December 16, 2021
To All Link Families:
This afternoon, Link made the decision to transition the entire school to remote instruction beginning tomorrow, Friday, December 17th and continuing through Thursday, December 23rd. We communicated that decision to you with an automated call but we wanted to provide some additional information. It was a difficult decision and one that was made in consultation with the Newark Department of Health, with the aim to safeguard our school community. We have seen an increase in cases of high fevers and some confirmed COVID cases in the past 72 hours. We are sharing this information with you should you wish to get your child, yourself, and family members tested. Should your Link student experience COVID-19 symptoms, please have them tested and let us know both about the symptoms and about any test results by emailing nurse@linkschool.org.
Under a remote instruction structure, all scholars are expected to log in to Google Classroom by 8:20 am to start the day in an advisory/morning circle. You will note additional resources are being added to the COVID page and to the parent page on our school website. Link teachers will plan a full day of instruction with breaks provided during the breakfast, lunch/recess, and study hall periods (depending on the grade level). Tomorrow morning, we will hold a virtual morning circle for grades 5 to 8 to set expectations and review the schedule. We look forward to seeing all our scholars then. Students' Chromebook cameras must be on and their faces must be in the frame so we can confirm they are present.
Students left school today with the option to take home breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. We know the shift to remote instruction was a sudden one so we wanted to support families with the meals you may expect the school to provide. Next week, families will be able to pick up meals for the four days of school at Link on Monday, December 20th, from 1 to 5:30 pm.
In order to best plan to support your scholar during remote learning, please complete this SHORT SURVEY immediately. It includes questions about your connection to the internet and about interest in getting school meals.
Additionally, please note that the Vaccination Clinic, scheduled at Link for tomorrow has been CANCELED, but....If you planned to attend the vaccination clinic tomorrow, you may go directly to the Newark Department of Health, located at 110 William Street, in Newark to get a vaccine or booster. The site is open for walk-ins on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 9 am to 4:45 pm, on Thursdays from 9 am to 7 pm, and on Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm. Parking is available on the street and is apparently plentiful on Thursday evenings and Saturdays. Generally, you would be there 30 minutes, including the 15 minutes of monitoring after the vaccination/booster is administered. We are disappointed in the cancellation but our transition to remote instruction necessitated it pursuant to Newark Department of Health protocols. We plan to reschedule for after the New Year. Until then, we hope you remain safe and healthy.
We have a strong team of instructional leaders and administrators ready to support your scholar and you during remote instruction. Please reach out to Ms. Hester with any questions you may have at khester@linkschool.org. And, our teachers have planned for strong instruction. We ask for your support to get your scholars online each day. We know that together we will make the next few days a success!
Sincerely,
Maria Pilar Paradiso, Head of School
Kathleen M. Hester, Principal
