Superintendent Letter – August 10, 2020

Charter School in Phoenix | Champion Schools South Mountain

August 10, 2020

Dear Champion Families,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy in this challenging time.

At the request of Superintendent Hoffman and the Educational Community, Governor Ducey asked that the Arizona State Department of Public Health develop a plan for the SAFE return to in-person instruction for schools. This Report was due on August 7, 2020. Thus Champion Schools’ Leadership met with the Arizona Dept. of Health and over 1000 other school leaders last Friday. The message was clear. No counties in the state of Arizona currently meet the metrics required for a SAFE return to in-person instruction. The Arizona Dept. of Health set the following benchmarks for the SAFE RETURN TO HYBRID (Virtual and In-Person) LEARNING:

● CASES: a two-week decline in the number of cases can be used to meet this benchmark or two-week of a case rate of less than 100 cases per 100,000 population;

● PERCENT POSITIVITY: for initial opening, two weeks of percent positivity less than 7% within the county; and

● COVID-LIKE ILLNESS (CLI): two weeks of hospital visits due to CLI below 10%.

For additional information & the schools dashboard, visit azhealth.gov/schoolsCOVID19

In order to OPEN SAFELY and STAY OPEN, we are now planning for all students to begin school at 8:00am on Aug. 17th, VIRTUALLY. Students who need special support services ie: Special Education, EL Instruction, or simply need a Safe Place to Learn, must contact their teacher or school administrator to request these accommodations. Meals will be available for pick up.

JUMP START begins August 10th, as an orientation for Students and Parents on how to access Virtual Learning. All sessions will be recorded and made available to ALL Students and Parents. We look forward to welcoming students back in-person as soon as we are able to do so safely.

Sincerely,

Ms. C. Sawyer MA
Superintendent
480-659-0044
csawyer@championschools.org