February 13, 2021

 

Dear Needham Public Schools Families:

 

I hope that you and your children are looking forward to spending some quality time together during the February school break. Although your vacation plans are likely different this year due to strict travel restrictions and health concerns, there is good reason to have hope for better days ahead as health and safety protocols provide our community with proven ways to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines roll out in Massachusetts.

I want to share two important updates:

• February Break Travel In the event you travel outside the state this coming week, please make sure that you and your family follow the district's family health and travel protocols.

 

• Family Health Attestation Allow me to update you on a new process through Ruvna as another layer of health and safety the district will be providing in March.

The district is preparing to launch a COVID-19 symptom screening that increases each family’s role in attesting to the fact that they have checked in with their child(ren) to see how they are feeling before sending them to school. The attestation is meant to acknowledge that all of us, staff and families, are invested in keeping our schools open for in-person learning. This is especially important as we move forward with the plan to bring our students in K-2 back to school four days each week starting on March 8.

 

- The new attestation process uses text messaging to push out a web link each morning, allowing families to quickly tap their way through health screening questions for the students in their household who will be attending in-person learning on that day. The screening is not needed for students in the Remote Learning Academy.

- Detailed information will be provided over the next few weeks regarding steps for you to take to support this health screening process. In the meantime, a Q & A is provided as an overview of the purpose and process for the Family Health Attestation.

 

Wishing you an enjoyable vacation week and urging you to maintain your commitment to the protocols that ensure a safe and healthy return to in-school learning after the school break.

 

Respectfully,