Dear HGSD Parents, Staff and Community, August 14th, 2020
I hope this letter finds all of you safe, healthy, and enjoying summer. The start of school is just around the corner and, as we get closer to the start, there are still many uncertainties. We are still waiting for state and local health departments to finalize guidance on contact tracing. I sincerely empathize with all of you and the anxiety of how things will go can be overwhelming. Please be reassured that we are working incredibly hard to accommodate every student, family, and staff member as we plan our reopening.
In an effort to make the first day go smoothly please do not feel obligated to send all of your child's school supplies with them on the first day of school. Your child's teacher will communicate ideas for getting supplies to school without overburdening children's backpacks and carrying capacity. We would like students to focus on getting to their room, greeting their teacher, and being back in their school.
Additionally, to eliminate the traffic in the offices on the first day of school, please bring in any medications that are necessary to be given during the school day, to the appropriate school office during the week before school starts. Please contact each office for their hours.
As you know, we have a mask mandate order in effect. We will be providing every student with two cloth masks that have been provided by the state. If your child can't wear the mask due to medical reason(s), please contact the building principal to discuss these health concerns. We will certainly work with you to accommodate every child and situation.
Once we are back in session, please keep the line of communication open with the district. The more information we know regarding symptoms of someone at home, if someone got tested, or tested positive, the better we can assist with contact tracing if needed. This will be an all hands on deck effort to keep our district healthy. If a positive case were to be present within the district, the district is bound by HIPPA/FERPA laws that we can't release the student or staff member's name. We will work closely with the Public Health department to inform those that would be deemed a close contact on what the follow-up guidance should be.
We have updated information on our Virtual Learning Option that you can view in the FOR PARENTS section of each website. I know that I include this information every week, but we understand that the mental health of our students, families, and staff is of paramount importance. As a reminder, if you need support or have questions, please contact Amanda O’Connell, our elementary school counselor at Northview (aoconnell@hgsd.k12.wi.us), Jessica Luecke, our middle school counselor (jluecke@hgsd.k12.wi.us), Krista Neave, our new school counselor at the high school (kneave@hgsd.k12.wi.us), David Hickmann, district school social worker (dhickmann@hgsd.k12.wi.us), or Tracy Bandt, district school psychologist (tracy.bandt@hgsd.k12.wi.us).
Please don’t hesitate to reach out for help or support at any time. We are all in this together and are here to help.
Sincerely,
Chris Peterson, Scott Fritz, Heather Zizis, Jason Cole, and Tracy Bandt