Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

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marieh
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:33 pm

Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by marieh »

News has come out over the past few days that vaccinated individuals are capable of transmitting the . and that the Delta variant causes a more severe infection in unvaccinated populations, including young children. Has anyone heard from their school about starting school online this year given these recent developments? Or are your schools still planning to open in person?
fine dude
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Re: Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by fine dude »

We will be offering remote learning for a while and with 18 months of experience tinkering with our IT infrastructure and faculty training, I should say, we are better prepared for online teaching and learning. The global IT scenario will be a mix of hybrid and remote learning. I also know of schools that are fully opening up for in-person learning. Who knows, once a school reports infections and as the numbers go up locally, they will eventually close it down in phases. We'll all be going in circles for the foreseeable future until we have a booster dose that can effectively fight the new variants.
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by shadowjack »

We are returning face to face. All staff - including all support staff - are fully vaccinated and many of our older students will be vaccinated. At the same time, keep in mind that at present the delta transmission is not widely documented, so more data is needed before science reaches conclusions. Different schools will enact different policies around this.

At the same time, should we feel the need, we are fully prepared to start the year virtually. The great majority of our staff and students will have tested negative to return and will have passed another test on arrival, so we feel confident in our position to start face-to-face.
mamava
Posts: 320
Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 7:56 am

Re: Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by mamava »

We're opening 100% in person. Most of our staff will be fully vaxxed by the end of August and many of our families/teens are likely to be. Only staff, faculty, and students on campus (no parents/drivers/nannies). Everyone has to pass a COVID test given Fri/Sat. Masks on everyone, social distancing in classrooms, contact tracing in indoor setting. Dual sync is an option but it seems like we're discouraging it as a choice (keeping it for immunocompromised families). We had really good luck last year with our system so I feel pretty comfortable with starting up--and excited to see the kids again!
IE_sciteacher
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:05 pm

Re: Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by IE_sciteacher »

We start fully in person Monday. Mask requirement in early primary only. Have to provide our contact tracing app information weekly and temp checks to enter any building. Campus is open to parents currently. An unknown percentage of staff and students are vaccinated. Quiet conversations are going around stating that maybe more proactive work could have been done to set up a basic framework if a switch to online is required.

If we do have to go online, which could realistically happen, it will be a very challenging transition as we have only been in person for the past 16 months.
marieh
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:33 pm

Re: Delta variant and in-person vs. online openings

Post by marieh »

IE_sciteacher wrote:
> If we do have to go online, which could realistically happen, it will be a
> very challenging transition as we have only been in person for the past 16
> months.

We're in the opposite situation. We were online for the past 16 months and are going back in person at the end of the month. Mask requirement for all grades and an emphasis on ventilation (outdoor lunches instead of indoor; only outdoor sports). No parents/maids allowed on campus. I agree it will be a challenging transition.
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