Dear Sandpoint Waldorf School Community,
2020 has been a year fraught with change, uncertainty, and struggles as we strive to comprehend the complex effects of the pandemic on the physical well being of millions and on the social fabric of our country and our world. This has had a profound impact on our children. They need more than ever an education which honors childhood; an education which nurtures children in body, soul, and spirit ; an education which gently guides them in developmentally appropriate ways toward becoming who they came here to be, becoming human beings with compassion for others, the ability to think clearly, and the strength of will to manifest their dreams. At the Sandpoint Waldorf School, we remain committed to this task.
Our mission has not changed, but how we create a safe space for our children and for their families has changed. Our protocols have been drafted with this at the forefront and our teachers will introduce these protocols to the children in an imaginative, age-sensitive manner which makes it clear that they are about a culture of care, about concern and care for others, not about judging or shaming others or fear. Together, students, teachers, staff and parents, we can join together in caring for one another.
Throughout the spring and summer, we have been constructing a plan for our return to school, a plan with health and safety, the education of the children, and our core values at the center. This effort required research, creativity, common sense, and wisdom. In this letter, we share the product of that work in a document that has been reviewed by the faculty, the directors of the board, and the medical professionals in our community: SWS Reopening Plan: A Culture of Care
In developing our plan, we reviewed the best medical and public health guidance available and mapped that information to SWS’s values, especially the fostering of the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of our students and the conscientious care and consideration of all members of our school community. At SWS, these values are exemplified by our dedicated faculty and staff who are invested in each student as a unique individual on their path toward developing their own gifts and attributes and overcoming the challenges that face them.
Mitigating Health Risk
Our goal is to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on the SWS campus. To do this, we need to be scrupulous about hygiene and complying with local, state, and federal safety guidance. As a practical matter that means we need to be observant about our children and ourselves exhibiting signs of illness, be conscientious about:
Limiting our exposure to illness through large-group activities and travel
Practicing good hygiene with frequent hand washing and the disinfection of surfaces
Everyone older than early childhood must wear face coverings on campus when the level of community spread warrants it and social distancing or outside activities are not possible.
These actions represent a vital, shared, and sustained responsibility. We need to practice these activities not only for ourselves individually, but for our students, our faculty and staff, and our family members, some of whom are very vulnerable to illness.
Together we can keep our children on campus by embracing and practicing A Culture of Care.
In Service,
Julie McCallan
Pedagogical Director on behalf of the SWS Covid Task Force