Dear Parents and/or Guardians,

As we transition from the 3rd quarter to 4th quarter, we are so thankful for you, your students, and your support. We wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without you and we are so excited to have all students back into the building on March 22.

Procedures and protocols for Phase 4 will look a lot like Phase 3. The biggest difference is we will have all students in the building, however, we will be practicing similar safety and health protocols. Our community has done an incredible job of communicating student health concerns, and keeping students home when they are ill. Thank you! As we go into fourth-quarter, this will be one of the most important practices for us to be able to keep our students in the building. Thank you for your continued support on this.

While we have been working with transportation, and been able to get a few more kids onto buses as requests have come in, busing is still limited in fourth-quarter. With this we need your continued support and patience as we look to add twice the number of students coming to the building. If circumstances have changed in your household, and you have a new transportation need, please reach out to us. We would love to hear if you have a need for busing, would be interested in connecting with another family for carpooling, and/or would be interesting in learning more about supporting other families by driving a carpool. More information can be found below regarding PSD transportation.

As we look to double the number of students that we are bringing into the building in the morning and releasing in the afternoon, we really need to be intentional about drop off and pick up. It has run very smoothly during Phase 3, however, we have a few reminders to help us prepare for 4th quarter. Please remember students that are picked up from campus should only be picked up in between the blue shed and the chain-link fence on the south side of the school in the circle. While waiting to pick up your student in the pick up circle, please be sure to drive as far forward as possible each time the opportunity arises. This will help us maintain the efficiency we had during 3rd quarter, and support our goal of safely loading all students into cars within 15 minutes each afternoon.

If you’re picking your student up off-campus, please be sure you you coordinate with them ahead of time, and remind them that they need to cross only at the crosswalks on the southwest and northwest sides of campus. There will be no student drop off and pick up on Grant Ave adjacent to the arch.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out, ask questions, or provide feedback as we are in this together.

Sincerely,

Kelby Benedict, Principal

Phase 4 Learning Schedule

Transportation in Phase 4

PSD will still bus a limited number of students when all students are in Phase 4 (read about the decision to move to Phase 4 in this Feb. 25 update). However, due to current bus driver shortages and health guidelines, among other challenges, PSD is not adding routes and will not be able to return to full busing (approximately 13,000 students in a typical school year) this year.

Busing is guaranteed for students for whom transportation is legally required (i.e. those with Individualized Transportation Plans (ITP) and some foster students), as well as McKinney-Vento students experiencing homelessness.

If circumstances in your family's life have changed and you feel your student meets these criteria or your family has extenuating circumstances, please contact Wellington Middle School (970.488.6600) to see if busing can be provided. The Transportation Department has continued to evaluate requests and add riders during the second semester.

Phase 4 - Continued Safety Protocols

As we look around the corner at Phase 4, we really appreciate your support. Each morning, please screen your student(s) for any of the symptoms below and keep them home if they are experiencing one or more of them. When a students reports to us any of the symptoms below, we are required to call you to come pick them up from school. In order to keep everyone safe and schools open, students should not come to school under any circumstances if they have any of the symptoms below.

• In the event you are unable to pick your student up from school, please be sure your emergency contacts are up to date in ParentVUE (you can also call the school to update or verify emergency contacts)
• Please also use the return to learn guidance to determine when your student(s) is able to return to in-person learning after experiencing any symptoms.

All staff are required to use the COVID-19 Daily Screening app and must get a "green light” from the app to work before entering a PSD facility. Staff who are sick must stay home, following staff protocols.

Families must check their student(s) for COVID-19 symptoms daily and not send them to school if they are experiencing any of the following, or are too sick to go to school, following student protocols.

COVID-19 symptoms:

Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose or congestion

If any of the above symptoms are present, please keep your child at home; call your school and leave a message on the attendance line; and contact your health care provider.

If your child develops symptoms while at school, they will be removed from class, parent/guardians will be notified, and the student will be isolated from others until their parent/guardian is able to pick them up. Under current protocols, students experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, not from another diagnosed condition, should isolate at home until at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, and if the student has had no fever for 24 hours, and if other symptoms have improved.

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