Monday, August 17, 2020

Welcome back to school!

 August 17, 2020


Welcome back to school!

The beginning of the 2020 school year is filled with anxiety about all things related to Covid 19.  At Tidehaven ISD, we want to reassure our students, parents, and community members that we have a well-reasoned, well-thought out process for returning to school while simultaneously improving our efforts to keep the Covid 19 virus out of our schools.

Our hearts desire is to educate our students and to enable them to become productive citizens of our community and across America.  The first thing we want to accomplish is restore a sense of normalcy to the lives of our students.  Many of our students may feel out of control of the Covid 19 situation.  So, we are restoring that sense of control by opening our school doors and welcoming everyone back to what we do best, having school.

Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit with a parent who had concerns for school being open and possible Covid 19 situations.  I assured him that we were following all Texas Education Agency protocols and then I asked him if he was aware of our disinfecting procedures.  He mentioned that he was not aware so I shared the following with him.  1) Our campuses are disinfected daily.  2) Our classrooms are disinfected between student groups.  That means at the HS/JH, that the teacher is disinfecting all non-porous surfaces such as desktops and table tops at the end of every single class period...that's seven times a day.  For our elementary campuses, non-porous surfaces like desktops and table tops are disinfected between student groups.  For our students coming to school is very safe in view of how often the school is disinfected.  Where else can the students go on a regular and routine basis that is disinfected seven times every day Monday-Friday?  3) The school district is following Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order GA 29 in wearing of masks, even on school buses.  4) Students are spread apart while eating breakfast and lunch.

It is our hope and desire to try and restore a sense of normalcy to the lives of our students.  We have been five long months without our students and we are so very glad to have them back.  

Don't be afraid.  I often think of the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt at the beginning of America's involvement in World War 2..."We have nothing to fear, but fear itself".  

Welcome back to school!

For the kids,

Andrew Seigrist