Dear Rocket Families,
At the board meeting on Monday August 9th, the school board passed our official return to learn plan for the 2021-2022 school year. As you know, the health and safety of our students is always of greatest importance to us. We have all experienced the rapidly changing and fluid situation that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented. This creates a challenge for all school districts nationwide as we contemplate bringing kids back for another school year. As a school district in Iowa, we take our guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Iowa Department of Education and the Governor’s office. We will do our best to communicate any changing guidance as we get it.
As you look over the return to learn plan, know that we are doing our best to follow the guidance given, as well as the laws that have been subsequently made during the pandemic. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our central office.
One piece of direct guidance given us by the legislature is concerning masks. We will honor your individual choices when it comes to mask wearing. At this time, we will not be mandating masks, as that is the guidance that has been given.
We do ask that, as you would with any other illness, please keep your child home when exhibiting symptoms of illness. Guidance for the expectations of families of ill children is listed in the document attached to the plan. It includes the current guidance for Covid-19.
We will continue to instruct proper hand washing and make hand sanitizer readily available. We will maintain many of the heightened cleaning practices we practiced last school year as well.
With these efforts and your continued support and vigilance at home. We will move forward and plan to resume normal breakfast and lunch routines, normal busing procedures and return to small group activities and recess as they have been in the past.
One thing we all have learned amid this pandemic is that the situation can always change. We will re-evaluate all protocols if the situation calls for it and/or we receive new guidance from those entities named above.
As always, we appreciate the support of our community!
In Education,
Kreg A. Lensch