Before I jump into the information sharing...just wanted to share three pictures that demonstrate to me why it is so important for us to keep our schools open for face to face instruction in Gorham! I realize students pictured below are wearing masks...but I think we all know what is underneath those masks! GREAT BIG SMILES!
Ok, now onto the information part!
COVID 19 RELATED UPDATES
As of the writing of this update, the Gorham Schools have had a total of 37 positive cases of COVID 19 associated with our schools since the opening of School in September of 2020. This is on par or even a little lower than many of our neighboring school districts. All 37 of these cases have originated from outside of our schools. This means that since September of 2020 we have had 37 different opportunities for COVID 19 to spread in our schools and it has not. As I've said before and I will say again - this data indicates to me that our schools are some of the safest places in our community to be right now, even as cases continue to rise in a post holiday surge.
A significant problem, however continues to be that as cases rise in our community, the number of cases associated with our schools (albeit from outside origins) also increases. With that comes more close contacts, more quarantines, and a larger likelihood of having classrooms, grade levels or even entire schools have to move to "red" largely due to staffing capacity if they themselves are forced to quarantine.
As we begin to feel the full brunt of a post holiday surge, the reality is that we are all working our tails off to keep schools open, but without everyone's continued focus and vigilance we may not be able to. I know we are all tired. We are all exhausted. We are sick of having to sacrifice this or that. We all just want to go outside, rip off our masks, scream at the top of our lungs and randomly hug any person in our site! We want our social gatherings back. We want our sporting events back. We want our sleep-overs and pizza parties, and study groups back. Even students who likely would have said they don't like school before this Pandemic would agree - they want their schools back! I GET IT. I want them back! But right now, we still can't have them back. Right now, we need to remain vigilant. Right now we have to focus on remaining strong just so that we can keep the small bastions of hope we have created open and operational in our community.
I met with our school nurses the other day and I met with our District Leaders just before that and one theme that came out in the feedback I collected is that they can feel the extreme fatigue beginning to creep in. They can see people beginning to let their guards down because they are tired.
I remember a classic quote from Thomas Fuller that states: "It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn." Folks...the "dawn" is there, just over the horizon. I encourage you all to remain strong, to remain vigilant and continue to practice the safety protocols we all know work - because we have seen them work in our schools!
* Wear your face coverings
* Wash/Sanitize your hands frequently
* Keep your six!
And along with "keep your six"...comes the recommendation to limit connections to larger groups. If you must have your "circles" to maintain your sanity or to care for family members, etc. - keep your face to face interactions with others as small as you can. Don't think you can tell if someone has COVID or not just by looking at them. You can't. Some experience symptoms, some don't. We have to assume other folks have the potential to spread this disease. We have to assume we have the potential to spread this disease and then make decisions accordingly. If we can begin to slow down what is happening for spread in our community, we can lesson the negative impacts it is having and will have on our schools and the children we serve. Then in turn, we can lessen the negative impacts the pandemic will have on our families and our community as a whole.
If 2020 has taught us nothing else, in so many different ways...like it or not, we are all connected to one another. What we as individuals do does indeed have an impact on others. The good news is that as individuals and together as a community we can determine whether those impacts are positive or negative. The Gorham way is to help one another. The Gorham way is to make sure those impacts are positive. Let's keep this train safely rolling for as long we need to folks! WE CAN DO IT! GO RAMS!
VACCINATION UPDATE
Just wanted to take a quick moment to make sure folks were aware of some recent changes to CDC frameworks for planned vaccination processes. Earlier this week the CDC announced that it is altering its priority process for vaccinations. It has now categorized vaccinations into the following phases:
Phase IA
*. Health care workers
*. Long term care facility residents and staff
*. Police, firefighters, emergency workers.
*. Those who manufacture, distribute, process or report COVID-19 tests.
Phase IB
*. Residents age 70 and older
*. Those with high risk medical conditions
*. Some front-line workers at high risk exposure to COVID-19, including teachers and grocery store workers
*. Once a significant number of people 70 and older have been vaccinated, or if the supply increases, Maine will move to vaccinate those between the ages of 65-69
Phase IC
*. Other critical workers not already identified in Phase 1B
Phase 2
*. People ages 16 to 64 who are not otherwise eligible during a previous phase.
This new outline of phases moves away from a previous emphasis on job alike categories and towards an emphasis on vaccinating Maine's older and more medical high risk residents as a priority point. If you are looking to try and better understand an approximate timeline of how this might all play out, the Maine CDC has a nice summary that can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.
Once again, this is an ever evolving process as we are all doing things we've never had to do before and depending on lots of other folks doing these same very new things. I continue to urge patience and vigilance as we continue to work our way through these processes. Rest assured I will do my best to keep everyone informed as we go.
In my upcoming blogs I am going to start a little "did you know" section about the COVID 19 vaccination in an attempt to VERY VERY STRONGLY ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO GET VACCINATED whenever their "turn" comes up. Here's my first one:
DID YOU KNOW: Epidemiologists conclude that we would need to vaccinate between 80-90% of the population in order to gain what is known as "herd immunity". What does this mean for schools? Approximately 80-90% of our populations (staff and students) would need to be vaccinated in order to bring back some version of "normal" for the fall of 2021.
THOUGHT EXCHANGE RESULTS
I wanted to be sure to share the results of our most recent Thought Exchange with parents. Please note that we have already begun to dissect this feedback and make plans to address as many items as we can to continue to improve our existing systems. THANK YOU to those who participated...we continue to greatly value your voices!
A message from Assistant Superintendent Chris Record below:
This exchange asked for student, parent, and staff feedback on the Hybrid Model. I have provided a link to the presentation above. Embedded in the presentation are links to a report on the themed student results, parent results, and staff results. I encourage you to look through them.
The results from the October Thought Exchange and the December Thought Exchange do influence our decision-making. For instance, the District Leadership Team recently reviewed the December results (you can see highlights of that analysis in the presentation) and are already working on implementing some adjustments at each school.
Additionally, the School Committee will utilize the results as part of their discussion on the efficacy of the Hybrid Model at an upcoming workshop to be held on Jan. 27, 2021. CLICK HERE to access the agenda and zoom link information when it becomes available (as we get closer to this date).
Link to both October & December Thought Exchange Results:
Please feel free to reach out to me, Heather, and/or your principal with any thoughts or questions. Your voice does matter.
ANTI-RACISM WORK UPDATE
The Gorham Anti-Racism Advisory Committee had its first meeting just before the holiday break and are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 25. You can follow the work of this committee by CLICKING HERE.
One of the pieces of information the committee will be reviewing is a live update from the administration on work that has been completed thus far. I'd encourage you to check this list out as it is impressive. Still much work to do - but clearly great progress is being made in meeting the action steps outlined in our school policy. CLICK HERE to view the summary!
Additionally, I am working to finish up individual meetings with staff and parents as a follow up to the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Story surveys that were sent out before the holidays. I am also finishing up meeting with student groups over the course of this month and early next month. What incredible themes and stories I have collected thus far! My intention is that once I have completed this data collection I will compile the themes and use them as the foundation for open forums on this topic with staff and community. During these forums, I will roll out the data and facilitate discussions and reflections on what we think this data tells us. I can't wait to share...student stories especially have been so very powerful! Please stay tuned!
GHS CONCERT & A FEW OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS TO SAFELY STAY ACTIVE
I wanted to share some upcoming events of interest in the hopes of encouraging families to SAFELY remain active to help fight off those winter doldrums! Here are a few highlights:
GHS Virtual Concert:
On Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, GHS is having a virtual concert called "Rhythm & Heart" on the 22nd. All proceeds for the show are going to the Gorham Food Pantry, the Fuel Fund, and Furniture Friends. For more details, check out the link below:
National Girls and Women In Sports Celebration
This multi day event has something for everyone! It is being put on by Gorham Recreation and USM Athletics. Check out the flyer below and CLICK HERE for more a form to sign up!
Gorham Outdoor Club:
The Gorham Outdoor Club is hosting an outdoor movie night coming up on Jan. 23. Check out the flyer below for details and go to http://www.gorhamrec.com to register!
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