***en Español***

Greetings, Northfield Public Schools Families:

Tomorrow, we are excited to welcome middle school, high school, and Area Learning Center (ALC) students back to the in-person learning model. Our collective work against the pandemic has gotten us to this point. More collective work is needed to keep our students in school five days per week and maintain as safe of a school environment as practicable. We look forward to doing this work together. A few reminders:

1. Wednesdays begin with a one-hour late start for professional learning communities. Our teachers have been using this time to continuously plan adjustments in their instruction through the twists and turns of the pandemic.

2. Please make sure to conduct a daily health screening with your students. You can review the latest health screening standards here. If your student is not feeling well, keep them home. Keeping students who are not feeling well at home is a critical part of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

3. Safety protocols remain in place. While the six feet of social distancing requirement has been reduced to three feet, masking, regular cleaning, and an emphasis on handwashing are still in place.

4. The return to in-person learning may cause some concern for some middle, high school, and ALC students. We want them to feel supported. These two resources might be helpful to you:

   1. Helping kids face the challenges of reopening.

   2. Will my child bounce back from the coronavirus crisis?

5. The Minnesota Department of Health recommends middle and high school-aged students take a COVID-19 test every two weeks and that student-athletes test weekly. Testing helps prevent the spread of the virus by identifying those who have COVID-19 but aren’t presenting any symptoms and preventing them from infecting others.

   » You can find testing locations here, including information about mail-at-home kits

   If you need a test but cannot get to a test site, contact your school office. Each school has a limited number of tests available for students.

Today, all Minnesotans 16 years of age and older are eligible to be vaccinated. While it is not likely that appointments for high school students will be immediately available, there are two websites you can use to register your student for a vaccine, should you choose to do so:

• Click here to access the State of Minnesota’s Vaccine Connector website

• Click here to sign up for the Northfield Hospital+Clinics waiting list

Once again, thank you for your cooperation and support as we continue to navigate the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic.

Thanks,

Matt

—
Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools