Coronavirus Update
Monday - 08/03/2020, 12:38PM

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Students,

Today we have posted our current Health and Safety Plan for your review. View the current Health and Safety Plan.

As you may have already noticed, the words “Health and Safety Plan” are preceded by the word “current”.  We anticipate our plan will be modified several times in the coming weeks as conditions change and new safeguards against the spread of Covid-19 are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state and local departments of health, as well as other entities.  Our plan for re-opening the School seeks the delicate and difficult balance between our strong interest in returning to a normal school environment while protecting students and staff to the greatest degree practicable.  As well, we seek to provide parents and guardians with a choice among face-to-face and virtual learning options, given they are in the best position to determine the best path ahead for their child.  More introductory information is below.

After parents and guardians have had a chance to read the Health and Safety Plan, we hope you’ll be able to join us for a virtual Town Hall meeting this Wednesday, August 5 at 6:30.  The Zoom invitation is:

International numbers are available here.

Thank you to all students, staff, parents and guardians for remaining faithful to Overbrook over these very difficult months that have now spanned Spring into Summer and now beyond.  Your collective trust makes the future brighter for our students, during an incredibly disruptive time.

Before we quickly summarize the educational options for re-opening, let’s review the survey information we received from parents: 

• Overall, 82% of those responding indicated that our distance learning program was good to excellent. We are glad that we were able to be so responsive to our students’ and family needs but do understand that this format did not work for everyone. We will continue to work to improve our instruction using this format.
• Parents from all of our on-campus programs responded to our Parent Survey related to planning for the new school year.
• Of all the responses received 71% of parents felt comfortable sending their child to school while 29% did not. Families of younger children were more comfortable with this than families of our older students, but we don’t know the reasons for this.
• When it comes to students wearing masks, the results were mixed.  47% said that their child would wear a mask and 53% said they would not.
• 28% stated that their child could not wear a mask due to underlying medical conditions.
• Overall families indicated that they could supply their child with a mask.
• When asked to share their concerns for face to face instruction, the highest 3 areas of concern listed were maintaining social distance 68.5%, wearing masks at 63%, and sanitizing equipment 55.6%.
• While we can be sure to sanitize all the equipment and surfaces that we use, we share your same concerns as we know that in many situations, we will not be able to maintain social distancing. We are looking at our classrooms and moving furniture around to do this to the maximum extent possible but given the nature of our classrooms and the supports many students need, social distancing will be a challenge. In addition to this, if students cannot or will not wear a mask, this will also impact our programs. We are working hard to address both issues in our Health and Safety Plans.

Our current Health and Safety Plan (posted on our website) explains our re-opening process and the safeguards we will use to keep students and staff as safe as possible through the course of the re-opening plan.  As the transmission rates change from week to week, it’s certainly possible that a state authority may dictate changes to our plan, just as the statewide school closures were mandated. No option we pursue will have the same positive impact of a typical school program.  We also realize that in fashioning what we consider the best available options in serving parents and students, their tolerance and resilience will be tested.

Educational Options:

As of today, we plan to offer parents their choice of either having their child attend school on-campus from Monday -Thursday with Friday being a virtual day or receive instruction virtually 5-days a week. In addition to this, to allow for more modifications on campus, everyone will start with virtual instruction for the first 2-weeks of school before beginning the implementation of the 2 options offered. This information is shared in our Health and Safety Plan.

Whichever option you as a parent may choose, please know that instruction will not be the same as in a typical year. Offering these options may impact how related services are provided, as scheduling these between programs will be challenging. We will continue to do all that we can to provide quality instruction and support to our students within the limiting impacts of Covid-19.

Selection Date:

We will ask each parent to respond to us no later than August 12 as to the program option that you will choose for your child. This will be discussed further at the Town Hall meeting. This virtual Town Hall meeting for parents will be held on Wednesday, August 5th at 6:30 PM. Please use the link provided above to join our meeting. We have shared this plan with our staff. If you do have any questions about our plan, please address them to our administration rather than staff so that we can get back to you. You can send your questions to healthandsafetyplan@obs.org

Health and Safety Considerations

Overbrook is committed to implementing a safe and meaningful restarting process that aligns with the guidance provided by the CDC, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and many other local, state, and national health and safety organizations to the extent possible.  Through its Health and Safety Plan, Overbrook strives to enhance the safety and wellness of students and staff.  While it is not possible to eliminate all risk of furthering the spread of COVID-19, the current science suggests there are many steps schools can take to reduce the risks to students, teachers, staff, and their families. Overbrook’s reopening plans outline health practices and strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.  We have attempted to take those steps.  The plan also defines our course of action in the event someone at Overbrook develops COVID-19 symptoms or a diagnosis. We encourage parents and guardians to read the plan thoroughly, ask questions and offer feedback. Of course, as with every plan right now, this document is fluid and will change as necessary based on guidance from the state, CDC and considerations to our families and our staff.

Again, we look forward to parents and guardians joining us on Wednesday for our virtual Town Hall.  Any questions in advance can be directed to Todd Reeves, Jackie Brennan, or Angie Williams.

Sincerely,
Todd Reeves, Executive Director
Jackie Brennan, Superintendent
Angie Williams, Director of Health and Safety