Hello Sanderlin Sea Turtle Learning Community,
I hope everyone had a great week! I appreciate your patience as we work through another year of the COVID pandemic. I know we all hoped that we would not have to deal with these issues again. Your continued support of the staff at Sanderlin is very much appreciated.
As we move into this next week, I have some very important information to share:
1) Back to School Nights will be VIRTUAL ONLY this year per district policy. Our PYP Back to School Night will be from 6:00 – 7:00 on Weds., Sept. 1st. Our MYP Back to School Night will be from 6:00 – 7:30 on Thurs., Sept. 9th. All Directions for this event will be posted on the Sanderlin School Website under the Tab “Back to School Night.” Please look for this information to show up next week on the website and for your teacher to send home more details next week as well.
2) Please help us to continue to mitigate the impacts of COVID on our campus by following all COVID protocols. We are strongly encouraging students to wear masks on campus. In addition, we are practicing increased hygiene measures on campus with hand washing, sanitizing, using hand sanitizer and bottle fillers instead of water fountains.
A few other important things we need to remind you of:
a. If your child is experiencing symptoms, please keep them home from school.
b. All COVID test results should be emailed to holtc@pcsb.org as soon as they are available so we can so that we can move forward with the DOH. We cannot accept at home tests – please make sure you send official lab results with a positive or a negative. Lab results can be PCR or Rapid.
c. Returning students from quarantine must bring their negative test results (if using a test to come back to school) to Nurse Waits to clear them BEFORE they go onto campus and into classrooms. Quarantined students as well as COVID positive students should not return to class until Nurse Waits has cleared them either with a negative result or their vaccination card.
d. If you are seeking a test, you can go to the Center for Health Equity at 34th St. S and 22nd Ave. S. They offer free testing with no appt.
e. Please remember that all guidance for quarantines comes to us from the Department of Health. There is NO staff member at Sanderlin that is able to quarantine. We must wait for the information we send to the Department of Health to be processed and sent back to us before any action can be taken. I understand that this frustrates many families and can seem like a lack of transparency on my part. Please understand that I always get the DOH information into the hands of parents on the same day I am notified of quarantines.
3) The holidays are soon approaching, and our new counselor want to make sure all our families were aware of Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots is a program for families who are in need of holiday assistance, that provides an opportunity to receive free holiday gifts for their children. Registration for 2021 opens September 1st, and appointments are first come, first served. In past years appointments have filled up fast, so if you would like to sign up, please do so as soon as possible, beginning on 9/1/21. To be eligible, children must be ages 12 and under as of 12/25/21, must be residents of Pinellas County, and must show a financial need. Financial need includes free and reduced lunch, and it can also include life changing events such as unemployment, fire, and homelessness. To sign up, go to https://t4tpinellas.ptaptsa.org/pre-registration. Please see the attached flyer for more signup information. If you have any questions please contact our school counselor, Melissa Sprout, at sproutm@pcsb.org or 727-552-1700 x2060. Toys for Tots 2021.docx
I really appreciate the support that our families are giving to our staff right now. This has been a really busy start to our year and the support is really appreciated. If you have a moment to thank your child’s teacher, please take that moment. They need it now more than ever!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Carrie L. Cormier
Principal, Sanderlin K-8 IB World School