Back to School COVID-19 Update

Hello Gillipsie Families,

This will start a series of emailed Special Notices that you will receive periodically throughout the school year. These notifications will be titled COVID-19 Updates so that you know the content entails important information regarding this topic.

UPDATED MASK POLICY

As are many public and private schools in San Diego, we are requiring adults and Kindergarten through Sixth Grade students to wear masks both indoors and outdoors as we open the school year. Early childhood students will be required to wear masks indoors and strongly encouraged to wear them outdoors (If your preference is for your EC child to wear a mask outside, please notify your child’s teacher). With the number of COVID-19 cases in San Diego County climbing, and as students enthusiastically greet each other after summer vacation, we feel this is the wisest course of action.

Children will eat snacks and lunches outdoors where they will be unmasked and seated far enough apart from one another to have friendly conversations. One of the greatest surprises for us last year, as we remained open on campus all year, was that children socialized and learned despite our adult worries about mask wearing; children adjusted beautifully, and those who were initially less comfortable, were supported as they adjusted.

TRAVEL

Gillispie has received calls from some of you regarding travel. At this time, there are no mandated restrictions or mandated quarantines for travel. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers recommendations for Domestic Travel During COVID-19 and International Travel During COVID-19.

TESTING

If your child is testing on campus using the UCSD Excite Lab option, you will only be contacted over the weekend if your child tests positive. Otherwise, you will not hear from the School. For those testing off-campus, please be sure to send negative test results to Michele Greene ([email protected]) so that your child or children can start their first day.

FIRST-DAY REMINDERS

Drop off is between 8:00 and 8:30 AM and pick up is between 3:00 and 3:30 PM. Whether you are arriving by car or foot, you will say your goodbyes at the Girard Gate (Elementary students) or Fay Gate (Early Childhood students). As a reminder from our August 10 letter, though we miss you, we cannot yet have parents on campus during Drop-Off and Pick-Up times to avoid congestion. If you have not already had a classroom visit, you will receive an invitation from your child’s teacher to come onsite for a prearranged visit during the month of September either before 8:00 AM or after 3:30 PM. The teachers have created beautiful learning environments!

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

Looking ahead, our Back to School Night will take place Thursday, September 9, and will be held virtually. We are scheduling EC families from 5:30-6:00 PM and Elementary from 6:00-6:30 PM. More on this event will be provided in next Thursday’s Gillispie Sun, our weekly electronic communication.

We are in this together and look forward to partnering with you during an extraordinary year. May your weekend be lovely!

All my best,

Alison Fleming, Head of School