October-December Campus Information

Deena Riddle

Dear Kehillah,

Thank you for your patience as we continue our planning for the next step toward bringing students back on campus.

In July we shared our plans for a hybrid model for our program. As the school year began, we were prevented by the County of Santa Clara from implementing any plan to bring students on campus. As you know, we made the decision to wait until after the High Holidays to consider a further presence on campus.

Today, I’d like to share with you what we are planning for the rest of the semester, prioritizing the social-emotional, mental-health, and academic support needs of our students while remaining a safe community for our students, families, and employees. I want to thank my Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Directors for their unanimous support.

We will be offering an outside on-campus afternoon activity program to bring students together for connection, creativity, physical activity, and support. This program, Kehillah B’Yachad (Community Together), will begin on October 12. Coach Ryan Greenfield is our coordinator and he will be sending more information and sign-up links within the next couple of days.

Sarah Canfield-Dafilou, in collaboration with other staff, will be arranging for grade-level sessions outside on campus each Wednesday afternoon. Wednesdays will also be leveraged for specialized in-person student support.

All academic classes will remain remote until winter break. We appreciate all of the feedback we’ve already received about our online learning program. While this feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, we recognize this is also a learning experience for us and we continue to make improvements. Throughout this year, communicating with our students, employees, families and Board of Directors has been an integral part of our process.

I want to reiterate that we support each family’s choice to come onto campus. Although we will continue to plan toward a greater presence on campus in January, it will remain an option for any family to stay fully remote through the 20-21 school year.

We’ve created a video to provide more details about our decision making and plans. Click the image below to watch the video.

Click Below to View Video

Because supporting one another is so important, especially during these ever-changing times, I want to share two additional opportunities for communication and connection.

Couchside Coffee Conversations expanded: We currently run a weekly Thursday 9-10 session for anyone interested in joining us. I will be adding a Lunch Lounge session on Tuesdays from 12-1 every week. Bring snacks and we’ll spend the hour in conversation. REGISTER HERE
You will see more frequent short communications coming from me, via email. I won’t be offended if you don’t read them. 🙂

Last Friday, you should have received the Paperless Post flyer about the Head’s Pandemic Advisory Team: An Evening for Questions & Answers on Thursday, October 8, from 6:30-8:00. More information HERE. We hope you can join us to learn from this remarkable group of experts.
I’m grateful for the helpful information they added as I, along with the Senior Leadership Team, made this decision about our on-campus presence.
Thank you for your positive support of our planning process and efforts to create the best possible experience for our students and staff. We are deeply grateful that you continue to entrust us with shaping the lives of those who will shape the future. We promise that we take this responsibility seriously each and every day.

Warm regards,

Head of School

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