Hope School Re-opening Update
Hope School Re-Opening Update
At Hope, we have put together a team to lead the school in re-opening in the fall, and we are beginning to sort through the Fall 2020 re-opening document published by OSPI late last week, along with recommendations from the CDC and the Department of Health. Our team will take the time to create a thoughtful and comprehensive re-opening plan to account for safety protocols as needed.
That being said, our plan is to be in school fulltime in all grades preschool through 8th as we begin school in the fall. The information released by OSPI supports and encourages that plan. Due to Hope’s larger physical classroom sizes relative to lower numbers of students per class, we believe we can adequately follow social distancing recommendations. It may mean we need to shift classrooms around a bit over the summer, and it will certainly mean smaller changes such as having specialists travel to classrooms and limiting the numbers of classrooms outside at recess, but we currently plan to begin school in the building as scheduled on September 2, 2020. With summer camp beginning next week, we already have the opportunity to test out and practice safety protocols.
In the documents released by OSPI last week, one surprise was the requirement that all students and staff wear face masks or coverings. I’m not fully sure that will remain as a requirement, as there is some debate about it. However, if that remains the only non-negotiable requirement, we will do our best to support it if it means we can teach in our school building again!
I have received a couple questions regarding Hope School’s relationship with Seattle Public Schools district-wide decisions. SPS is expected to release their plans for re-opening at the end of this week. While we must follow certain state-wide requirements as a school, we are under no obligation to follow SPS decisions, or any other district’s decisions.
Enrollment for the fall is looking strong, and we can’t wait to see you all soon! We do have some openings in our preschool program, so if you know of families interested, encourage them to reach out to Admissions Director Sally Heit at sheit@hopeseattle.org. Please contact us in the school office with any questions or comments at (206) 935-8500 or you may reach out to me (Mrs. Okabayashi) at kokabayashi@hopeseattle.org.
Hope Summer Camp
We are so excited to welcome back students to our building next week! If you have not signed up for summer camp yet, we have limited space available. For information about camp, you may click on this link: https://hopeluthstg.wpengine.com/extended-care/summer-camp/ For updated summer camp safety protocols as of June 16, 2020
School Office Hours June 15-19, 2020
This week, the school office will be closed most of the week for trainings and meetings. The office is open Monday June 15 and Wednesday June 17, but closed the other days.
Summer Office Hours
Normal school office hours during the summer will be Monday through Thursday 9-3. We recommend calling the office at (206) 935-8500 to set up a time if you need to stop by.
