March 1, 2021
Dear Shorewood Families,
I hope you had a chance to enjoy the recent sunshine and warmer weather. There was more good news about Shorewood’s Covid-19 metrics on Friday, February 26--the community case burden level for Shorewood was 84; the Village of Shorewood had zero new cases from 2/12-2/25 in people ages 0 - 17 years old; and our test positivity rate from 2/14 - 2/20 was 1.4%, well below our goal of 5%. Mitigation matters! It is critical that we all continue to wear masks, wash our hands and practice physical distancing to keep our kids in school. Keep up the great work.
Here is an update on what this latest report means for our learning models at each school level:
Shorewood High School & Shorewood Intermediate School
SHS and SIS students will continue in their hybrid instructional model. Last week was the first week we achieved a Covid-19 burden level under 100. If the Covid-19 burden level is under 100 this week, we will begin transitioning to a schedule of four days per week of in-person instruction. A remote learning option will continue to remain available. We will continue with asynchronous Wednesdays at SIS and SHS to allow for individualized and small group support for students, especially for those receiving remote instruction. We are estimating a start date of Monday, April 12, for the four days per week in-person instruction. This will allow us to complete the third quarter grading period in our current learning model and have a full week after Spring Break to monitor the prevalence of Covid-19 cases in Shorewood and in the North Shore. More details about this transition will be shared by school principals in the upcoming weeks.
Elementary Schools
Elementary school students continue to stay in their hybrid learning model. Our elementary schools will be transitioning back to full day in-person instruction - five days per week - on Monday, March 15th. A remote learning option will continue to remain available. Principals are working with staff this week to determine teaching assignments and class rosters. Parents can expect to hear from their principals on student placements and more details on schedules leading up to March 15th no later than Monday, March 8th.
Staff Vaccinations
All of the District’s Phase 1A and 65+ year old staff members have received or been offered a vaccine. Through our partnership with the North Shore Pharmacy and North Shore Health Department, we received 54 additional vaccinations for our elementary school staff, which will be administered throughout this week. Many staff members have also used independent sources, such as Walgreens, to set up vaccine appointments. Our District Nurse, Kelly Barlow, will continue to work closely with our staff and partners to maximize staff access to vaccinations in the coming weeks.
With any questions about the information I have provided above, please contact me or your school principal, and please continue to practice strong mitigation strategies.
Sincerely,
Bryan Davis
Shorewood Schools Superintendent