ANN ARBOR, MI – The start of a school year is an exciting time.
Students are excited to start new classes, see and make friends. Teachers and staff have eagerly prepared and are enthusiastic about the many opportunities that are offered to students for conscious learning.
Every year I use this moment to remind our community to watch out for children and buses on the streets. We hope the drivers remember the many children who walk, ride bikes or wait for the bus. For the safety of our children, please walk slowly through your neighborhoods.
As we are entering a third year of school with the COVID-19 pandemic, I also share a more important safety message.
With Washtenaw County currently at a “high” level of transmission in the community, your children and our staff urgently need your help.
As has been the case since this pandemic began, we will continue to consider the health and safety of our students and staff, parents and the community as our top priority. We will be practicing AAPS COVID containment strategies in our schools.
Many of you have asked your school administration or me what you can do to help during this difficult time. There are three main steps you can take to keep our students and staff as healthy as possible. Every step gives us a strong and sustainable start to this school year.
vaccination
If you are 12 years of age or older, please get vaccinated as soon as possible. Those who are vaccinated provide crucial protection for immunocompromised teachers, staff, parents and especially students under the age of 12 who are not yet able to receive the vaccination.
The most powerful tool we have to stop the spread of COVID-19 is vaccination. The Pfizer vaccine is now FDA approved and available in Washtenaw County.
Wear a mask indoors
In accordance with recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Washtenaw County Health Department, we will require masks for all students, staff, and visitors regardless of vaccination status on AAPS campus.
This simple, technically undemanding step of wearing a mask indoors provides another layer of protection to help contain the spread of COVID-19 in our community.
We are grateful to the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and other organizations for taking important steps to ensure indoor vaccinations and masking this fall. We are safer because of their consideration.
Monitor the level of internal contact
Ann Arbor is a community that values education very much. One of the exciting things I hear from our recently graduated students is their desire to work for leaders and organizations that give back to our community. These young people have a deep desire to make a positive difference.
With the rise of the COVID delta variant in both our country and our country, there is an easy way to give something back. By reducing contact with other people indoors, especially at large gatherings, we are helping stop the virus and helping our community get better.
In the coming days, consider your participation in indoor meetings and evaluate them carefully. Consider replacing a Zoom session with a face-to-face event. Reducing exposure helps students stay in the classroom. Sometimes these little sacrifices make a big difference.
In a COVID era, learning and growing together among students, teachers and staff in schools is a huge step forward. In the steps we take each day, we show our care and commitment to our children, to one another, to our Ann Arbor community, and to our future together.
Really, we are stronger when we work together.
Thank you for your continued support to our students and the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
– Dr. Jeanice K. Swift is Superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools
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