Dear Parents,
I’m sure you are all wondering what the school is going to do in the coming weeks. I have been waiting to see how things changed over the last few days before we made a decision about this coming week. The short message is that we will be transferring our spring break from the week of March 30 to this coming week. So there will be no school from March 16-20, but there will be school from March 30-April 3.
We are closing the school this week not because we know there is a dire threat, but because, at this time, it doesn’t seem that anyone really knows very much about the scope of the threat. Our hope is that within a week we will have better information, be able to better understand the risks, and make better decisions. At the end of this week, we will decide what is the best course to take for the weeks following.
I have expressed strong reluctance to close the school to several of you and I want to make sure that none of you misunderstood that reluctance. I am not being cavalier about the possible threat of a viral pandemic, but I am trying to adequately balance competing risks and difficulties. For instance, if we were to close the school for a month, as several other schools have already, it would be nearly impossible for any student to master the material in his current form by the end of the school year. Much of what we do at the school cannot just be sent home as a worksheet, but requires extensive instruction from quality teachers.
Cancelling school for a month would probably mean either extending the school year significantly or giving most of the students incomplete marks in nearly all subjects. Difficulties like this one make me very reluctant to close the school for a long time without strong reasons. I hope that by the end of this week we have better information on whether there is a strong reason.
While we are closed and you are all stuck inside, you should know that the school library will be available to school families. Please let me know if you want to stop by and I will make sure someone is there to let you in and help you check out books. All the time you will be spending together as a family is a great time to get to know some beautiful stories together.
If you have any questions or concerns, I will be happy to talk to you about them. Give me a call any time during school hours. God be with you all as we strive to act wisely in love of God and our neighbors.
Regards,
Nathaniel
Redeemer Classical School 