Head of School's Message: August 24

In one of my conversations with new Chandler families last week, one mother and son talked about their experiences with distance learning and how they were coping at home.
In one of my conversations with new Chandler families last week, one mother and son talked about their experiences with distance learning and how they were coping at home. Son said that he missed seeing people. At his former school, his classmates disabled their videos during Zoom time, and he could not see their faces. He enjoyed Chandler’s summer program, where he got a chance to see new faces with videos enabled and to get to know new people. When I asked him what he had learned about himself during his long sojourn at home, he talked about increasing his concentration span, and he expressed pride at mastering the Rubik’s cube with the help of instructional YouTube videos. Mom voiced concern that there was too much screen time, and son countered that his dream of a coding career would require even more time in front of a computer. Debates like this are taking place in every home, and I was impressed at how attentive mom was to son and how both had well-reasoned positions. Chandler does not have a perfect balance, but screen time is something we seek to get right in the distance learning program that begins next week.
 
With faculty returning to school for meetings and training, and the school year set to begin on September 2, we are entering a new phase of life in the time of pandemic. Fear is not helpful. What we need is trust. As a school community we need to move from a phase of fearing COVID to living with COVID. With the most critical factor being your families’ health, we will open school with the highest level of safety and compassion. That’s our mindset as Chandler’s 70th year begins.
 
Pasadena’s Public Health Department is not allowing schools to open while the positivity rate is so high, but numbers are coming down. Over the past two weeks, they have declined from 370 per 100,000 to 217 per 100,000. Once infections remain at 200 for two weeks, schools can apply for a waiver for grades K-6. Chandler will be applying for a waiver.  When numbers reach 100 for two weeks, schools will be allowed to re-open for grades K-12.
 
Chandler is not going to tell anyone what is right for their family situation. It’s fine if you don’t feel comfortable, and you don’t want your child to return to school even when the local public health department has determined it is safe enough for schools to re-open. Chandler’s program will meet you where you are. The reality is that a positivity rate of zero, even with a vaccine, may be an impossible standard. If applied to any other act of living, it would mean we would never drive, fly or basically live. We have worked hard to minimize the risk, but it is a risk we need to live with.
 
Up to this point, our mindsets have been focused on protecting our children and our families. We need to expand our thinking.  Going forward, everyone needs to be intentional and thoughtful about protecting our families and protecting the Chandler community. Parents, students, faculty and staff need a collective commitment to doing the simple things well (masking, distancing, hygiene and screening) to make sure that Chandler is a safe environment in which to learn once we open. We will need to trust each other.
 
 
Most sincerely,
John Finch
Head of School
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