Coronavirus (COVID-19)

West Sound Academy is closely monitoring news and information on the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in our area. The situation continues to evolve rapidly; please check this page regularly for information and updates regarding our preparation and procedures to address coronavirus with our community.

West Sound Academy updates

May 15, 2020 - Email to staff, parents and guardians, and students; Subject: Now to Next

Hello WSA Students, Families and Staff,

With the potential shift of moving from Stay Home/Stay Healthy to Phase 2 of our state’s re-opening plan, the focus of all of our lives is also shifting from the “now” to the “next”. First, I must acknowledge the tremendous ability of WSA students to have joined their teachers so fully in the shift to remote learning. Your flexibility and perseverance are admirable. In these last two weeks of learning, I know it is harder to get to those classes with enthusiasm but I encourage you all to hang in there a wee bit more and finish strong.

Secondly, I want to give you an update on what WSA is doing to plan for next year. We have formed an operational task force called ’21 Task Force made up of some admin and faculty who are starting work at analyzing how we usually do school and what changes we will make to meet the safety guidelines determined by the state for operating school. We do not have those guidelines but information has begun to trickle down slowly so that we can start working on scenarios. We also are forming a strategic task force at the board level that will work on what the next two to four years of school will look like and what lessons have we learned from this experience. What good can we take away and apply to the mission and vision of our school?

There are some things we do know. We do know that there will be tremendous pressure put on public school districts to re-open on-site schooling and so the State will start creating and then revising new schooling protocols. Temperature taking, mask-wearing, limiting group sizes and group mingling are all anticipated to be things we will need to figure out how to manage. We do know that it is impossible to eliminate risk entirely and that we must adjust to a new comfort level of interaction after spending two months in quarantine. We do know that we will offer solid academic instruction and will continue to improve how we do that in these new times given more time to plan.

We do anticipate that there will be some remote learning next year. How and when and how much, we are not able to say yet. We anticipate that we could make a great plan and then have to change that plan overnight (much like March 2020) so we know that we will need to remain flexible and nimble.

Students are at the center of our work and then subsequently, families are also part of our circle of care. We won’t know how to help you unless you reach out so please don’t hesitate to send me a question, share a resource or just ask a question even if you don’t think I have the answer yet. Don’t worry about bugging us…we are here to help you. We work all summer planning, repairing and still enrolling new students so we are here for you.

I hope that you can all plan to contribute a memento to the Corona Capsule on May 29th (see this week’s Hawk Talk) as well as bring your library and school-owned books back. We will be here from 10-2 with a drive through station in front of Frodel Hall. We are living history!

Best,

Barrie

Steps WSA families can take

Stay informed; information is changing frequently. Links to dedicated coronavirus pages from public health departments and other trustworthy organizations are on this page. Summaries of important information can be found in the website, flyers and article linked below:

Kitsap Cares – a centralized point of information for local community resources to help individuals, nonprofit organizations, and businesses cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The site is managed by the Kitsap Community Foundation, in partnership with the Kitsap County Emergency Operations Center.

Kitsap Public Health District: What you need to know about novel coronavirus.

Extended coverage of the outbreak of a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2; the illness it causes, COVID-19; and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world: Coronavirus

CDC: What you need to know about coronavirus disease 2019 and
What to do if you are sick with coronavirus disease 2019

Take steps to protect yourself and others, and slow the spread of the disease. A clear explanation of the basics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including the symptoms, how it spreads, how it affects the body in infected patients is in this article from The Seattle Times:

Facts about novel coronavirus and how to prevent COVID-19. The author lists the common-sense actions you can take to prevent the flu and common cold that will also help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus:

- - Wash hands often with soap and water. If that’s not available, use hand sanitizer.
  - Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
  - Avoid contact with people who are sick.
  - Stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others.
  - Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

Practice appropriate social distancing strategies. Recommendations from the World Health Organization are for people “to maintain at least 1 meter (3 feet) distance between themselves and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Why? When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.”

Talk about the coronavirus with your family. What are your tweens and teens thoughts and feelings about it? Some helpful resources are linked below.

Separating COVID-19 Facts from Fiction, a comic series from Comics for Good