with pictures and live streams. We ask you to support these efforts to dramatically reduce the number of people coming onto our campus and into our building. We also ask you to minimize your travel and your community interactions. Wear your masks, get vaccinations, and help everyone stay healthy together.

• Outdoor Cohorting: students will wear masks outside, and we will limit cohort crossing as much as possible, while balancing the very real need to give healthy interactions to our children. For example, we will likely have preschoolers see other preschoolers (or fourth and fifth graders) on the playground together.

• Students will eat outside to the greatest extent possible. When our youngest students eat, we will increase spacing and air flow through the rooms. (Moving groups of 2, 3, and 4 year old children outside to eat is quite a logistical challenge!)

• Social distancing in classrooms: grade school classrooms are set up to allow for at least 3 feet of distancing while students are seated at their desks.

• Dedicated support staff: we have hired additional staff members to minimize crossing cohorts and to better care for our growing student population.

• Campus Covid Precautions: with the rising case numbers, we want to share with you that our preparations for ongoing in-person program are supported by enhanced cleaning, our HVAC (air flow) system has been serviced, air purifiers and additional fans have been purchased, and windows will be open. Thanks to many of you, our new Outdoor Learning Center will be ready to provide even more teaching space outside.

• Staff Vaccinations: we are thankful and proud to share that 100% of our team is fully vaccinated!

• Student Covid Testing: as we shared, the Oregon Department of Education is building a system for Kindergarten through 5th grade to do regular testing. The details for how this will work are still not released. Additionally, we are exploring options and awaiting decisions to be able to test our two-year-old and preschool students. We do have rapid tests on site for anyone who develops symptoms while on campus. For now, the best thing to do is stay home and let us know if you have an exposure or positive test.

• IF a student/staff member has a positive...our protocol is to contact our Local Public Health Authority immediately. They guide the school on who receives notification, what actions to take, and any other salient information.

Thank you for reading and processing all of this information. We look forward to getting started and very much appreciate your support of our learning community.

We are keen on keeping you informed as we get closer and closer to the start of the 2020-2021 school year. What you really need to know is that our GIS team is ready to welcome our students back in much the same fashion we did throughout last school year. Please also know that requirements, recommendations, and guidelines are constantly changing. We will continue to do our very best to receive this information, build workable solutions, and share back with you as swiftly as possible.

A few reminders, updates, and changes we want to share with you in FAQ format:

Will GIS follow Governor Brown’s mask mandate?

Yes. All students, staff, and any visitors will be required to wear a mask while on site. During outdoor activities, students will still mask with the necessary breaks for eating and drinking (using our established social distancing routines).

Has the Oregon travel and quarantine restriction changed?

Yes. There are currently no statewide travel restrictions in place. Therefore, we will not require any quarantine, if no exposure or symptoms are present after your return. As always, we want you to be safe and use your best judgement.

Does GIS require staff to be vaccinated?

No. However, we currently have 100% of employees vaccinated and will continue to strongly encourage new staff members to get vaccinated, if not already completed. If a staff member is unvaccinated, then GIS will be requiring those staff members to be tested regularly using a new program available through the Oregon Health Authority.

Will GIS be offering COVID testing?

Yes. Details have not yet been finalized through the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education, but parents of students in Kindergarten-5th grade will be able to participate in weekly tests (spit tests, not swabs). Stay tuned for more information on this program.

Will students be in stable cohorts?

Yes. We are building our school schedule so that we will have 5 main cohorts: 2-year-olds, preschool students, kindergarteners, grades 1 through 3, and grades 4 and 5. These cohorts are roughly aligned with where their classrooms are located, similar to what we have done last year. In addition, our Extended Care program will be organized according to these same cohorts.

What are the school’s hours?

Before School Care:

Grade School: Students will arrive at school between 7:45 am and 7:55 am (until further notice, to keep grade school cohorts stable)

Kindergarten, Preschool and Twos: Students will arrive between 7:30 am and 8:30 am

School Day:

Monday – Thursday:

Grades 1-5: 8:00 am - 2:50 pm

Kindergarten, Preschool, Twos: 8:30 am - 2:50 pm

Preschool Half Day only: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm

Twos Half Day only 8:30 am - 12:00 pm

Fridays:

All full-day programs (twos - grade 5) end at 2:00 pm

Will GIS be offering Extended Care this Year?

Yes! We are ready to offer Extended Care for all students this year from 2:50pm-6:00pm Mondays - Thursdays and 2:00pm-6:00pm Fridays. Spots are limited and drop in care is not available, so please click here to register as soon as possible for our hiring and planning purposes.

We will be sharing more specifics with you about where and how to pick up your students in the coming weeks. Since we will continue our cohorts, there will be some changes as to where the groups will be picked up. Thanks for your patience while we work out the details.

Where and How do we Drop Off and Pick Up Students?

Well, it’s complicated…all families will enter from the South (near Enterprise) and exit from the North (near our sign) for drop off and pick up. If the details here are too much, we will be outside to help you get the routine established.

Two-Year-Olds and Preschoolers(7:30am-8:30am and 2:15pm-3:00pm, 1:30pm-2:00pm on Fridays. Half day students Twos 12:00pm, Preschool 12:30pm): Please park near the South (near Enterprise) entrance and accompany your child directly to the door to the classroom.

If you arrive after 8:30am, please drop off your child at the Front Desk.

Kindergarteners (7:45am-8:30am and 2:40pm-3:00pm. 1:40pm-2:00pm on Fridays): You’ll be doing a drive-through in the morning and a park to pick up in the afternoon. Drop off will have a dedicated loop near the playground gate. Plan to enter the lot and drive straight back and then make a left to drop off. Afternoons, we will have you park and pick up from the gym entrance at the front of the building.

If you arrive after 8:30am, please drop off your child at the Front Desk.

Grades 1-5:(7:45am-7:55:am and 2:50pm-3:00pm, 2:00pm dismissal on Fridays): No changes from last year. We’ll continue the drive through drop off and pick up at the north end of the building. First grade families and new families, please enter through the south entrance and follow the traffic flow. Please help get your students ready to quickly exit the building (shoes on, bags ready, snacks and stuffed animals away!) to avoid traffic back-ups. If you arrive at 8:00am and after, please drop off your child at the Front Desk.

How can families help keep the GIS community safe?

We strongly encourage families to recommit to social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, minimizing play dates and/or exposure to lots of people outside of school hours. GIS was very successful all last year as a result of everyone doing their part to keep everyone safe. We are changing plans to minimize exposure, rescheduling group events, and more. Stay home, wear your masks, please get vaccinated, and help us help our students.

Will GIS shift to online or hybrid learning?

For now we are fully planning to offer 5 full days of programming each week, including before and after care. Depending on the situation (anything from quarantine needs to smoke and more), we will continue offering grade school students online instruction. GIS believes that early learners are best served by being in person and not via online tools. We will communicate more specific plans as the situation changes.

We thank you now and will continue to appreciate your flexibility and support.

Stay cool, avoid the smoke, and enjoy your loved ones.

Have a nice weekend,

Blake

Before you head into summer break, we also want to take a moment to thank our team members who are transitioning into new roles at other organizations in the fall. Click here for some farewell words from each of these professionals. As always, we are hard at work bringing new staff into the program, and we will be making teaching and class assignments over the summer.

We wish you a restful and quiet summer,

The GIS Team

Brandon Archer

As some of you may have heard, I have recently accepted a position teaching Academic English at Tokyo International University, and will be moving to Japan in August. It has truly been a pleasure working with and getting to know all of you over the past four years, and please believe me when I say that this is a very difficult job to leave.

The workplace atmosphere here has been friendly and collaborative, and our administrators are more supportive here than at any other place I’ve ever taught. I’ve also had the good fortune to teach nearly every grade level in some capacity or other, and have enjoyed coming to know not only the teachers and students, but many of the families at GIS as well. Thank you all for the kindness, patience, and trust you have shown me.

Oregon has always been my home base, and is a place I will always return to. Many of us will likely meet again, but until then, I will miss you all.

Ben Meister

I have absolutely cherished my time here at GIS. The camaraderie, the wonderful families, and of course most of all the amazing children, have all made this one of the most satisfying and unique experiences in my life. When I finished my minor in German in college, I was convinced that I would never get to use it. Being at an immersion school is just about the closest I could get to being in Germany, and for that I was always thankful to be here. I remember after my interview, 3.5 years ago, I thought to myself, "how cool would it be to work here?" Well, it was so much more than cool. It was life changing, and I realized that while I am now headed towards the career I have studied for, in my later life I might have another career change to do. Who knows... I am thankful for everything.

Luke Peterson

A student once asked me if I colored my hair. I curiously asked what color they thought I dye it. “Gray” was the earnest response. The thought of it now causes me to chuckle now, like I chuckled then. For the record, whatever gray hair my students may have given me, I would don with pride. As most of us know, working with children may be quite challenging at times, but the rewards are invaluable. Nonetheless, after successfully navigating the challenges of the pandemic, it is time for me to slow down. I’m looking forward very much to spending more time with my growing children, focusing my career energy into collegiate academia, and operating our small family farm. I have enjoyed my years here at the German International School immensely, which has ultimately become a significant chapter of my life. These memories will stay with me long after our students are grown up. I wish them the very best on their continued journeys, as I continue mine. If luck will have it, our paths will cross again.

Julia Preston

I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of this school for the past 1 1/2 years. I felt very welcomed here from the very first day on- thank you, GIS staff, for being so kind, caring and supportive.

It’s been a pleasure to teach in a multilingual environment and to get to know all my colleagues and of course my amazing students.

I enjoyed every single minute of being their teacher. Seeing them grow personally and academically and taking part in their language development was such a great experience. I will truly miss them!

Portland became our second home, but we also realized how much we value having our immediate family and close friends nearby. Therefore, we decided to move back to Nuremberg this summer. If anyone ever visits, feel free to reach out to me :). It has been a wonderful time and the GIS community will always have a special place in my heart.

Andreanna Staubly

I remember visiting GIS when I first arrived in Portland. I was super impressed with the teachers and how they weaved learning throughout the day. Fast-forward to my year here at GIS and I am still impressed with the teachers and the creative and engaging learning activities that take place in all classrooms and in all age level groups.

It has been an impressive year. We saw many changes and realized that every blue sky and every hug is truly precious. I cannot count the times that I saw people step in to help each other in this time, and I cannot express how grateful I am for all the support I also received in this year.

The future stands wide open, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to teach at GIS this year. Though I will not be returning to teach next year, I wish everyone all the best and know that "man sieht sich zweimal im Leben (one always crosses paths again)" and hope that you will wave or say hello to me when you see me in the future. Enjoy your summer! It has been well-earned :)

Torin Woods-Eliot

Wir werden uns wieder sehen, GIS! As both a former GIS student, and now as a teacher, this community has meant so much to me. It has been incredible working alongside such amazing educators and getting to know so many wonderful students. This year has been challenging in so many ways, and being able to come into work and feel the community around me has meant so much. I am very sad to leave you all, but am excited to see what awaits me in Seattle! Thank you for helping me learn and grow, and for welcoming this former student back with open arms. I will miss you GIS, but we will see each other again!

Vicky Yang

It has been an amazing year as a first grade Chinese immersion teacher. I have learned so much as a teacher and enjoyed working with you all. Thanks for your kindness and support. I will treasure the time at GIS and continue to grow as a teacher. I will work as a Chinese world language teacher in Wilsonville school district next year. The experience I have at GIS will help me be a better teacher. I will miss you all and the German sausage!

On behalf of our whole GIS staff, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our departing staff members for their dedication to our staff, students & our school community!!!!

Information on our updated 2021-22 school team will go out later this summer, so stay tuned.

After so much recent news on masks, vaccines, and travel we wanted to clarify the items below.

If you don't have time to read it all: GIS is maintaining all the same protocols on masks and travel quarantine very likely until the end of the school year.

-Vaccines/Masks/Adults: our team and students will continue to wear masks until the end of the school year. We will continue to role model this practice for our students. We ask families and community members to continue masking and distancing during drop off and pick up.

-Travel Quarantine: GIS continues to follow these guidelines for travel. Many families have plans to travel over the Memorial Day weekend. Please know that unvaccinated students are still subject to the quarantine requirements upon returning to Oregon. GIS will continue to support those students asynchronously during quarantine, not via live stream.

We are proud of the work we have done together this year. Very few schools have offered as much in person instruction as GIS. By continuing to follow these guidelines, we will finish the year stronger, together. During the summer we will be working on and communicating about these items (and more) as we get ready for the fall. We anticipate continuing to offer our program fully in person.

GIS will continue operating with masks and social distancing in place through the end of the school year. Governor Brown sent school leaders the following yesterday:

Today the CDC released new guidance related to fully vaccinated individuals and the use of face coverings and physical distancing.

This afternoon Governor Brown issued a video statement on how this new guidance will be implemented in Oregon. In her statement she shared, "Nothing is changing for schools this school year, and I expect education staff and students to continue to wear masks and physically distance, as outlined in our Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance." This also applies to all other individuals on school campus, including but not limited to: family members, volunteers, visitors, SROs, and other partners.

GIS continues to strongly urge our whole community to stay home and socially distanced to support the health and safety of our students and teachers.

Here is a short overview of the main changes to the travel recommendations that are now in effect:

-Those who are 14 days past their 2nd dose of vaccine with no symptoms no longer need to quarantine on return from out of state travel.

-Those who have not been vaccinated and who also have no symptoms can follow CDC guidance to end quarantine after 10 days or 7 days with a negative test within 48 hours of the end of the 7 days.

GIS will need the negative test results from students prior to returning, if a family chooses to travel outside Oregon and wants to return after 7 days of quarantining without symptoms.

Thanks for doing your part to keep our community strong and healthy.

We are excited to share our next steps on the road to full, in-person instruction. In an effort to communicate clearly, and as far ahead as possible for your planning, here is an overview of the calendar, again with (parentheses) to note which groups are impacted:

(Grade School, 1-5) March 8-March 18: 5 days per week, 8am-12:30pm in person instruction. Going full weeks with a later pick-up time (no lunch yet on site), so there may be some changes needed as we try this out.

(Grades 1-2): We will be reaching out to you for some trial run full day programming soon, likely happening during the week of March 15. Please stay tuned for details.

(Early Learning, Grade School) March 19: Teacher planning day, no school to give our team a chance to collaborate and get ready for the last stretch of the school year.

(Early Learning, Grade School) March 22-26: Spring Break, Early Learning Camp Available

(Early Learning, Grade School) March 29: Spring Break, no programming. The GIS board has decided to extend spring break by one day to give our team an opportunity to recharge. Please remember that the travel quarantine restrictions are still in place.

(Grade School, 1-5) March 30-June 24: 8am-2:30pm M-TH/8am-2pm F, full day, regular schedule. Support for those not yet able to return is being developed.

As always and as we have learned throughout the pandemic, these plans require all the necessary disclaimers, caveats, and possible needs for change. We have been working throughout this time to avoid sharing plans that require immediate alteration. We are hopeful that this plan will stay intact until the end of this academic year, however the safety of our community continues to be our priority. We also appreciate your support and flexibility as we bring our entire community through this time safely and together.

On behalf of the whole team here at GIS, thank you. Your support means a lot.

Important information and action items for you today, so I will go straight to the points, using (parentheses) to clarify targeted audiences:

-(EARLY CHILDHOOD) February 19, Extended Care Closing at 3pm: Many of our staff members had to schedule second vaccination appointments at the Oregon Convention Center in the afternoon of February 19. To make this possible, we are closing all GIS programming at 3pm. Please pick up your child(ren) by 3pm on February 19.

-(ALL) February 22 No School: Our team will be receiving the second vaccine dose 2-3 days prior to February 22. Side effects after the first dose were impactful for many of our team, so in an effort to give adequate recovery time and to allow you to plan, we are closing all GIS programming on February 22. We anticipate returning to scheduled operations on February 23.

-(ALL) Onsite COVID-19 Testing/Permission Slip Requirement: The Oregon Health Authority has provided GIS with ample rapid tests to be administered by trained GIS staff members. These tests are only for students in Grade School and any staff member who develops symptoms while they are on site. OHA requires hard copy signatures from all families and staff members to consent to the testing. We will be sending the consent forms home with your children on February 8th. We pre-filled the consent forms with most of each student's information to make it as easy as possible, but there are a few spots for you. Please make sure all boxes are filled, and you sign the second page. Once signed, please return the form with your student and the Homeroom Teacher will collect them. Please send them back to school until February 17th. For students who are not attending in-person instruction: please find your forms in the Tuesday pick up packages on February 9th.

-(GRADE SCHOOL) Home Health Check: Please login to your FACTS/ Parentsweb account and complete the permission slip that includes changes to home health checks. GIS will no longer be doing temperature checks in the drop-off line, but we need your support and commitment to do so before leaving home.

-(EARLY LEARNING) Daily Health Check: As of next week we will no longer do automatic temperature checks, but we will ask for verbal confirmation that your child is fever free. Teachers will continue to have thermometers on hand and will monitor and take temperature as needed. As always, the best way to prevent spreading any illness is to make sure your child is healthy and feeling well before heading to school. We truly appreciate your help with this!

-(ALL) Parking Lot Entrances: Please use the south (near Enterprise) driveway to enter and the north (near the sign) driveway to exit. Also, please no left turns when leaving. You can make this process smoother by having your child ready to leave the car with mask on and all materials ready to go. If you need or prefer a little more time, please park at the south end (German Track) or north end (Chinese Track) and walk your child up to one of our staff members for check-in.

(ALL): We are glad our community is so strong and keeping everyone as safe as possible. Please remember to help us by limiting social bubbles and contacts outside the school to keep our community safe.

Thank you for your help in making sure these items get noted and taken care of as soon as possible. We appreciate everyone’s support and flexibility.

25. January FAQ’s-Expanded Grade School In-Person Learning, Vaccines, and More

Please know that all decisions GIS makes about programming are first and foremost based on the safety of our community, including students, teachers, and staff. We hope this Q&A format will help inform and share what we currently know. Changes and updates to this information will be made as needed.

The Basics

What will the longer day look like for grades 1-5?

Starting February 1st, all grade school students will be welcomed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for four hours on each of those days. Specific start and end times may change for traffic reasons, but you can safely plan for a roughly 8 a.m. start and 12 p.m. pick-up. Students will have a snack and recess break during these four-hour sessions.

English lessons will be integrated during in-person learning, with Art, Music, and PE continuing during distance learning, likely in the afternoons. Tuesdays and Thursdays will remain in comprehensive distance learning mode through February.

Will GIS students still be expected to quarantine after traveling out of state?

Oregon Gov. Brown’s out-of-state quarantine travel advisory has not changed, as of this writing. Our understanding is that the quarantine only applies to the person(s) who have traveled. Please contact us and keep us informed on specific situations.

What if there is a snow day during the pandemic?

In this age of distance learning, a new system for closure decision-making due to bad weather was necessary.

Frau Williams and Herr Peters will make and inform the community about a closure by 6 a.m. each day via the Remind text message app, our website, and local media outlets. A snow day closure will include grade school students and distance learning.

If an extended closure for weather becomes necessary, grade school distance learning will resume following our normal schedules. We will be in close communication with you should any of this happen.

The Details

Why not spread out the days that students return to in person to have fewer students in the building at a time?

GIS classrooms provide more than the required 35 square feet per person, even if all students attend simultaneously. We also have outdoor learning spaces in regular use and new tented spaces set up. We are using several entry and exit points to the building to minimize contact between groups inside and outside.

To minimize the impact and extra driving trips to school, we are choosing to bring all the students back at the same time.

How large will the cohorts (controlled groups) on site be?

While the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) have increased allowable cohort sizes to 36, GIS is committed to maintaining our small sizes for the foreseeable future. Our largest class size is 15 students.

What are cleaning/ disinfecting protocols for classrooms and common spaces?

All of our cleaning protocols from the beginning of the pandemic remain in place, and we continue to make improvements.

Will GIS go back to only comprehensive distance learning if there is a surge in cases?

Yes. This is based on guidance from OHA/ODE, and we will continue to share what we learn. GIS will continue to work closely with our local health authority to determine if and when a change of programming would become advisable. We will also continue to update the case counts weekly here.

Why has GIS chosen to offer core classes in person and not Art, Music, and PE?

Safety is our first priority in all our decisions. It is safest for everyone for our specialist teachers (Art, Music, PE) to teach remotely and not come into contact with multiple class cohorts.

How will GIS support the students who are not able to attend in-person classes? Will there be regular live-streaming and/or online classes available?

GIS will continue to provide some online learning programming to families who choose to not yet participate in in-person instruction. Teachers will designate some teaching periods to live stream from the classroom and continue to provide independent learning assignments. Office hours will continue to provide an opportunity to check in with individual students or small groups.

How will social distancing during snack time be handled and enforced?

Snack time will be supervised by staff to ensure social distancing requirements are being met. Snack time will take place outside and students will be seated socially distanced while eating, if weather does not permit, while sitting at socially-distanced desks.

How will GIS handle students who are sick at school? Is there a plan in place for a separate quarantine space in case a student appears sick during school?

There is a section of the front lobby and a separate sick-room area designated as quarantine spots for students who begin to exhibit symptoms while on campus. Families will be called and expected to promptly pick their student up. Limited staff interaction and increased PPE (supplied by the school) will be implemented for students in the quarantine area while they are waiting to be picked up.

COVID-19 Testing/Quarantining

How will you share information about positive tests with the community? What are the protocols for quarantining if somebody at school tests positive?

GIS will continue to operate as we have through the fall: If we learn of someone who has tested positively in our school community, we immediately contact the Washington County Health Department and work through the steps with them. We will continue to share as much information as is allowed with the community, and follow all quarantine guidance we receive.

Is COVID testing available on-site at GIS?

COVID testing is not currently available on-site at GIS. We are actively working with local health authorities to ensure that GIS is trained and prepared to meet any state requirements regarding on-site COVID testing as the metrics evolve in our area.

Vaccines

Are GIS teachers being given the option to get vaccinated?

We were able to secure some appointments for our teachers to get vaccinated on January 26 and are eagerly waiting to learn when the remainder of the staff can access appointments. We do know that there will be a fair amount of logistical challenge associated with getting our team vaccinated, which may result in some short-notice schedule changes. Stay tuned for more.

Will there be any data shared about how many families have been vaccinated?

It will be difficult to collect and share how many community members are vaccinated, and there are privacy protections to be considered.

The Future

When will more and longer days be introduced this year?

Please refer to our roadmap document for information on our planning process.

What will Summer camp look like?

Summer camp for Early Childhood Education ages 2 through entering first grade is currently in the planning and approval process with the state. We very much want to provide a safe and language-rich program on our campus this summer. Stay tuned for more.

What will the 2021-22 academic calendar look like? Will days be added to this year’s calendar?

As of now we do not anticipate adding on school days this year or next year.

Based on guidance from ODE and learning from other schools around the world, we anticipate opening in the fall with all students in person for full days. For now the experts are recommending schools plan for in-person schooling with class sizes allowing for additional space in each classroom (like we always have had) and modifications for safety such as distancing, mask-wearing, and other safety measures.

Other Schools

Why are other schools offering more in-person instruction?

It is understandable to try and compare what other schools are doing to GIS. Please realize that these are not apple-to-apple comparisons and GIS continues to be committed to adhering to all guidance from the authorities (specifically ODE and OHA). We have offered safe in-person instruction since mid-August and will continue to do so, adding hours and days of in-person instruction according to our blueprint, which is approved by the authorities. Each school has different parameters to consider.

As we finish the first half of the school year, we wanted to send you some important information as we look forward to bringing more students back to campus.

-Grade School Calendar Changes January 28 and 29: In order to adequately prepare schedules, spaces, and the team for our increased in person instruction starting February 1st, we are carving out some needed teacher planning time.

-Thursday, January 28: Grades 1-5: Regular schedules until noon. No afternoon programming with teachers. Stay tuned for an all-school voluntary video live participation activity.

-Friday, January 29: Grades 1-2: 8am-10am, in person instruction, no afternoon programming. Grades 3, 4, and 5: teachers will send some assignments, no live online instruction/office hours/activity.

We appreciate your flexibility with these minor changes that will be very helpful to safely welcome the grade school students back for our 3 day schedule.

-Snow Days: Winter weather is in the forecast for next week...in this age of distance learning, we needed to develop a new system for closure decision making. Frau Williams and I will make and inform about a closure by 6am via the Remind text message app, our website, and local media outlets. Grade school students will be able to enjoy one full snow day as well, if we close the early childhood program. If an extended closure for weather becomes necessary, grade school will continue with distance learning following our normal schedules. We will be in close communication with you should any of this happen.

-Closed Bubble Request: As all schools bring more students on campus, ODE and OHA have asked schools to have their school communities re-commit to social distancing, quarantining, mask wearing, and all the other safety measures we all know. In order to give confidence to our staff members that we are doing everything possible to keep our bubbles intact, please do your parts by staying home, minimizing travel, not hosting sleepovers/playdates, etc.

-Vaccines for Educators: We have not yet learned how and when vaccines will actually come available for us. We do know that there will be a fair amount of logistical challenge associated with getting our team vaccinated, which may result in some short-notice schedule changes. Stay tuned for more as we learn it.

As we approach our goal of safe, in-person schooling, we need to stay steady, supportive, and flexible. For these next days, weeks, and perhaps months please redouble your efforts to keep all of our community members safe.

An updated FAQ for our community is in progress and growing daily. Please stay tuned for that and once that information is shared, we will host a community zoom session to answer questions.

We all thank you for what you are doing at home to support your students. Thank you also to our team of educators for the flexibility and ingenuity each and every day.

See you soon,

Blake

Thank you for your patience during the traffic snarl this morning. While that was happening we were simultaneously receiving new information on reopening guidelines from the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority. As you can imagine, many of the topics on school and family minds still have no answers (vaccinations, testing, metrics), so for today we do have information to share that is within our control. Here is what you really need to know:

Starting the week of February 1st, all grade school students will be welcomed for 4 hour in person instruction (roughly 8am-12pm...we are looking at possibly staggering start/end times to minimize traffic) each Wednesday and Friday.

We have plans to continue increasing in person instruction safely and steadily over time. However, new information on vaccinations, testing, and metrics will be released on January 19th. Before sharing a lot of plans that may need to change, we wanted to give you insight into our thinking, but mostly give you time to prepare for the logistics of the twice weekly, four hour in person instruction.

We will share more as soon as we learn it, hopefully by end of next week, and will also host a question and answer session. Everyone knows that our plans may need to change, but for now, this is our working model.

Thanks much for your patience and support of our teachers, students, and whole school community.

Greetings GIS Grade School Families,

We hope this email finds you well, and that you all have had a safe and peaceful Winter Break.

As you have most likely heard, Governor Brown changed the guidelines for returning to In-Person instruction at the beginning of Winter Break. Given this change, we are reaching out today to share updates on the path to bringing our students back to in-person learning in a safe and responsible manner.

There are still several open questions about how the new directive will impact our path to in-person learning. Around January 19th, updated guidelines should be available to us, and we are reaching out to our contacts in the meantime to explore options.

Possible plans include initially expanding on our limited in person instruction (for additional days and/or an additional hour on site) and we are optimistic that the newly given flexibility will allow us to do what is best for our community in a safe and responsible way.

We are asking for a little more patience as we are working with our local health authorities, ODE and of course, our teaching teams, to plan the next steps. Your survey feedback will also help us in determining the next steps, too. At this point, we anticipate any changes to go into effect after the MLK weekend, January 19th, at the earliest. We will make sure to communicate changes in a timely manner and give you time to plan accordingly.

In the meantime, we are looking forward to welcoming students back on campus for limited in person instruction this Wednesday, January 6th. Please remember to adhere to the 14 days quarantine requirement if your child has left the state of Oregon over the break.

Thank you for your support and patience.

Wishing you a great and safe start to the new year!

All the best,

Stefanie Amann and Martha Ortiz

Dear GIS Families,

We sincerely hope everyone had a happy, distanced Thanksgiving break and that you were able to spend quality time with your immediate family. Looking ahead to the coming week we are ready to welcome our students according to our plan:

-Early Childhood Students: regular in person programming Monday through Friday

-Grades One to Five: online instruction with Limited In Person Instruction (LIPI) on Wednesdays (1st- 5th) and LIPI for 1st-2nd on Fridays.

Some minor changes you should expect coming into the week are daily screening questions about travel outside Oregon, as we shared with you on November 17th. If your student(s) have left Oregon within the last 14 days, you will be required to quarantine. Please let your teacher know that you are quarantining or choose to not participate in LIPI for the time being so we have good information.

Please prepare your child(ren) for returning to school this weekend, both for online learning and in person. Help them remember about social distancing, wearing masks, getting up earlier, and being ready to learn.

Thanks much for helping keep our program safe and strong.

Dear GIS Families,

The Oregon Department of Education held a meeting yesterday afternoon to help schools clarify Governor Brown’s recent 14 Day travel quarantine statement for residents of Oregon. While there are many questions still to be answered, we did learn the following:

-All residents of Oregon are strongly encouraged to stay home, particularly next week during the Thanksgiving break.

-If you leave Oregon, you and your family are all subject to the 14 day quarantine period from the day you return to Oregon.

What does this mean for GIS students and their families?

-Our plan is to return to programming after the break as we have been operating since the fall: full in person for Early Childhood and Online with Wednesday (grades 1-5) and Friday (grades 1-2) Limited In Person Instruction.

-Early Childhood Students who have left Oregon will not be able to return to in person instruction until the 14 day quarantine period has been completed. No Online Instruction is currently planned since we will be open.

-Grade School Students who have left Oregon will be able to participate in Online Instruction, but not able to attend the Limited In Person Instruction until the 14 day quarantine period has been completed.

The Oregon Department of Education has asked schools to build in travel screening questions for building entry. To that end, we are asking everyone in our community to work together and be transparent. We want to avoid the awkward experience of having a family report that no travel out of Oregon happened, but then have the student tell their friends about visiting grandparents in California for Thanksgiving, for example.

As of now, there is no end to the travel quarantine. We are asking specifically for clarification about travel to and from southern Washington, but for now Oregon is Oregon and that is that...until new rules are generated.

We will surely let you know if/when any of this changes, but wanted you to know these important pieces of information right away, as they may impact your Thanksgiving plans. Please stay in Oregon and do your part to make continued GIS programming possible for all of our students and teachers.

Dear GIS Community,

Many of you surely listened to or have heard Governor Brown’s announcement today about the stay at home freeze or have read the press release. GIS supports this decision and asks all members of our community to abide by these measures. Important information for the coming weeks as it relates to our programming for the coming days and weeks includes:

• Early Childhood schooling will be in person Monday-Thursday next week as scheduled.

• Grade School will meet online Monday-Thursday, including being online on Wednesday, per the recommendation of the Oregon Department of Education.

• Virtual Parent Teacher conferences are on Friday as planned.

• Governor Brown was extremely clear on the advisory for travel and gatherings, particularly around the Thanksgiving holiday. My family will be changing our already adapted plans to do our part.

• The West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington) travel advisory and 14 day quarantine after returning from out of state travel applies to all of us. The Oregon Department of Education instructed schools to add a travel question to our check-in questionnaire, to support contact tracing efforts. If you travel out of state, plan on quarantining your whole family and not having your children attend in person school for those 14 days. Adhering to these rules will help ensure that our community can emerge from this health crisis intact. Please be transparent with the school by honestly answering travel related screening questions, and respect the Governor’s advisory by quarantining after travel.

• We ask all parents and staff members to redouble their efforts to adhere to mask and social distancing measures when coming to campus for pick-up and drop-off. Specific areas of concern are staying outside the blue marked lines at our early childhood doors and staying in cars during grade school pick-up and drop-off lines.

The good news is that GIS received thanks and appreciation from the Washington County Health Department for our work during our recent positive Covid-19 test. That case has been closed, no further infections occurred as a result of that positive test, no real health impacts happened, and our carefully constructed system proved strong. That one instance showed our school how impactful and interdependent our community is.

We will continue to operate like we have been since mid-August. We can work together by continuing to wash our hands, wear our masks, and stay separate. The new and hardest thing we are hearing is the strong request to limit private social gatherings. The safety of our teachers, students, staff, parents, and grandparents is of paramount importance, and we expect our community to rise to this challenge. The GIS team will do our part to model safe behavior, and we ask you to as well.

Thank you for your support.

Dear GIS 2s and PreK Community,

As we are heading into late fall and early winter, the time for increased sniffles and sneezes, we want to make sure we are as prepared as possible. While we currently do not require mask wearing for our youngest students, we nevertheless want to make sure they are prepared for extra precautions if the need should arise.

This could include that children might be asked to wear a mask during times of the day where physical distancing is hard for little ones, like free play time. To do so successfully, it is important that children practice wearing a mask as well as taking their mask on and off. Please see a helpful document to help children with mask wearing provided from the Oregon Health Authority. You can also find the document in the Resources section on our GIS COVID Response Home Page. Please practice at home, and know that all of us are also here to help support and practice with your little ones at school.

We also have a lot of children which already are bringing in masks. Some of them wear them only for a short period of time, while others are leaving them on for most of the day. The teachers are usually accommodating the children based on their individual needs. If you would like for your child to wear his or her mask for most of the day, please let your child’s teacher know and they will share with you a face covering agreement form, outlining some of the requirements to make this happen.

Please know we are not changing our requirements on mask wearing, but simply want to be prepared. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Stay safe and be well!

All the best,

Daniela Williams, Martha Ortiz and the GIS Early Childhood Team

Dear Community,

The Oregon Department of Education released new metrics last week for schools in Oregon to follow when considering re-opening.

You can refer to GIS’s, COVID-19 metrics page to see the updated criteria that are being referenced and check back for regular updates.

At this point, German International School does not meet the criteria to move into a hybrid model based on the current metrics for Washington and Multnomah counties.

We will be reviewing the metrics and seeing if they have any impact on GIS’s roadmap for returning to in-person instruction. We know how important this is to families, and will prioritize the need to keep our students, staff, and whole community safe while making these considerations.

Thank you for your trust and support.

Dear Chinese and German Track First through Fifth Grade Families,

We excitedly look forward to next week’s start and hope you are as well. There have been some questions that we wanted to address as quickly and broadly as possible. In an effort to be thorough, clear, and open, we are sharing as much information as we have and we also ask you for grace and flexibility as things continue to change, often daily. We hope the Question & Answer format below allows you to scan for relevant information for your family.

Will students in grades 1-3 be provided with an essential workers day care option?

Not yet. Governor Brown’s guidelines are written to provide care, but not schooling, for emergency care of essential worker’s children. We continue to seek opportunities to bring our youngest grade school students together in person with their teachers and friends, but are unable to provide emergency care AND continue online instruction simultaneously.

What will happen during the 2 hour Wednesday blocks?

Based on the Oregon Department of Education's guidelines we will be able to bring students on site in groups of max. 10 students for 2 hours for social emotional learning, building community and support, especially in German and Chinese language instruction.

Will more 2 hour in person blocks be added and when?

Not yet. We are trying to find the balance between in person instruction and minimizing the drive time parent work day disruption caused by the 2 hour blocks. Adding more 2 hour blocks is something we would indeed like to pursue, but we want to try a few weeks of Wednesdays, settle into the new year, and assess our metrics and successes then.

How is the downstairs space ventilated since there are no operable windows in that area?

In anticipation of the new social distance guidelines, we had our entire ventilation system serviced and asked all the relevant questions about the amount of air flow, filtering, and any recommendations the experts had. Our building has a nearly new HVAC system that efficiently circulates the air into and out of the rooms at a rate similar to what hospitals have in their common (non high risk individualized rooms) areas. In addition to that, we have installed HEPA air purifiers/filters into each classroom (1 each in the smaller Chinese track rooms, 2 each in the larger 4th grade German track rooms). We are also keeping external doors open to further increase air flow into and out of the downstairs space. All of our rooms meet or exceed the square footage per student recommendations in the Oregon Department of Education reopening guidelines as well.

Are there any options to request classroom changes?

For the beginning of this year, no. We understand that some families have created pods to support home learning and we are thrilled and appreciative of these efforts. Accommodating each pod and aligning those requests at this time is not feasible. We will work hard to align instruction, assignments, and schedules in parallel grades to minimize the logistical difficulties. Additionally, we will seek opportunities to improve the overall experience for students, teachers, and parents as we work together in the coming weeks. There may be models that we want to try out this year that we have not yet considered. For now, we are going to get started with the classes as planned.

When will Chinese Track families receive their detailed weekly schedule information for week two and beyond?

You will be receiving that information by the end of this week or early next week. Stay tuned for a direct message from your teachers for all of that.

How will we know when GIS can be back to in person instruction?

We’ve built a space on our Covid Response page that tracks our metrics. We will continue to update weekly and be in contact with you as metrics are looking better.

Once infection rates decrease we will first be able to bring our 1 st to 3 rd grade students back for in person instruction.

What will hybrid instruction look like when the metrics are achieved to bring students back in person more fully?

We are working hard to finalize plans and will share those details as we are able. We are very aware of the complexities created for many families regarding extra travel time, multiple students, many schools, parent jobs, and more. Our goal is to move as steadily, safely, and smartly into in person instruction as possible. We will possibly be offering different models for different aged students. For now, please know that we will do our best to accommodate the needs of families and of teachers through creative and flexible practices.

As we begin this new school year together this quotation from child psychologist, Emily K. King, may serve us well to keep in our community’s mind, “do not go into this school year with 2019 goals. This is 2020. Have 2020 goals: Safety, Connection, Mental Wellness, Physical Health, Maintain Relationships.” To that end, I am very glad that GIS has provided creative opportunities to build relationships with their classmates and teachers in person during the past weeks and into next week for our Chinese track families.

Please continue thinking for and about our program. Ask us questions, help us move forward, and let’s seek opportunities to improve.

Sincerely, Blake Peters, Stefanie Amann, Martha Ortiz

Greetings GIS Families,

This week has been outstanding. Our teachers and students are learning new routines, staying safe, engaging with one another, and learning a lot. Thank you so much for your patience and flexibility as we work through new procedures. We are so glad to give our students the chance to connect and it has been fun to hear the family stories about how much improved your children’s home behavior has been this week!

This message is primarily intended for our families with students in grades 1-5, in both our Chinese and German tracks. We want to keep all of our families informed about what is happening with our plans going into September, so we included everyone. This information is also built into our Covid Response Website in case you would like to reference it later.

We are looking ahead and wanted to share information regarding our grade school Chinese and German tracks reopening plans for September and beyond, based on current guidance by Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority. As you know, they established metrics for safely reopening schools in Oregon.

Click Here to See the Metrics Needed for GIS to Open in Person

We received some clarification and are currently tracking relevant data here weekly. We will regularly update this page so you have a resource directly related to our ability to open. We will only open our program for in person instruction if we see a positive, sustainable trend in case numbers.

2 Hour In Person Small Group Wednesday Meetings for Grades 1-5 Starting September 16th

A new addition to the guidance is that while we are in distance learning, we will provide weekly, 2 hour maximum in person small group meetings with classroom teachers to continue to build community and learn together! We are working on details and will integrate these meeting times into our home learning schedules on Wednesdays. Stay tuned for specific starting and ending times for those. Participation is voluntary but we hope that the short time and small class cohorts will allow the majority of our students to come and join us! As we progress into fall we will reevaluate an expansion on this offering into more days.

Emergency Care for Early Childhood Program

For now, GIS will be providing emergency, onsite care only for students in the 2s, Preschool, and Kindergarten classes in both language tracks. No changes for that program are being made.

For our grade schoolers, the Wednesday small group meetings will allow us greater opportunity to connect with more of our students and we hope to build out as many of those small group meetings as soon as it is safely possible.

Opening More Completely Once the Metrics are Met

Once the number of COVID cases in our communities comes down, we will be able to welcome students back on campus in 2 phases, starting with our first, second and third graders, likely in a hybrid (partially in person from 8am-noon, partially online with afternoon art, pe, music, and extra English lessons, for example) model. As numbers continue to improve, we will then do the same for grades 4 and 5. Since we do not yet have a timeline associated with these steps, we wanted you to have an overview of our approach and will fill in details as time passes.

Chinese Track Opening September 8-11:

We are excited to welcome our students in our new Chinese Track. Chinese Track Preschool and Kindergarten classes will have full-day, onsite instruction under our emergency childcare license, in line with the German track classes at this level.

During the first week of school (September 8-11) students in Chinese Track Grades 1-5 are invited to participate in daily community-building 2-hour sessions with their classroom and English teachers to build a strong foundation for the rest of the year.

Beginning with the second week, students in Chinese Track Grades 1-5 will follow the distance learning schedule with the 2 hour small group meeting Wednesdays. A schedule and survey for the first week daily sessions and the Wednesday small group meetings are forthcoming.

Thank you for doing your part by wearing masks, adhering to social distancing guidelines in your small and defined social groups, and helping our reopening efforts. We fully realize how complex these times are and sharing clear information is likewise difficult. If you have any questions or desire clarification, please feel free to connect with your program head:

Chinese Track: martha.ortiz@gspdx.org

German Early Childhood: daniela.williams@gspdx.org

German Grade School: stefanie.amann@gspdx.org

Admissions Questions: elizabeth.gillespie@gspdx.org

Anything else: blake.peters@gspdx.org

We hope you all have a pleasant weekend and thanks for trusting and building our community to be stronger than ever.

Dear GIS Community,

As you surely saw this week, Governor Brown announced new guidelines for allowing schools to reopen for the 2020-21 school year. Schools are now only able to open based on reopening blueprints AND county-wide virus data. While GIS meets the requirements on the blueprint, Washington County has not yet met the criteria for data reopening. GIS has an emergency summer camp provider license. We will implement that license in a measured approach to deliver what we think is best for our community:

Summer Programming (for German track only)

All students twos-grade 5 are invited to join us on campus for summer camp August 17th-September 3rd. This will be a German language immersion camp that is free of charge for current GIS families. Camp groups will be organized in stable cohorts as described in the Zoom Meetings last week, typical grade levels. Click here for information and to register for two year olds, preschoolers, and kindergarten students. The program will refamiliarize students with the German language, build relationships with their teachers, and with each other before the formal start of school September 8th. Grade 1-5 students can be registered for the summer program here. Grade school programming will be half days and preschool/K will continue as a full day program.

Once we have received registrations for the summer program by August 10th, we will send out logistics information to those families about how to get ready to join us, access the building, and what to bring. If you have any questions about your specific summer program, please connect directly with Daniela Williams for 2s, Preschool, or Kindergarten or Stefanie Amann for grade school questions.

September 8, Start of School Year

• Grades 1-5 Chinese & German Tracks: school will begin on September 8th and will be in the distance learning mode, in all language tracks, based on the latest order from the governor. As soon as Washington County meets the metrics described in the governor’s order, we stand ready to welcome back to campus those families who feel comfortable with in-person learning. We will continue to offer a distance learning option for grades 1-5.

• Early Childhood Education (2 year olds, preschool, and kindergarten): school will begin on September 8th, and will be offered in person based on the schedule you selected. We will continue to operate under our emergency license for childcare, as described in our meetings last week and aligned with the Governor’s new guidelines. This is the same license we have used to run our successful and safe summer programs throughout July.

• For families needing childcare for students in grades 1-3, we will be working with our state licensor to see what options we may have to offer childcare in our building under our emergency license. This guidance is slated to come out by August 17th. From there a plan will be built based on the new early learning guidance and requirements. Children in this program would continue with distance learning in their classes while being supervised and assisted by our staff at GIS. This program must be made available to the children of essential workers first, but depending on the level of interest, we may have additional capacity.

• We will not be able to offer tuition discounts or reimbursements for distance learning, or for unforeseen program changes. The preparation and delivery of the many options available to our families costs significantly more to run than our traditional in-person program. We understand the pressure on families caused by the economic impacts of COVID-19 and we continue to offer and have available Financial Aid for families who need assistance with tuition. Please contact Elizabeth Gillespie to begin a Financial Aid application.

We appreciate your support as our community works together through this time in history. We will continue to update you in the coming weeks with the traditional back-to-school information. Please be patient with us as we prioritize our summer program and build a strong language-rich online experience as well as a safe and supportive in person environment for our younger learners.

We continue to wish you and your family health and peace.

Sincerely,

Blake Peters

Dear GIS Community,

As we end the second week of our summer break, we were interested in sharing some information about how we are approaching reopening on August 17th. Our team is hard at work every day getting ready. Our confidence in being able to safely welcome every student for five days a week continues to grow. The first focus of the summer for the operations team is to get the building and classroom experience ready for our students and teachers.

To be clear, there will be differences in how we operate when we come back together. Our GIS Home Learning page will receive regular updates and be your key source of information. That site will be populated with important information like new pick up and drop off procedures and how to install our new app that will keep our parking lot moving. You will also be able to read about our daily health checks and what we expect from families to keep our community safe. GIS will meet all the guidelines from local and state authorities. We will be sharing some articles that we will encourage everyone to read to create a common pool of understanding around our approach. We will be working with our students to take responsibility for keeping a safe and healthy environment. Together we can do this.

The second part of the summer will be focused on building a robust plan for continuing to deliver high quality instruction and educational experiences for our students if we are forced to return to Home Learning Mode. This past Spring we were able to quickly build a strong program and our teachers were outstanding in their creativity, passion, and flexibility. We have learned so much together and are ready to make improvements and enhancements, if we are forced to learn from home. We are also building pathways so that individual students and even teachers will be able to continue participating in our program remotely, if that becomes necessary.

For now, we ask you to take a break, unplug, and we will continue to get ready to welcome you back. The new school will challenge us all to be flexible, supportive, and willing to try new things. We are particularly excited to welcome our new families to the Chinese track and to our new two year olds program. We will share more information about these innovative options soon as well.

Thank you for making the GIS community so strong by supporting these efforts.

Sincerely,

The GIS Reopening Team

Grade School Programming Preschool/Kindergarten Chinese Track Task Force

Stefanie Amann Daniela Williams Martha Ortiz
Michelle Bahr Elizabeth Gillespie Karen Keene

Micha Ramsey

Thomas Wimmer

Facilities Director Health and Safety Task Force

Hunter Gregg Xochitl Alshaarawi

Chad Byars

Jennifer Grove-Heuser

Tricia Rotter

Nicole Russo

Dear GIS Community,

I have some hopeful news to share.

The Board and the Administrative Leadership Team has been closely consulting with our COVID Task Force -- a group of GIS parents who are front line healthcare professionals, risk managers, corporate strategic planners, as well as GIS’s facilities and administrative teams -- to determine our community’s next steps. After careful consideration, we have created a thorough set of protocols for the health and safety for our school. These protocols are based on recommended practices like social distancing, daily health screenings, and restricting the total number of person-to-person contacts for each individual, and consider the unique aspects of our facility and our community.

Using these protocols, we are developing a plan that will allow us to reopen for in person instruction in the fall. The current plan is for school to start on August 17. This means the school year will include three weeks of additional instruction, an option supported by an overwhelming number of parents and teachers, based on the results of the school-wide survey sent in May. The exact composition of the three additional weeks of school in August is under development, and we will share the details of what that program will look like as soon as possible. The goal is to boost our students’ learning, social relationships, and sense of community.

The draft plan for reopening is based on current guidelines. As we move through the next several weeks, those guidelines may ease or tighten, and we will adjust accordingly. We will not reopen for in-person school if we cannot create an environment that we believe is safe for our community members. In that event, we will be ready to start the year using our well-established home learning systems.

Many of the details are still under consideration and review. The final plan will include procedures to promptly shift from in-person school to a home learning modality, both for the entire school and individual students, if that should become necessary. Incorporated into the new strategy will be modifications to our daily schedule and to the calendar. It will also include specific procedures for drop-off, pick-up, how parents will access the building, volunteering, and more. Our goal is to publish the final version no later than August 1, 2020. Community flexibility will remain to be a key strength and requirement going forward.

As we come to the end of the 2019-20 school year, we must acknowledge the uncertainty and stress of the last several months. For this coming year, our goal is to plan ahead for potential scenarios, so that we can all know what to expect. We hope this helps mitigate the emotional impact for our students, staff, and families. We know there are lots of questions. Your patience, commitment, passion, and dedication to our community are deeply felt and appreciated.

We are hopeful for the new year, and appreciative of the expertise and time of our COVID Task Force. Stay safe and kind.

Blake

Dear GIS Community,

My heart hurts as I reflect on our nation’s reckoning with our historical and systemic racism and see our city in pain. It is hard to know the right words at this moment, but I will say this – GIS is a safe, open, diverse and loving community, and we will not be silent. We are learning, we are listening. As we listen, our neighbors at Nike shared a powerful message that helps us put words to this you may want to share with your children.

Our school’s job is to educate and our mission is to raise global citizens. We can not accomplish that goal without a discussion of racial inequality, and we must give our children a voice in that conversation. With that in mind, our staff has begun curating the list below. Topics like racism, equity, inclusion, and justice are heavy and complex, but educational experts agree that it is never too soon to begin discussing these issues with your children. Please share resources, actions, and links that you find helpful and we will add them to the list, and continue the conversation.

With commitment and perseverance, we can learn from one another and help our larger community build a future that is more just and equitable.

Blake

This list is evolving and simply a collection of information that we are reading each day. If you have anything you would like to see listed here, please email elizabeth.gillespie@gspdx.org

• Your Kids Aren't Too Young to Talk About Race, A Resource Roundup

• A Book About Racism by Jelani Memory (excellent series of books on complex topics)

• Teaching Tolerance

• Anti-Racism Resources

• How to talk to Kids about Racism

• What White People Can Do

• NY Times List of Books Parents Can Use

• Education Week Article about what teachers can do

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Our 5th graders worked hard on their exhibition projects. The challenges of home learning while working on this extensive research project provided us with some new opportunities to be creative. For the first time students created a collaborative website to present their projects. Please explore their ideas of how we can make this planet better here .

Our May 21st Board Meeting will be a virtual meeting via zoom at 6:30pm. Agenda is:

-Head of School Report (Academic Excellence, Communications, Facilities, Growth)

-Committee Reports (Executive, Finance, Building, Leadership Development, Resource Development)

If you would like to observe the meeting, please contact Sophie.Matle@gspdx.org and she will share the zoom coordinates.

Covid-19 Financial Impact Update

As we all know, the pandemic is hitting everyone around the world. Closer to home in our community this has meant job losses, decreases, increased expenses, and major changes for all of us.

As we work together through this crisis, the school has been hard at work determining what the best, most honest, fair, and transparent path forward financially is. We are proud that GIS is (currently) the only German school in North America and the only school in Portland to have immediately added weeks of instruction at no extra charge for the coming school year. More information about our calendar changes will be coming soon.

Below is an overview of some of the steps we have taken to make this phase of the crisis more financially manageable for our families while continuing to make sure that the school is on solid ground for the future.

Tuition Insurance

We have inquired about tuition insurance for the 2020-21 school year, but providers are unable to accept any new policies for the coming school year. In early Fall we will start working with them to have a policy in place for the 2021-22 school year.

Payroll Protection Plan (PPP)

GIS submitted an application for the Payroll Protection Program as soon as it was possible. GIS didn’t receive any funds in the first round before they were depleted. We reapplied for the second round of funding and are working out details about the second round as the rules continue to change, almost daily.

German Government Emergency Support

On May 6 we learned that the German Government is trying to allocate funds to support German Schools Abroad like GIS. The political will was evident, however timelines, amount, and form of support were not clarified.

Budget for this year and next

GIS is thankfully projecting a surplus for the 2019-20 fiscal year due to increased enrollment, generous supporters, and careful financial management. For the 2020-21 year we are projecting a deficit due to some large increases resulting from the pandemic. GIS has budgeted for increases in staffing to accommodate small groups and increases in capital improvements to keep the building and students safe once school continues. The 2019-20 surplus will help cover the deficit projected for 2020-21 and GIS is confident that our school will be able to come through this period.

Financial Assistance is still available

GIS immediately made emergency financial assistance available for the current school year and we re-opened the process for new families for the new school year. Please reach out to ElizabethGillespie with questions or requests.

Changed dates for tuition payments for next year

The payment due date for early payments in full with a 2% discount has been moved to July 1st, 2020. The deadline to disenroll from GIS without any penalties has been moved to July 31st, 2020.

FACTS

FACTS is our new online tuition system, which has been a parent request for many years. We are glad to offer this system, but the timing of the system rollout has caused some minor confusion.

If you haven’t finished the process yourself, we have tried to be helpful and imported all families into the system with their previously selected tuition payment plan schedules. Invoices for 2020-21 tuition will be emailed through the system approximately 6 weeks prior to the payment due date.

You will be able to access your accounts through ParentsWeb and be able to make payments directly.

Extended Care and AG Credits

GIS offered options to our families to receive credits or to donate to the school for Extended Care and AG programming.

Soliciting Feedback

In the coming days you will be asked to share your ideas and plans to achieve the goal of financial burden sharing with our school. In an effort to be very open and honest we will be asking for your input on what will keep our community together moving forward. The ideas will be focused around providing benefits to our families based on what families identify as their priorities from this survey.

I know many families are waiting for new information from the Governor and wondering what our new normal will look like. The GIS leadership team is working in the background on opportunities and plans for when and how we can re-open the school. There are many idea and potential opportunities being looked at we consider programming form all angles and ages. We are looking at this in four main areas:

Kindersommer: Will we still be able to offer camp? What will it look like? What ages can we serve? Health and safety of all involved.

Early Childhood Licensed program: Being a licensed program, does that open up opportunities for us once the Governor's new orders come out? What could that look like?

Summer Boost: Programming, group size and timing?

School Year: Schedules, layout within the building, timing and plans for keeping everyone safe and healthy.

Please make sure to check back as we continue to work on potential plans.

Frau Lewis has been working hard to keep all our students fit and active while at home and now she wants to share that opportunity with the whole family. She is excited to share a challenge with you that can be accomplished if we all work together.

From May 1st to June 1st, Students, Staff & Families, are going to take on The 5,185 mile Challenge. Starting at our school, 5,185 miles gets us all the way to Berlin, Germany!

There are lots of ways to log your miles, you can find out more in this video

Here is the link for the survey where you can log your miles

Have fun getting in your miles!

Our goal with these FAQs was to get you the most current information we have, so please excuse any typos or editing issues. We have involved a lot of people in producing this list. We will do our best to keep the information current.

As always feel free to reach out to blake.peters@gspdx.org if you need anything specifically for your family. We know that this time is difficult and complicated for everyone. We are glad and proud to have such a supportive and caring school community.

General Questions

Will the GIS building remain closed the rest of the school year?

Most likely, yes. Our teachers are operating as if our building will remain unavailable to us until the end of the school year. Our board is weighing the decision to officially close or not. The Governor’s April 8th Executive Order does leave private schools some flexibility. However, GIS would only consider opening the building in any capacity if extensive and clear guidance on safety were available and compelling.

Our whole community should indeed operate as if we will not be returning into the building until after the school year, at earliest.

How can we help teachers?

A kind word always goes a long way, especially during these unprecedented times. Teachers, who are also parents, grandparents and caregivers themselves, are dedicated to being there for their students’ education regardless of the pandemic, and are working hard to continue connecting with their students. An encouraging email of appreciation is always welcome.

What about volunteer hours?

For the rest of the school year, we are no longer asking families to enter volunteer hours into the system. No fees will be applied for anyone who has not fulfilled their hours during this academic year.

We are so proud and appreciative of the many, many families offering to support the school through creative initiatives (offering to host talent shows, reading groups, board committee works, mentoring 5th graders, and many more). Community spirit is alive and well.

Financial Questions

Is emergency financial assistance available for families who experience job loss or other financial hardship as a result of the pandemic?

Yes! Our board took swift action and set up a process to support families in financial distress. Thus far we have been able to help and support those families who have been directly and significantly impacted. We are very honored to help our community members and continue to provide high-quality instruction for these students. All families who need support are encouraged to contact Elizabeth.Gillespie@gspdx.org directly.

Will tuition refunds, credits, opportunities to donate be offered?

At this point GIS is offering high-quality programming at all levels. The GIS Board and staff have been in close contact with all of the North American German schools abroad, the leading independent schools in the Portland area, and others across the country. In order to keep the school business solid and continue to operate through this academic year and into the new school year, we are not currently offering tuition refunds or credits. If your family is experiencing financial hardship, please connect with Elizabeth.Gillespie@gspdx.org.

Why has the school not laid off or furloughed teachers or administrative staff?

-We care for, need, and want to keep our whole community intact. We have applied for both rounds of Payroll Protection Plan loans. We did not receive approval for the first disbursement and are waiting on the response for round two.

-Our whole team is working their full complement of hours. Although parents may not see their teachers interact with students as often, the time and effort involved in small group instruction, producing Home Learning content, and increased email communication is significantly more than normal. In other words, we are all working at or above capacity.

-Many of our staff members are on exchange visas that remove them from qualifying for any unemployment benefits if they were laid off or furloughed. Additionally the exchange visa would require them to leave the country should they lose their jobs. This could result in losing some of our outstanding teachers, even if they wanted to return later. We have been informed that due to changing immigration policies these exchange visas are on hold for a minimum of 60 days for anyone new trying to enter the United States.

Has GIS done everything possible to minimize expenses?

Yes. We have done everything from applying for the Payroll Protection Program funding, to opening a line of credit, moving funds into multiple banks, to renegotiating leases, and unplugging microwaves. We are actively working to keep the business strong to ensure a strong future. GIS is financially conservative with an eye to supporting staff members, keeping tuition as reasonable as possible, and operating a lean budget.

How is the school doing financially? Will we be able to weather this storm?

We are feeling very optimistic about the school’s financial future in large part thanks to our strong community continuing to pay their tuition. Our school’s fiscal year runs July 1-June 30. We initially had budgeted to only enroll 171 students, but are pleased that we currently have 180 enrolled. This increase in enrollment paired with some careful budgeting and reduced expenses allows us to currently project a surplus for the 2019-2020 year. Budgeting for 2020-21 is currently showing a deficit (projecting lower enrollment, staffing and material increases to accommodate Social Distance Learning next year, loss of income for downstairs) that will likely be covered by the current surplus. This would allow the school to come through this pandemic in a solid financial position and be confident about our future.

Is GIS considering freezing tuition like a very few of the other local private schools? Are other ideas being talked about?

The Board of Directors is exploring multiple options as things continue to change and evolve. Finding the right balance between supporting our families, our staff, and making sure the school is stable and able to operate for the coming years is complex. Each option we contemplate invariably brings risk, uncertainty, and also opportunity.

GIS is committed to seeking the closest thing to this balance and will continue sharing openly and honestly. We all understand how difficult this situation is for families, particularly for those of our youngest learners.

Will there be tuition insurance offered for next year?

This is one of the areas Carina and Elizabeth are looking into to find the best fit for our school community. Our hope is to have it available for the fall and we will keep you informed. Tuition insurance companies are currently re-evaluating what (pandemic closures, for example) they will and will not cover.

Timing Questions

How is GIS approaching school planning during the next months of the pandemic?

For now, GIS has broken learning during the pandemic into three phases:

1. Home Learning: We are (hopefully) about half way through this first phase of learning during the stay at home restrictions phase. We continue to improve, try new things, focus on advancing learning targets. Student emotional and social well-being are also of high importance (Stay tuned for an upcoming workshop we will offer with the Children’s Program on staying connected during this time). If you have feedback, please direct your thoughts directly to your teachers.

2. Social Distance Learning: Once some of the restrictions have been eased, we are assuming that we will not yet be able to return to ‘as was’ learning. We are thinking ahead about providing different entrances, group sizes, adding extra sanitation measures, temperature checks, class locations, schedules, outdoor use, and more. The GIS campus is well suited to provide multiple access points, with plenty of space to achieve social distancing in whatever that new phase will bring. There will obviously be compromises to make, but our mission can continue.

3. Back to Normal? Only after the experts have given full release will schools be able to return to the ‘as was’ approach. This will likely be after vaccinations are available, herd immunity has been achieved, and all of the other new scientific terms have gone into effect.

How and when we move through these (and possibly others that we do not currently foresee) phases is very fluid. This framework will guide our community as we move forward together.

Programming Questions

Will there be any immediate changes to programming in Preschool and Kindergarten?

Starting May 4th families will see a few additions to their current schedules which will reflect feedback from our families to include more live sessions, opportunities for kids to see teachers live and a way for kids to meet live in a more informal, but still supervised way.

Will there be any immediate changes to programming in Grade School?

Our grade school teachers also made some edits based on feedback and based on what is best for students. You will receive more information on those changes directly from your teachers.

Has the school helped families in need of extra devices?

Yes! We were quick to loan out all of our Chromebooks to families needing an extra device. Our approach to scheduling various lessons tried to keep in mind that families with multiple children may run into ‘overly subscribed’ devices, which is why some staggered scheduling, versus blocked/traditional scheduling, has been our approach.

If your family borrowed a Chromebook, but you are finding that it is not being used, please contact Sophie.Matle@gspdx.org so we can get it returned, sanitized, and put back into circulation for another family.

What if I don’t feel safe sending my child to school when it reopens, or they are sick?

Our school building will only reopen and in-person instruction will resume after we have been assured by health officials that it is safe to do so. We will continue to follow all health and safety guidelines to ensure students and staff are safe as a condition of opening our physical doors again. Our goal is to get our students confidently and safely back in the building. There may be hybrid (online/in school) options that we might offer. As always, families are asked to make the right decision for their own situations.

What is the idea behind the Summer Boost Program?

A host of options have been analyzed from the very beginning, knowing that this was going to be a dramatic shift in education delivery. GIS was early to decide to offer this program for our students, and very few schools have chosen to offer summer programs at no additional charge. We are proud to be leading this effort.

In March we recognized that families would need a clear path for high-quality education, supporting students linguistically, academically, and socially, and a nurturing place for their children, should restrictions be lifted by summertime.

We also wanted to ensure our staff had an option to continue their employment through the summer.

Parents should consider the Summer Boost program a coupon for summer camp that they are welcome to use or not. GIS is proud to offer the program to our families because our mission is to provide a rich bilingual education. We know this pandemic has limited options and flexibility for other summer programs, and should restrictions be lifted, we will be ready to safely welcome our students, ready to challenge them, take care of them, and get them ready for the new school year.

The Summer Boost Program will be available at no charge to families who keep their payments current, whether they are on financial assistance or not.

When will the Summer Boost Program operate?

We do not yet know. Based on current knowledge, we are anticipating up to three weeks of programming available. We are targeting the weeks late in July and early in August. We are not able to confirm when we will finalize due to the stay at home restrictions, but rest assured, we fully understand how important it is for our families and staff to know this information as soon as possible.

What if the Summer Boost Program is not able to open due to the pandemic?

If we are unable to open during the summer, GIS will develop other options for our students, parents, and staff.

May we use a portion of the Summer Boost program?

Yes! Each family, including current 5th graders, who keeps their account current will be able to register for as much or as little as we eventually offer. No refunds/credits will be given for time not used. This is an option for parents to provide their children immersion German, high-quality, full day programming in the summer.

I am worried about my child’s German. What can GIS do to help him/her stay fluent?

We understand this worry. The Home Learning instruction is a great way to stay connected to the language. We offer a mix of class, small group interactions, individual support, and voluntary hang outs (book club) to support German language learning. We also redeployed native German staff to expand the offerings.

Additionally, the Summer Boost program is specifically in place to give students language support. We are here to help. We will get through this together. Student language, academic, and social skills will be brought up to grade/age level over time. We will have to work together, be patient, flexible, and creative. These are the things that GIS does well.

What is GIS thinking to do for the current 5th graders who will likely not get to say a proper goodbye to their friends and the school? Graduation?

(This message was shared earlier in April, copied from our Home Learning site.)

Dear 5th grade families,

This is not how we envisioned our students’ journey at GIS to end.

I know there are so many big emotions right now -apprehension and sadness and a feeling of loss, but while the celebration of our 5th grade students may look differently this year, I promise you that we will find ways to celebrate and honor their accomplishments and journey here at GIS. As a parent of a senior in high school, I know exactly how you and your family feels.

Right now our students are working on their exhibition project which will be a great celebration of learning, even though we have to do so virtually. I see the students engaged in small groups and working together almost as if they were in class together.

As for end of year celebrations, we are looking at ways to honor and celebrate our students, so please stay tuned for more information.

Our community is strong and we will weather this challenge together. Our students will get through this stronger, better prepared for the challenges ahead and closely connected for years to come.

Thank you for your support and please reach out if you want to talk.

Stay healthy!

Stefanie Amann

When the kids come back to school in the fall, will they be in the next grade or will they have to spend some time catching up in the grade from this year? What if some kids can move forward while others cannot? How will grades be decided?

We are currently working on grading, testing, and other assessment solutions. Rest assured, our students will be supported and will move forward appropriately. We are thinking of options to have the current class units (this year's fourth graders, for example) close out a phase together and then move forward to fifth grade. We will keep you informed on next steps as we work through these questions.

Are you looking for new ideas? Lego challenges, juggling and so much more! Choice Board

Guten Morgen, as always I hope you are doing well on this rainy morning. Our teachers are looking forward to this Friday as a chance to connect and collaborate. They will be utilizing your feedback, learning from other school's best practices, and recalibrating instruction and schedules for the coming weeks. We appreciate your support to make this day possible.

Some quick operational updates:

-Payroll Protection Plan: we are in line and ready to have our loan documents submitted as soon as the funds come available for the second round.

-Emergency Financial Assistance: if your family encounters emergency need due to job loss or other financial hardship, please let elizabeth.gillespie@gspdx.org know right away. Our school board has set aside some funds to support our students continued learning.

-School Calendar: a few of you have asked when GIS will formally close down in-person instruction through the end of the planned academic year. We are operating as if this is the case. Stay tuned in the coming days for more.

-Small Roof leak: and just because we can't get enough excitement, our on site maintenance expert and resident philosopher, Hunter Gregg, is working this minute on tracing the cause of a small water intrusion into our space. Sheesh, but I sure am glad that he is there taking great care of our school. Thanks Hunter!

Good Morning GIS, as you know GIS submitted an application to receive funding as part of the Payroll Protection Program as soon as we could have. We learned late Friday that the funds had been depleted and that GIS did not receive anything. We have already reapplied and our paperwork is in order for a potential second round of funding.

We appreciate our community's strong response and support for our teachers for continuing to pay your tuition. Our position remains strong thanks to our board for supporting these efforts.

We will be sharing more information about our summer program to re-integrate our students socially and academically very soon. This program will be available at no additional charge to families who continue to keep their accounts current with GIS.

Additionally, we have made paying tuition even easier by allowing credit card payments through our website (scroll down and click the red box). This week will also see the launch of our new online tuition system, FACTS. Stay tuned for that soon.

Take care, all. Blake

Greetings everyone,

Now that we are more than a few weeks into Home Learning, more information is coming available from education researchers. I have been particularly curious and keen to learn more about how this situation is impacting families. Many of us (myself very much included) are struggling to balance the pressures of parenting, working, teaching, cooking, and dealing with all the new restrictions.

I found this article from Education Week particularly helpful with the visualization of what parents can think about. This article addresses the concern many of us have around the increased amount of screen time.

I know there are a lot of unknowns out there right now. One thing I do know is that the GIS Team will continue supporting you and your children. Once we can safely return to the building, we will be there to help you. We will get the kids the academic and social skills they need. Together we can and will do this.

Our teachers are looking forward to collaborating together on Friday. We will recalibrate some of the efforts to focus on what is most important and achievable while slowing down some of the hectic efforts from the first start up weeks. Stay tuned for continued progress and thank you. I hope you all have a good start to this week.

Blake

If you have not yet shared your feedback, please follow the appropriate link(s):

Preschool and Kindergarten Family Survey

Grades 1 and 2 Family Survey

Grades 3,4, and 5 Family Survey

Guten Tag GIS, as much as I like sleeping in a few minutes longer in the mornings, I really miss seeing all of you at the school door. In an effort to sort of replicate our mornings at GIS, I invite you to join me tomorrow morning (April 16 from 7:30am-8:30am) on a community zoom. Grab a cup of coffee and say hello. I am curious to hear how people are doing and I will take questions and share updates.

This is not a formal presentation, but rather a check in. If the format works, we can try it again at different times and with more content. I know how busy you are and if you are able only to log on, wave and say hello, that's more than fine with me! Students are welcome to join, too.

Here are the zoom coordinates if you can make it:

Join Zoom Meeting, April 16 from 7:30am-8:30am

https://zoom.us/j/92907363132?pwd=U2E0MEI2NDN4MUg5aEdyTkJKQkdmQT09

Meeting ID: 929 0736 3132

Password: z93nQ3

Dear GIS Community, First and always foremost, I hope you are all healthy and well. I continue to be impressed by the strength of our school community and the wonderful work that happens each day. As we begin this new week, I have some updates to share:

-Continuous Learning Improvements: As we settle in and get more familiar with the tools and this Home Learning programming, we appreciate the feedback and support you have provided. Each day brings new challenges and ideas and I am very proud of how our teachers continue to improve and make changes. Your teachers are the best contacts for ideas and questions.

-GIS Home Learning Site: This page is where the board and administrative team share regular updates on school-wide topics like calendar, finance, programming, building access, etc. Rather than filling your inboxes, we recommend you visit the site often. If you lose this link, you can always access it from www.gspdx.org, too. For the time being, we are not sending our weekly newsletter, das Laternlein.

-Extended Care Fees April-June: GIS has redeployed our Extended Care staff and some administrative staff to work in small groups or individually with students. To that end, we are delivering less programming for Extended Care. We know that finances are an issue for our families and for our school. GIS is providing the option to receive a credit (for future use of GIS programming) or to donate (to help support our staff) Extended Care fees from April through June. Carina Horton will be reaching out to families directly to determine which option you would like to choose.

-Emergency Financial Assistance: GIS cares about our students and their families. If your family has been deeply impacted financially by the Covid-19 situation, please reach out to Elizabeth Gillespie. GIS may be able to provide some emergency financial relief for you to keep students enrolled and supported by our teachers.

-Phone Calls: We have been enjoying listening to how you are doing as we call each school family. If you have questions, need help, have ideas, please let me know, too. In addition, you will be receiving a survey in the coming days to give feedback that way as well.

I hope everyone has a good start to the new week.

Thanks again,Blake

Dear 5th grade families,

This is not how we envisioned our students’ journey at GIS to end.

I know there are so many big emotions right now -apprehension and sadness and a feeling of loss, but while the celebration of our 5th grade students may look differently this year, I promise you that we will find ways to celebrate and honor their accomplishments and journey here at GIS. As a parent of a senior in high school, I know exactly how you and your family feels.

Right now our students are working on their exhibition project which will be a great celebration of learning, even though we have to do so virtually. I see the students engaged in small groups and working together almost as if they were in class together.

As for end of year celebrations, we are looking at ways to honor and celebrate our students, so please stay tuned for more information.

Our community is strong and we will weather this challenge together. Our students will get through this stronger, better prepared for the challenges ahead and closely connected for years to come.

Thank you for your support and please reach out if you want to talk.

Stay healthy!

Stef

Guten Morgen GIS. I am sure you are all as bummed about Governor Brown's announcement as all of the GIS team is. The decision appears to also apply to private schools. I am working on getting aboslute clarity on that before making a final decision for GIS.

I will be back with you as soon as I can. Vielen Dank!

UPDATED 7:30pm, April 9: Portland area private schools received a legal review of Governor Brown's decision during the day today. Without going into the nuances, it appears that the decision does not automatically apply to private schools.

To be clear, GIS would only open with very clear guidance on a very changed situation. Safety is always first and I do anticipate following the Governor's guidance. However, if social distancing restrictions were to be significantly lifted during what is our normal school year, we would work hard to make that safely happen.

So the Update is still unclear, but I wanted to share the information I have as quickly as possible. For now, consider GIS open with Home Learning for the coming weeks and we will be back often to share more.

Heute können Sie unseren 3. Landsleutebrief zum Thema COVID 19 Krise auf LinkedIn lesen.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6653708172626399232/?fbclid=IwAR0TTQbtkP0RE_EWnfGtPU4kNQQYEO2r2suTVVIMVxKt-rSKNMTDnFw3R_8

Ausserdem ist es empfohlen, dass alle Staatsbuerger sich hier eintragen.

We hope everyone got a bit more settled into the routines of Home Learning last week. I am impressed by and appreciate everyone's participation, feedback, and creativity. We made a few moves to add immersive language more possible by creating smaller and individually scheduled live interactions possible.

The business office has been working hard throughout this time. We will soon be able to accept credit card payments for tuition on our website, which is something many of you have requested.

This simplification and modernization is the first step of many we will be taking in the coming weeks and months as we transition into a whole new system (FACTS). Click here to make a payment in the comfort of your own home! This will take you to our Giving page. Just scroll down and you'll see the Pay Your Tuition button. Vielen, vielen Dank!

Greetings, I am glad you found this site and this resource page. We will adding regular updates about operations, programming, finances, and plans into this section. I am proud of the work that our students and teachers are doing as we settle into the new routine of Home Learning.

We will be calling every family in the coming days to check on you, ask if you have any questions, and make sure you are plugged into the resources our school has. No need to call us back, but we simply want to connect using that old-fashioned tool, the telephone!

If you have any questions for me about what is happening, what we are doing, or anything else, please send me an email. Thank you for supporting and building this strong community.

Ps-I just walked in on my 5th grade son doing his Sport class and joined him. I challenge you to try Frau Lewis's workout with your kids, too!

Dear GIS Community,

First and foremost, I hope this communication finds you and yours healthy and safe.

After attending the (virtual) Parent Partnership Council (PPC) meeting on Sunday evening, we agreed to share some updates on what the Board is working on to ensure the health, safety, and financial viability of our school, and to suggest some of the ways you can be a part of ensuring that our community will emerge from this crisis in a position to continue to deliver our mission to our community.

The Board has taken some direct steps to protect the school in the last two weeks. These are the same prudent steps that millions of small businesses the world over are taking. We have spread our cash reserves to remain FDIC insured and have cut all non-essential spending. We are exploring emergency funding options, from both the German government and the U.S. Small Business Administration, so that we are well positioned to weather financial hardships that may result from this crisis. We are also doing all we can to protect our staff, by shifting to distance learning, so they can keep their jobs by delivering high quality programming to students.

A concern raised in the PPC meeting was the value proposition of our program, as households contemplate similar actions for their own budgets. We have made many programming improvements since our first four days of Home Learning that you are already experiencing this week. We are confident that our students will be challenged, engaged, and make solid progress toward their learning targets.

For those families who are stretched thin by job loss or significant financial changes, we urge you to reach out to the Financial Aid Committee through elizabeth.gillespie@gspdx.org who will assess the needs of individual community members, and will create a plan to meet those needs.

In order to deliver the value and services our families need, we are considering a wide variety of options for the coming months. We are reviewing multiple options to offer additional schooling at no additional fee during the traditional summer months for families whose 2019-2020 tuition is paid, so that we can get kids back into classrooms and social interactions as soon as is safely possible. Further details will be shared as the finance committee and program experts collaborate.

Blake is also working in consultation with both the Heads of School for German Schools Abroad and the Heads of School from our local Portland area private schools, to explore creative options to continue to deliver the kind of program our families and our kids need most.

Our staff and our Board Committees have been working on these initiatives over the past two weeks. We will continue to update you on our plans and progress as we move from the fledgling stage of this new normal, to being ready to fly.

I send my thanks to all of the PPC members who were able to join the meeting on Sunday, and especially to the leadership of the PPC. I heard many positive comments about the programming our teachers are providing. I encourage you to continue to share your program feedback directly with your teachers, or Frau Amann or Frau Williams. General concerns can be shared with Blake Peters, members of the Board, or with your class reps, so that we can continue the conversation about how to make the most and the best use of our time at home with our families.

I send my sincerest wishes for your continued good health,

Karen Keene

GIS Board President

PPC Meeting Minutes 3-29-2020

The following are additional resources curated by the Children's Program. They include ideas to support anxious children, how to talk about difficult topics, science experiments about hand washing and much more.

Corona Virus Resources