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  • Superintendent's Update for Week of January 11, 2021

    We continue to work to return our remaining older students to campus. This decision is based on data that as long as safeguards are in place, schools are safe for employees and students and are not COVID transmission sites. Current Activities:   We are providing on campus instruction to pre-school - 4th grade students except for those choosing remote only. This is a hybrid program with half-day on-campus and half-day remote. This schedule will change to a full day alternating day schedule when we return older students. Schools will be informing each student of their specific schedule prior to this transition.   We also have some students in grades 5 - 12 participating in limited on-campus academic activities. Physical conditioning and sports related workouts continue to be on hold until further notice.  We served a total of 14,862 meals over the prior 5 day school week.  We had up to 3,425 students and employees on campus last week.  We are being invited to send employees to be vaccinated who are in specific assignments identified by medical providers as having greater exposure risk.  Vaccination is not mandatory, but rather by invitation from regional health authorities as vaccine becomes available to public school employees.  Return of Remaining Students:  We are planning to return our remaining grade 5 - 7 students on a full day alternating day schedule starting January 19th. All K-4 students will convert from am/pm schedules to a full-day alternating day schedule on this same date.   We continue to have a tentative date of January 25th to return our remaining grade 8 - 12 students on a full day alternating day schedule. Given our transportation limitations, we are asking parents who have the ability to transport their grade 8-12 students to the school, or have them walk following a safe walking route. Ideally, this will be short-term until we have increased our capacity to transport all students who desire to ride the bus. Safe walking routes for all Eastmont Schools can be found at: https://www.eastmont206.org/departments/transportation/walk-routes/index   If transporting or having your student walk to school is not possible, please l et your school know and your student will be placed on list for bus transportation as spaces become available.  Other Activities: Transportation - A second group of future bus drivers started today and our first group is about finished.  Increasing our transportation capacity will effect our ability to return all students to a full on-campus schedule and participate in the eventual return of student athletic and other extra-curricular activities.  Please see the attached flyer for more information as a dditional drivers continue to be needed. COVID Dashboard as of January 11, 2021 The table below shares student and employee counts for the week. It also shows positive COVID cases, potential exposures, and current shutdowns. Please know parents will be informed by your school if your child was directly exposed to a positive case or in the immediate vicinity. We will also let you know if your student needs to be monitored or quarantined. This contact will be done with a phone call or message for you to contact your school office for more information. We look forward to returning all students to campus and a return to full activities. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Here is a link from a local physician on the COVID vaccine that is beginning to be distributed throughout the United States and in our region. Dr. Mark Johnson on the COVID Vaccine

    Monday, Jan 11 2021

  • Superintendent Special Bulletin - January 8, 2021

    Good Afternoon, This is a follow up to earlier notifications regarding the return of our older students. After a busy week of working through the logistics involved in bringing back our next group of students, I would like to confirm the return to campus of intermediate students in grades 5, 6, and 7 on January 19th. These students will be on an all day alternating days schedule. Our elementary students will also convert to the same schedule starting the 19th. The return of our older junior and senior high students on January 25th is still tentative. This is because we have campus, instructional, and transportation questions we are still working through. As before, if any of you are still dreaming of becoming bus drivers, now is your opportunity! Our goal at this time is to have a schedule we can sustain through this school year that supports the return of all P-12 students whose families are choosing to return their children to our campuses. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Please see the attached flyer for more information on becoming an Eastmont Bus Driver.

    Friday, Jan 08 2021

  • Superintendent's Update for Week of January 4, 2021

    Our local health officer confirmed this morning continued support for Eastmont returning our remaining older students to campus. This is based on data that as long as safeguards are in place, schools are safe for employees and students and are not COVID transmission sites. To return our remaining students will require additional preparation as students are organized into A and B groups, small cohorts, and all safeguards are reviewed and expanded to accommodate additional students. Transportation and staffing continue to be challenges as having smaller groups on both buses and in classrooms requires more staff and different assignments for many employees. Current Activities:   We are providing on campus instruction to pre-school - 4th grade students except for those choosing remote only. This is a hybrid program with half-day on-campus and half-day remote. This schedule will change to a full day alternating day schedule when we return older students. Schools will be informing each student of their specific schedule prior to this transition.   We also have some students in grades 5 - 12 participating in limited on-campus academic activities. Physical conditioning and sports related workouts continue to be on hold until further notice.  We served an average of 3,000+ student meals each day for a prior 5 day week total of 15,034.  We had up to 3,343 students and employees on campus the week prior to winter break depending on schedules and absences.   We are starting to invite employees to be vaccinated. This is not mandatory, but rather by invitation from regional health authorities as vaccines become available to public schools.  Return of Remaining Students:  We have a tentative date of January 19th to return our remaining grade 5 - 7 students on a full day alternating day schedule. Schools will be informing each student of their specific schedule prior to this transition.   All K-4 students will tentatively convert from am/pm schedules to a full-day alternating day schedule on January 19th.  We have a tentative date of January 25th to return our remaining grade 8 - 12 students on a full day alternating day schedule. Given our transportation limitations, we are asking all parents who can transport their grade 8-12 students to the school or to a safe walking route do this until we have increased our capacity to transport all students who desire to ride the bus. Safe walking routes for all Eastmont Schools can be found at:  https://www.eastmont206.org/departments/transportation/walk-routes/index Please let your school know if you are not able to transport your grade 8 - 12 student and other arrangements will be made.   Other Activities: Transportation - Thanks to those who applied to become bus drivers as we now have one group completing the training and another starting the training. Increasing our transportation capacity will effect our ability to return all students to a full on-campus schedule and participate in eventual return of student athletic and other extra-curricular activities. Additional drivers continue to be needed. Please see the attached flyer for more information.     COVID Dashboard as of this afternoon - January 4, 2021 The table below shares student and employee counts for the week prior to the holiday break. It also shows positive COVID cases, potential exposures, and shutdowns that occurred over the break. Please know parents will be informed by your school if your child was directly exposed to a positive case or in the immediate vicinity. We will also let you know if your student needs to be monitored or quarantined. This contact will be done with a phone call or message for you to contact your school office for more information. The dates mentioned for the return of students are given as tentative and will be confirmed next Monday. This caution is in recognition conditions could change given possible holiday break COVID infections. We look forward to returning all students to campus and a return to full activities. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Here is a link from a local physician on the COVID vaccine that is beginning to be distributed throughout the United States and in our region. Dr. Mark Johnson on the COVID Vaccine

    Tuesday, Jan 05 2021

  • Eastmont Superintendent Special Bulletin - December ...

    Good Afternoon, This was an interesting week for public schools. Both our regional health officer and Governor issued new information strongly supporting the return of students and employees to schools. Here is a link to the Governor's Press Conference. Governor Inslee's December 16, 2020 Press Conference Their recommendations to return all students to campus are based on the growing local, state, national, and international evidence that K-12 schools are not being identified as COVID transmission sites for both students and employees as long as all safeguards are in place. Eastmont has been one of the Districts being monitored for transmissions. This is because we have had staff and students working on campus since August. As of today, we continue to have more students and staff safely working on campus than other school districts in North Central Washington. The decision to expand in-person learning is complex and requires weighing both risks and benefits to children, staff, their families, and the broader community. The State Department of Health asks local leaders consider COVID-19 activity level (i.e., case rates, percent test positivity, trends, etc.) as well as the educational, social and emotional benefits of in-person learning for students. These metrics are not intended to serve as a hard threshold, but rather reviewed in total when making these decisions. Given this new guidance, Eastmont is finalizing our plans for the return of intermediate and then junior and senior high students. Our neighbors, Wenatchee School District, have reported they also hope to return additional older students in January. Our plans are similar, though exact dates will not be set until we observe what happens with COVID in our community and our work force over the holiday break. The return of older students will require a transition to an all-day hybrid schedule. This schedule will also be implemented for all elementary students currently on-campus once we begin to return our grade 5 - 7 and older students. A continuing challenge is transporting additional students. Our plea for community members to become bus drivers continues. Without adequate drivers, our routes and bus stops will need to be reduced and spread out further until we have additional drivers. We will also need drivers as we restore our extracurricular and athletic activities. I wish everyone a safe and restful holiday break and that 2021 is a better year for all of us. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Please see the attached flyer for more information on becoming an Eastmont Bus Driver.

    Friday, Dec 18 2020

  • Correction of Superintendent's Update for Week of De...

    Please note the Dashboard sent out earlier today had an error in the numbers for Lee Elementary. These have been corrected. We have also separated those quarantining because of known close exposure (in or out of district) and those isolating with symptoms or waiting for test results. COVID Dashboard for Prior Week of December 7 - 11 Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Here is a link from a local physician on the COVID vaccine that is beginning to be distributed throughout the United States and in our region. Dr. Mark Johnson on the COVID Vaccine

    Tuesday, Dec 15 2020

  • Superintendent's Update for Week of December 14, 2020

    Our local health officer continues to support Eastmont serving our current students on campus. This is based on growing evidence that schools in our region are not where COVID is being contracted and spreading. However, we have been counseled to not return additional students to our intermediate or upper grade level schools until conditions improve. Prior Week's Activities:   We are providing on campus instruction to pre-school - 4th grade students except for those choosing remote only. This is a hybrid program with half-day on-campus and half-day remote. This schedule will change to an full day hybrid schedule once we return older students.  We also have some students in grades 5 - 12 participating in limited on-campus academic activities. Physical conditioning and sports related workouts continue to be on hold until further notice.  We served an average of 3,000+ student meals each day for a weekly total of 15,544.  We had up to 3,343 students and employees on campus depending on schedules and absences.   Return of Students:  Planning continues for returning our next phase (2b) of remaining grade 5 - 7 students and the return of grades 8 - 12 (3a). The dates for these returns will not be set until our health department supports additional students on our campuses. You can help us to do this when you practice distancing,  masking, and all other safeguards.   Other Activities: Transportation - Thanks to those who applied to become bus drivers. Increasing our transportation capacity helps sustain our efforts to return students to campus and eventual return of student athletic and other extra-curricular activities. Additional drivers are always needed. Please see the attached flyer for more information.     The table below shares where we ended last week regarding positive COVID cases, potential exposures, and shutdowns. Please know parents will be informed by your school if your child was directly exposed to a positive case or in the immediate vicinity. We will also let you know if your student needs to be monitored or quarantined. This contact will be done with a phone call or message for you to contact your school office for more information. COVID Dashboard for Prior Week of December 7 - 11 This will be our last weekly bulletin until after the winter break. Our next regular weekly bulletin will be sent out Monday, January 11, 2021. We look forward to returning all students to campus and a return to full activities. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent PS: Here is a link from a local physician on the COVID vaccine that is beginning to be distributed throughout the United States and in our region. Dr. Mark Johnson on the COVID Vaccine

    Monday, Dec 14 2020

  • Eastmont Superintendent Special Bulletin - December ...

    Good Afternoon, Today, all Eastmont principals and supervisors were directed to plan for a switch in our hybrid program from our current am/pm student schedule to an all day alternating day schedule. This switch is because of the complexity of the AM/PM schedule, which we have determined is not sustainable once we begin to return our older students to campus. Moving to an all day alternating schedule increases our capacity to transport both elementary and older students and builds towards returning additional student activities. The exact date for this switch is undetermined, but will be shared once our local health officer supports the return of additional students to our campuses. Please know some of our special education students will have different schedules depending on their specific IEP needs. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent  PS: For those of you quietly dreaming of becoming a school bus driver, now is the time. Not only do you get to cruise our beautiful area as tour guide with eager youngsters, you also get to wear decorative masks and will drive the cleanest most sanitized buses that have ever rolled down the road. In addition, you will learn about our cool radios, modern cameras, and stacks of policies and procedures for doing the wonderful work of transporting our youth. If you stick with it, you will get to know some amazing young people, be one of the first to know when they have a new brother, sister, puppy, kitten, chicken, or doghouse. You may also be one of the first to congratulate a young person on an A or B, a touchdown, homerun, soccer goal, great game, or day of good bus manners. Yes, this is your dream opportunity!!! Please see the attached flyer for more information on becoming an Eastmont Bus Driver.

    Thursday, Dec 10 2020

  • Reminder- Thursday, Dec 10th Mobile Clinic-Clínica m...

    Please call to preregister- 662-6000 Flu Shots and Physicals for all Family members! Eastmont High School 10 am-6 pm Favor de registrarse antemano llamando al 662-6000 ¡Vacunas contra la influenza y exámenes físicos para todos los miembros de la familia!  Escuela preparatoria de Eastmont de 10 am a 6 pm. 

    Tuesday, Dec 08 2020

  • Eastmont Special Bulletin - December 8, 2020

    Good Morning, Below is a short plea that was sent to me from two of our long-time local physicians. Prior to this pandemic, Central Washington Families have always taken for granted that a call to 911 for a medical emergency due to an auto accident, fall, heart condition, stroke, asthma attack, or other injury would if needed result in a swift trip to a ready hospital bed. Today, that opportunity is limited as many of our local beds are full of those with COVID -19 that has evolved into pneumonia. Please know one of the several criteria for returning students to campus is the capacity of our regional medical facilities. Ideally, these conditions will improve and we will soon be able to return our remaining students. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent We Need Your Help By Dr. Peter Rutherford and Dr. Malcolm Butler Our healthcare system is on the brink. We need you to stay home and wear your mask whenever you are around people who don’t live with you. We will not make this argument with graphs and data: Been there, done that. The reserve capacity that any emergency system maintains to keep everyone safe is spent. The hospital is full and pulling staff from the clinics to support those who are sick and dying in the hospital. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, understand that cancelled clinic appointments are most likely the result of resources being pulled toward those sick with COVID-19. Our nurses and physicians are also spent, they drive home close to tears, and the next morning put on a brave face and head back into the fight. We need you to stay home and wear your mask whenever you are around people who don’t live with you. For months our local leaders have petitioned the state for local control, arguing that those of us living in Chelan and Douglas counties know best how to control the pandemic within our communities. This is what local control feels like, two local physicians who have spent their careers in service to each of you, pleading with you. We need you to stay home and wear your mask whenever you are around people who don’t live with you. None of us plan to slice our finger, or break our ankle, or develop appendicitis. All of us plan to go to the hospital when a medical crisis strikes. The hospital has limits, and if people continue to ignore well proven COVID precautions - masking, distancing, hygiene - the hospital won’t be available to suture your finger, set your fracture, or remove your appendix – it will be full. We need you to stay home and wear your mask whenever you are around people who don’t live with you. Please. Dr. Peter Rutherford is the CEO of Confluence Health. Dr. Malcolm Butler is the chief medical officer of Columbia Valley Community Health and the health officer of Chelan-Douglas Health District.

    Tuesday, Dec 08 2020

  • Superintendent's Update for Week of December 7, 2020

    Our move to return additional grade levels of students to our campuses is on hold. This is a result of a continued rise in our community numbers as well an increase in rates among our own students and employees. Our local health officer continues to support Eastmont serving our current students on campus. This is based on growing evidence that schools in our region are not where COVID is being contracted and spreading. However, we have been counseled to not return additional students to our intermediate or upper grade level schools until conditions improve. Present Activities:   We are providing on campus instruction to pre-school - 4th grade students except for those choosing remote only. This is a hybrid program with half-day on-campus and half-day remote. We also have a small number of students in grades 5 - 12 participating in limited on-campus academic activities. Physical conditioning and sports related workouts continue to be on hold until further notice.  Up to 601 students per day rode the bus last week.  We served an average of 2,400+ student meals each day last week  We had between 3,000 and 3,300 students and employees on campus each day last week depending on schedules and absences.   Return of Students:  Planning continues for returning our next phase (2b) of remaining grade 5 - 7 students and the return of grades 8 - 12. The dates for these returns will not be set until community rates decrease.  You can help us to do this when you practice distancing,  masking, and all other safeguards.   Other Activities: Bus transportation continues to be a challenge in our ability to return future students. It is very likely routes and school schedules will need to change as we reorganize in our efforts to return our older students.  All c hanges in student bus schedules will be communicated with families via their children's school. Please see attached flyer if you are interested in becoming a substitute bus driver . All required training is provided by the District.  The table below shares where we ended last week regarding positive COVID cases, potential exposures, and shutdowns. Please know parents will be informed by your school if your child was directly exposed to a positive case. This will be done with a phone call or message to contact your school office for more information. We will instruct you may need to just be aware of the exposure, or if your student needs to quarantine, isolate, or opt to be tested. COVID Dashboard for Prior Week of November 30 - December 5 We look forward to returning all students to campus and a return to full activities. Sincerely, Garn Christensen Superintendent

    Monday, Dec 07 2020