Dear TGS Families:

 Thank you for a great start to the school year! With the exception of a few technical glitches and a (thankfully, very short) national outage of Zoom service, our first week of remote learning has gone well!  Attendance has been terrific and we’re grateful for the feedback we’ve already received regarding the schedule and lunch program.  We’re committed to continued improvements as we all work together to develop new routines.

 As we do at the beginning of every year, I want to let you know that this year’s student-family handbook is now available. You can find it here.  The content of the handbook will be reviewed with each student via advisory. We encourage you to review the content and we appreciate your signing, scanning and sending us the affirmation form stating that you and your child have reviewed the handbook and agree to support our school community’s expectations for good citizenship and behavior. Students should return the signed form to their advisor by Friday, September 4^th.

Given the local and state news that gyms and bars are now being permitted to open, we’ve fielded several questions about when The Gregory School will resume its full schedule in person. The question about opening in person is a very complicated one, and we have lots of variables to consider, not the least of which is the data being provided about Pima County. Therefore, I want to provide you with an overview of the nine metrics we’re monitoring that have been delineated by the Pima County Health Department as critical considerations regarding the opening of schools.

 The nine metrics are as follows:

 Disease Criteria

1. Decreasing cases over two consecutive weeks
2. Decreasing COVID-19 related deaths over 14 days
3. Decreasing hospitalizations

Healthcare Capacity Criteria

4. Lab testing availability and utilization
5. Adequate hospital bed capacity
6. Sufficient personal protective equipment for emergency responders

Public Health Capacity Criteria

7. Timely case investigation
8. Testing of symptomatic contacts within 48 hours
9. Facilities/support for patients who can’t be discharged home

 The good news is that we’ve made progress as a state and county on the above metrics. Our health department uses a color-coding system that informs us of the progress for each metric: red means the criteria have not been met, yellow indicates we’re making progress, and green indicates the criteria have been met. We are in weekly contact with the Pima County Health Department. The metrics they continue to be concerned with involve the percent positivity rate (#1 above), as well as items 7 and 8. Ideally, the percent positivity rate should be 5%, but PCHD will support opening schools when the positivity rate reaches 7% as long as all of the other indicators are at least “yellow” or “green.” Pima County is currently reporting a 9% positivity rate.  Additionally, the health department indicates that they do not yet have the capacity to meet expectations for contact tracing and testing (items 7 and 8), but are making progress.

 In addition to the above metrics, I can assure you that we are also monitoring and balancing our own community’s assets and needs as we discuss our schedule for moving forward. Despite having worked all summer to prepare, we have learned some lessons this week, because of having remote learners on campus, about additional work that should be done before we bring more students back. Finally, we need to make sure we take into account feedback we are receiving from our faculty and staff, as well as from our families, about specific situations and needs.

 I share this information to illustrate that there is no one singular answer to the question, “When will you bring everyone back to campus?” We will continue to monitor and plan accordingly and commit, as we have since last spring, to continued communication and transparency with all of you. Our intent is to provide everyone—faculty, staff, students and families—with at least one week’s notice, if not more, before bringing additional members of our community back to campus.  

 Thank you for your support and continued best wishes for good health.

Kind regards,

Julie A. Sherrill, Ph.D.
Head of School