Coronavirus (Covid-19)

August 15, 2022
18 Av 5782
 
Dear CESJDS Community,
 
I hope you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer and are excited for the upcoming school year. 
  
I am writing to share with you the COVID protocols for the start of the school year. These protocols were developed based on guidance from the CDC and in consultation with the school’s Medical Advisory Committee. This year, based on the severity of the current variants, required vaccination rates, and significant studies of the need to prioritize the social/emotional well-being of students and adults, our goals with regard to these protocols are to maximize in-person learning and to make school look and feel much like it did prior to the pandemic. We are prepared to adjust these mitigations if warranted by any variants and elevated levels. Below you will find the CESJDS protocols as we begin the 2022-2023 school year.

Masking
CESJDS is mask-optional for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors. If you choose to wear a face covering, we strongly recommend the use of N95, KN95, or surgical quality masks. Students, faculty, and staff who have individuals at home who are COVID positive are required to wear a mask in school. 

Testing
The school will not be conducting weekly surveillance testing this year. CESJDS will use diagnostic rapid testing for individuals who exhibit symptoms of COVID in school. We may use targeted testing at times during the school year if necessary (i.e. if COVID surges warrant or after vacation breaks). 
 
If a student exhibits COVID symptoms at school, the school nurses may administer a rapid test. Just access the Parent Portal here and log into your child’s Magnus Health account to electronically sign the testing waiver. 

Isolation After a Positive COVID Test
Individuals are required to isolate for five (5) days after a positive COVID test. They may return on day six (6) with improved symptoms, as long as they have been fever free, without medication, for at least 24 hours. Upon return, a mask must be worn at school through day ten (10). 

Air Filtration
The CESJDS HVAC system is regularly inspected, cleaned, new filters installed, and maximized for air flow and changes per hour. Our system regularly averages 5-6 changes per hour, which is at the high end of the Montgomery County recommendations.

Hand Hygiene
Hand sanitizer will be readily available and provided on campus. Students are highly encouraged to pay attention to and are provided instruction on proper hand hygiene and washing practices.

Visitors
Visitors are welcome on campus and will be asked to follow the CESJDS protocols.

COVID Vaccinations/Boosters
All students, faculty, and staff are required to be fully vaccinated. COVID booster shots are strongly encouraged when age-eligible. 

You may find these protocols listed on the CESJDS COVID webpage, along with the archives of previous years’ communications, and links to valuable public health information. If you have any questions about these protocols, please feel free to reach out to me or one of our school nurses, Natasha Oksenhendler and/or Jillian Pedone.
 
I look forward to welcoming your children to school and to a healthy year.
 
L’shalom/In peace,
 
Rabbi Mitchel Malkus 
Head of School
 

May 12, 2022

11 Iyyar 5782

Dear CESJDS Community,

This week we have seen an increase in COVID cases as well as other viruses in our school community, which is expected as this is also the trend in our County and State. In reviewing the data, we do not believe a return to a full mask requirement is necessary. With our fully-vaccinated school community, our close monitoring, regular communication from our nurses, and our weekly surveillance testing, we continue to have many precautions in place. 

During this period, where we are seeing rising case numbers, we do strongly encourage all our community members to be vigilant and use masks, particularly in hallways and at assemblies, as a way to mitigate against any potential transmission. We continue to require all visitors to wear masks.

We also ask those who have positive family members to be extra vigilant and monitor for symptoms and test immediately. Our nurses will ask that if there are positive family members in your home, that your children or that you, as a staff member, mask in school.

From our conversations with our COVID test lab and with other schools, we believe this wave will be a quick one and we ask for your vigilance during this period and for your support when our nurses share instructions regarding masking in school. We remind anyone who is returning to campus after their 5 days of quarantining at home, that they must remain masked indoors for the following 5 days. We understand that after the 10 days of COVID quarantine, many people, who have recently tested positive, may feel comfortable to unmask since they will have increased immunity. 

Thank you for your ongoing support as we navigate this wave of COVID.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                                   Natasha Oksenhendler, RN                                          Heather Greenblum, RN

Head of School                                             Head Nurse                                                                   Upper School Nurse

Dear Families, We are pleased to report that our COVID testing and numbers at CESJDS continue to remain stable. After careful consideration, we will further ease our COVID protocols and CESJDS will be fully mask-optional for all students, faculty, and staff effective immediately. Face coverings will no longer be required at school assemblies and gatherings of more than two grades. Visitors to campus are still required to wear masks at all times. We are grateful to all our students, families, faculty, and staff for continuing to support health and safety practices at home and at school. View the current COVID-19 mitigation protocols here. As a reminder, please keep in mind that if your child is demonstrating any symptoms of illness, please keep them home and be in touch with Nurse Natasha Oksenhendler (Lower School) or Nurse Heather Greenblum (Upper School) to determine next steps including being PCR-tested before a return to school.  Wishing everyone a hag samei-ah, a wonderful Yom Ha-atzma-ut (Israel Independence Day)! Sincerely, Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                                   Natasha Oksenhendler, RN                                          Heather Greenblum, RN Head of School                                             Head Nurse                                                                   Upper School Nurse

Dear Families,

We are pleased to report that our COVID testing and numbers at CESJDS remain stable after the Pesah (Passover) holiday break. We will return to our mask-optional policy starting tomorrow, April 28, 2022.

Thank you to all our students, families, faculty, and staff for continuing to support health and safety practices at home and at school. Click here to view the latest COVID-19 mitigation protocols.

Please keep in mind that if your child is demonstrating any symptoms of illness, please keep them home and be in touch with Nurse Natasha Oksenhendler (Lower School) or Nurse Heather Greenblum (Upper School) to determine next steps including being PCR-tested before a return to school. 

While we are mask-optional, all students should bring a mask with them to school every day in case there is an assembly.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                                   Natasha Oksenhendler, RN                                          Heather Greenblum, RN

Head of School                                             Head Nurse                                                                   Upper School Nurse

Dear Families,

We hope that everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Pesah/Passover break. As you prepare for tomorrow’s return to school, please note that all students, faculty, and staff are required to wear a mask for the first three days of this week (April 25-27).

This will enable us to reset and protect our community after the travel of the holiday break until everyone has been tested at school. Assuming our testing reveals a low and stable level of COVID relative to before the break, we will immediately adjust back to the mask-optional policy on April 28.

As a reminder - all students, faculty, and staff are required to get a PCR Covid test in school when we return from break (April 25, 11:00 AM - 3:45 PM for Upper School and April 26, 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM for Lower School) unless they have tested positive for Covid in the last 90 days. All students, faculty, and staff must bring a mask to school.

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!  

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                                   Natasha Oksenhendler, RN                                          Heather Greenblum, RN

Head of School                                             Head Nurse                                                                   Upper School Nurse

March 23, 2022 20 Adar II 5782 Dear CESJDS Community, This week our COVID testing and numbers at CESJDS are stable and slightly fewer than last week. Montgomery County has seen a slight increase in cases, but also remains stable.  With this data, we have finalized our decision to further ease our COVID protocols. As a reminder, tomorrow, March 24th, we will make the following adjustments to our protocols: Extend the mask-optional policy to buses and in hallways and end physical distancing requirements. Masks will still be required by students and faculty at assemblies and gatherings of two or more grades. All students and faculty should bring a mask with them to school every day in case there is an assembly. Parents in Gurim and Kindergarten may, if they choose, walk their children into school as was our practice prior to the pandemic. All visitors to both campuses will still be required to wear masks.  I also want to share how we will handle the return to school after the Pesah (Passover) holiday break. For the first three days of that week, April 25-27, we will require masks for all students and faculty. This will enable us to reset and protect our community after the travel of the holiday break until everyone has been tested at school. Assuming our testing reveals a low and stable level of COVID relative to before the break, we will immediately adjust back to the mask-optional policy on April 28th. I want to appreciate our students, families, and faculty for embracing our ethic of kindness and respect as every individual in the School makes a decision for themselves about masking. We continue to be impressed by the way everyone is living out two of our School’s core values, V’ahavta l’rei-a-kha (Love your Neighbor) and K’hillah (Community), as we adjust our policies. We will continue to monitor the data and trend lines as we determine additional adjustments.  I’m grateful for your partnership and support during this process. L’Shalom (in peace), Rabbi Mitchel Malkus Head of School

March 16, 2022 13 Adar II 5758 Dear CESJDS Community, It has been just over a week since we eased our face coverings protocol and I want to update you on what we have seen at school and share the next adjustments to our policies. We have been extremely pleased with both the community trends and the weekly COVID surveillance testing results since we moved to a mask-optional protocol in classrooms and classroom settings. This week there was only 1 case of COVID across both campuses and the trendlines for Montgomery County continue to show declining cases and low test positivity.  Our students and faculty have embraced an ethic of kindness and respect as every individual in the School makes a decision for themselves about masking in classrooms, which accounts for 85-90% of the day. We are proud to see two of our School’s core values, V’ahavta l’rei-a-kha (Love your Neighbor) and K’hillah (Community), being lived out among students every day in how they have moved to this new policy. If the trendlines continue and our internal testing continues to reveal a stable situation, we will make the following adjustments beginning on Thursday, March 24th:  Extend the mask-optional policy to buses and in hallways and end physical distancing requirements. Masks will still be required by students and faculty at assemblies and gatherings of two or more grades. Parents in Gurim and Kindergarten may, if they choose, walk their children into school as was our practice prior to the pandemic. We plan to have more in-person events on both campuses as we also typically did prior to COVID. All visitors will still be required to wear masks.  March 24th will give us two weeks of data from our COVID surveillance testing results since we adjusted our face coverings policy.   As always, I appreciate your partnership and ongoing support as we ease our COVID mitigations in a thoughtful manner. Since tonight marks Erev Purim, I want to extend a warm Hag Purim Sameah (Happy Purim!) to you and your families. We are excited to return to a full celebration of Purim at JDS tomorrow including Megilat Esther (Book of Esther) readings, carnivals, shpiels (plays and skits), Matanot L’evyonim (gifts to the poor) activities, holiday learning opportunities, and costumes throughout the school. B’yedidut (In friendship), Rabbi Mitchel Malkus Head of School

February 28, 2022 27 Adar I 5782 Dear CESJDS Community, For the past nearly two years, CESJDS has had in place a comprehensive layered strategy of COVID mitigations to protect the health and safety of our learning community. We have adjusted these protocols in accordance with public health data to ensure our students would be able to learn in-person five days a week this year, conduct more athletic events and field trips, and hold High School Prom, Siyyum, and Graduation in-person this year in a healthy environment.  As you know, COVID health metrics in our region and across much of the country indicate a significant decline in the prevalence and severity of the virus from the levels that we saw just last month. Case rates and transmission levels in Maryland and Montgomery County are among the lowest in the United States. At school, we have seen an extremely low number of cases for the past three weeks. This past Friday, the CDC, noting this significant decline and change in COVID-19, issued new guidelines that included recommending that indoor masks do not have to be used in counties — including in schools — where the risk is low. The CDC considers Montgomery County to be a “low” risk county. With these public health recommendations, local and regional COVID health data, the fact that CESJDS students and faculty/staff are required to be vaccinated once eligible (99% are fully vaccinated), and in consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee, the School will begin to ease our COVID protocols beginning on Monday, March 7. As we adjust our protocols, the analogy of a “dimmer switch” on electric lighting is an apt one. We will begin lowering the level of the mitigations and we will monitor the data as we determine whether to further lower or raise the different mitigations as warranted. We will update our COVID Mitigations webpage on March 7 to reflect the adjustments that will go into effect at that time. With this new phase of the pandemic, we will continue to be guided by our School’s core Jewish values of V’ahavta L’rei-akha (Love Your Neighbor) and K’hillah (Community), by the available medical data, and with a concern for the psycho-social impact on our community. Please note the following updates to our protocols: Face Coverings - As of March 7, masks will be optional in all classrooms, classroom settings, and offices for faculty and students. Masks will still be required in hallways, public spaces, at all school assemblies, on buses, and for visitors to our campuses.  N95 and KN94/95 masks provide personal protection for the wearer and we expect that many students, faculty, and staff will choose to continue to wear face coverings. In the spirit of V’ahavta L’rei’a’kha (Love Your Neighbor) and K’hillah (Community), we will embrace every individual’s choice for masking in our community without judgment and each academic division will reinforce this message in school. All students, faculty, and staff will be required to have a mask with them for all the times when face coverings are required. For families - whether your child(ren) will wear masks is a personal decision between you and your child(ren); the faculty will not be able to enforce mask wearing for individual students and we ask you to discuss this with your child(ren).  PCR Testing - Our weekly surveillance testing will remain in place.   Physical Distancing - Our protocol will remain as 3 ft. of distance when possible. Lunch - Indoor lunch will be permitted in all three divisions. We have seen that students enjoy and benefit from the fresh air outdoors during lunch time and we will continue to provide this opportunity when the weather conditions permit. Parent/Guardian Visitors on Campus - We are looking forward to welcoming parents/guardians and other visitors on campus for school events and activities more frequently as we ease our mitigations, and we will look for opportunities to do so during this easing period. All visitors are required to wear masks. As we enter this new phase of the pandemic and move forward with additional easing of the School’s COVID protocols if warranted in the coming weeks and months, we will continue to update you as we make additional adjustments.  Thank you for your tremendous commitment to CESJDS and for partnering with the School to ensure a healthy environment over the past two years. We would not have been able to navigate these two years without your partnership, and your support will be vital as we adjust the protocols and return to the typical functioning and interactions that are so crucial to your children and to the richness of our special community. As always, please be in touch if you have any questions or concerns. With deep appreciation, Ayala Nuriely Kimel                         Rabbi Mitchel Malkus Board Chair                                      Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

The School is grateful to our entire community for the strong partnership and commitment you have shown as we have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic together.

CESJDS established COVID mitigations at the start of the pandemic to protect our students, faculty/staff, and families from severe illness and to prevent the transmission of the virus at school and in our community. We used our School’s values of V’ahavta L’rei’a’kha (Love Your Neighbor) and K’hillah (Community) and the available medical data to guide our decision-making.

Our mitigations have evolved over time as we learned what measures were successful, monitored COVID metrics, and as vaccinations became available. We have reduced distancing requirements, held more in-person events, and eliminated daily symptom screenings among other changes. We have all learned that it is vital that students be in-person for school. Because of this, our primary goal for our mitigations this school year has been to ensure that we remain open five days a week for in-person learning. 

In early December, we began conversations about easing some of our COVID mitigations given that our entire CESJDS community would be vaccinated by the end of January and that some public health officials were speaking about the pandemic coming to a more endemic stage. With the rapid and significant spike in cases due to the Omicron variant, we have kept all of our mitigations in place to ensure that CESJDS would remain in-person five days a week for all students.  

As the Omicron variant recedes and there is evidence that COVID-19 is becoming a milder infection in most children and because our school has required vaccination for all those who are eligible, we are now considering when and which COVID mitigations may be eased back while still ensuring in-person learning for every student.

The current trend lines for COVID cases, transmission, and cases within CESJDS show a significant decline. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has asked the Maryland State Department of Education (MDSE) to consider rescinding the school mask mandate. At the same time, case rates in Montgomery Country are near the elevated levels during the Delta outbreak and the CDC and other public health organizations still recommend that schools maintain masking as one of their mitigations. We will continue to monitor the recommendations and guidance of public health organizations as we determine our mitigation strategy.

We will also continue our discussions around easing our COVID protocols and plan to communicate with you no later than March 1st about the next evolution of our mitigation strategy. If there is a major shift in public health policy before that time, we will communicate with you earlier than that. 

As we review our mitigation strategy, we will continue to be guided by our core Jewish school values, our goal of maintaining in-person learning, and the most recent medical data. At this stage of the pandemic, the psycho-social impact of COVID mitigations on students, faculty/staff, and families is also paramount in our decision-making.

Navigating this stage of the pandemic will continue to be a challenge. We appreciate and value your partnership, support, and shared commitment to our values and community as we move forward.

As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

L’shalom (in peace),

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community, 

Over the past few weeks the metropolitan DC area, including Montgomery County, has experienced a spike in COVID cases attributed to the Omicron variant. The most up to date testing results for our school will be posted on the CESJDS COVID-19 Testing Dashboard shortly. 

In our school community, we began to see a rise in cases in the three days before the winter school break and then last week as well. Though our Covid testing this week is not yet complete, we want to share our current observations based on the data we have thus far. At this point, we are seeing elevated positivity levels as compared to before the spike. However, when comparing the total number of cases per week since winter break, the data shows that our positivity rate is decreasing with each successive week. 

Below is an update/reminder on a few items.

COVID Communications

In response to feedback from families over the past few weeks, we will no longer send general communication each time there is a positive test in a specific division/campus. A weekly email by campus (Tuesday Upper School/Wednesday Lower School) will be sent informing the community of the total number of cases once all results have been received. In the event there is a need to quarantine or take another action, you will be notified as soon as possible. We will continue to update the COVID-19 Testing Dashboard regularly.

Capital Diagnostics Test Notification

With the increase in cases from all of their testing sites, the lab is not currently able to call those who test positive prior to releasing their results. We ask that parents/guardians please open and view the results of your child’s COVID test from the lab immediately when you receive them via email and text message. Should your child receive a positive test result while in school, parents/guardians are expected to pick up their child(ren) from school immediately after being notified. The nurses will be in touch as soon as possible to go over the return to campus timeline. As a reminder, our interim Extended Health Related Absences policy makes it possible for students to shift to ZOOMing into classes quickly when they are unable to be on campus for health related reasons. 

COVID Isolation and Quarantine

In consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee and in alignment with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Maryland State Department of Education (MDSE), CESJDS now follows the revised CDC guidelines that shorten the isolation time for those recovering from COVID-19 to five days, provided symptoms have improved and they have had no fever for at least 24 hours without medication.

Vaccination Requirement Reminder

For those students who are recently eligible for vaccination, please remember that they are required to complete their vaccinations by January 31, 2022. Once your child has their full complement of vaccination shots, please upload their verification to their Magnus Health account. Most families have already completed and uploaded this information and we are grateful for your partnership. If your student has recently had COVID, the CDC recommends they get their vaccinations as soon as their isolation period ends and they are no longer symptomatic.

As always, thank you for being our partners in navigating the current phase of the pandemic so that we can maintain healthy, in-person learning for all our students. 

We love hearing from you so please be in touch if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                           Natasha Oksenhendler, RN              Heather Greenblum

Head of School                                    Head Nurse                                      Upper School Nurse

Dear CESJDS Community, 

We are writing to inform you of a change in policy for COVID-19 isolation and quarantine. As you know, the CDC issued new guidelines that shorten the isolation time to five (5) days after testing positive for COVID-19. 

After careful review, in consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee, and in alignment with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), CESJDS will follow the revised CDC guidelines and will shorten the isolation time for those recovering from COVID-19. 

Who does this apply to?

Anyone who tested positive or exhibited symptoms on Tuesday, January 4th or earlier. These students and/or staff may now return in person on Tuesday January 11, 2022. For Lower School students, please email your child's teacher if your child will be returning prior to the original return date. 

Anyone who tested positive at CESJDS testing sessions on Monday, January 3rd and Tuesday, January 4th. These students and/or staff may now return in person on Tuesday January 11, 2022. For Lower School students, please email your child's teacher if your child will be returning prior to the original return date. 

Anyone who tests positive after January 4th and going forward. For Lower School students, please email your child's teacher if your child will be returning prior to the original return date. 

We do not require a negative test to return to campus. Those confirmed positive on a PCR test are exempt from school testing for 90 days. 

Please review the new policy below: 

Revised Quarantine Guidelines 

All persons who test positive for COVID-19 or have suspected COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, should complete isolation as follows: 

Stay home for at least 5 full days from the date of symptom onset if symptomatic or the date of the positive test if asymptomatic. Day 1 is considered the first full day after symptoms or the first full day after a positive test. 

After Day 5, if the person has no symptoms or if symptoms are improved and they have had no fever for at least 24 hours without medication, they may return to school wearing a well-fitting mask. 

REMINDER: Capital Diagnostics Test Notification

With the increase in cases from all their testing sites, the lab is not currently able to call those who test positive prior to releasing their results. We ask that parents please open and view the results of your child’s COVID test from the lab immediately when you receive them via email and text message. We ask that parents come to campus immediately to pick up their students if they receive notification that their child received a positive result if it is during the school day. The nurses will be in touch as soon as possible to go over the return to campus timeline. 

We look forward to continuing the school year as we adjust to the changing COVID guidelines. 

Thank you as always for helping us keep our community safe and for your ongoing partnership. 

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                       Natasha Oksenhendler, RN             Heather Greenblum, RN

Head of School                                 Head Nurse                                     Upper School Nurse

 

 

Dear CESJDS Community,

We are so proud of the many achievements and growth of our students this school year. As the winter break approaches, I want to address the rising COVID cases we have seen over the past week. 

As you know, the School has established significant COVID protocols to prevent the transmission of the virus on our campuses. We know that outside of school, there are more opportunities for transmission. We have been monitoring our community cases through weekly PCR testing and all of our data has indicated that to date, we are successfully managing the pandemic. At the same time, the recent rapid increase in cases brings concern and we are monitoring both our community and the broader community. 

CESJDS will continue to communicate openly and regularly about any COVID cases among our students and faculty and staff. We will also continue to remain diligent in following the protocols. Our decisions are based on the data we have and the testing results on our community. We consult regularly with our Medical Advisory Committee and we continue to attend regular briefings with public health experts. If there is a need to make any changes to our policies and guidelines, we will communicate those out to you.

We appreciate your support as we manage the ongoing pandemic together. 

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Dear CESJDS Families and Staff,

The School has made the decision that any time a person in one of our divisions has a positive COVID-19 test, we will inform the entire campus out of a sense of transparency and open communication with our families. We are reaching out at this time, therefore, to inform you that one member of the JDS community who works across campuses tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. Those students and staff who were in contact with this person have received a separate communication. 

Based on guidelines from the Maryland State Department of Health and the CDC, no one needs to quarantine at this time as a result of the school’s mitigation practices.

Thank you,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

We hope you are enjoying this wonderful Hanukkah time and celebrating the holiday as much as we are on CESJDS campuses. It is truly a joyful time at CESJDS.

We are writing with both an overall update on COVID trends at the School and with regard to our COVID-19 protocols. Our School’s experience since the start of the academic year has shown our transmission rates are extremely low and our protocols have been exceptionally effective. Your diligence in following COVID guidelines and our CESJDS COVID Brit has been an important factor in our success and we are grateful for your ongoing partnership.

If you have visited our CESJDS COVID-19 Testing Dashboard recently, you are aware that we have administered over 14,500 PCR tests on campus this school year and have a test positivity rate of 0.14% from the start of the school year and a 0.27% rate over the past seven days. 

This experience has led us to begin considering where slight changes in protocol may be warranted. As younger students on both campuses also begin to get vaccinated, our Medical Advisory Committee has begun discussing potential easing of our protocols after January 31st when all eligible students are required to be vaccinated. We plan to be cautious and to make decisions with the latest COVID data, trends, and statistics in mind. We believe it is prudent to engage in a thoughtful conversation at this time. Maryland education officials are also now rethinking the state’s mask mandate for schools and how long it needs to stay in place. There will be a potential decision at the December meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education.

At this time, we have made one minor revision to our COVID Protocols in the High School where all students, faculty, and staff are vaccinated. The Medical Advisory Committee has approved permitting one faculty member or student in the High School only to unmask when speaking to/singing for a High School only audience in a large communal space when they are at least 6 feet from other people. This revision does not apply in a classroom setting and does not alter any other aspect of our Face Coverings Protocol. When our Middle School and Lower School students are fully vaccinated, we will consider this and other revisions to our protocols for all divisions. 

We continue to actively monitor and discuss COVID data, trends and statistics. We are mindful of the new Omicron variant and, as data emerge on the variant, we will consider what, if any, impact this variant will have on CESJDS protocols. 

 As always, please be in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns.

 Wishing you a Happy Hanukkah, Hag Urim Sameah,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus 

Head of School

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN 

Head Nurse 

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse 

Dear CESJDS Community.

We hope everyone had a wonderful first day of school yesterday. We are writing to update you on the results of our first COVID surveillance testing conducted this past Friday. 

We administered 936 tests and had 3 positive tests. Those individuals receiving a positive test have not been on campus and will return only after completing the Maryland Department of Health requirements for quarantine and safe return to campus. 

As per our COVID mitigations, the School will continue to administer weekly COVID tests on campus for all faculty and staff. The results from our Capital Diagnostic surveillance testing are listed on the CESJDS COVID-19 Dashboard and will be updated each week. While we do not plan to update you via email each week, you may find weekly results reported on the Dashboard. There will be an email later this week with the September COVID in school testing date information. 

We are super excited about having our students back on campus and look forward to a successful and healthy year.

Wishing you a Shanah tovah u’metukah (A Good and Sweet New Year),

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School 

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN 

Head Nurse 

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse 

Dear Families,

We are looking forward to kicking off our 2021-2022 athletics program this week. The Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC), our athletic league, met regularly throughout the summer to monitor all guidelines for health and safety in youth sports. We created a document which details our COVID policies for the league. Please note that these policies are in place for interscholastic competitions only, not for practices. For practices, we are adhering to the school policy of requiring masks indoors but not outdoors. Masks are strongly recommended outdoors for any non-vaccinated individual. 

Please review the league policy here with your families to ensure that everyone is aware of our policies in place for our athletic programs this Fall. We will livestream all of our indoor volleyball games here. 

Thank you,

Becky Silberman

Director of Athletics

Dear CESJDS Community,

With the increase in COVID cases in our area and the contagious nature of the Delta variant, we will be adding weekly COVID surveillance testing for all students, faculty, and staff to start the school year. This regular testing will occur on campus during the school day. We will also now be requiring that all students receive a negative PCR test not more than 72 hours prior to the start of school orientation/visits on Monday, August 30th. Because of the recent changes and quick shift in COVID trends, we now feel that having all students receive a negative PCR prior to coming on campus will provide a safe and healthy start to the school year.. 

As a reminder, CESJDS will provide a drive through testing site at the Lower School Campus (1901 E. Jefferson) on Friday, August 27th from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. If you will be out of town or cannot make that testing time, you are welcome to have your child(ren) tested elsewhere and then email a copy of the negative PCR COVID test to the school on their first day. Proof of the negative PCR test results for those not testing at CESJDS should be emailed to covidtest@cesjds.org. Testing done at CESJDS will automatically be reported to the School. We appreciate your partnership in this effort to ensure we start the school year in a healthy manner.

After consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee, we believe adding these additional strategies to our layered approach will help mitigate against the spread of COVID and keep students and faculty/staff healthy. As we regularly monitor the COVID trends in the area and in our school community, we will continue to evaluate this and all of our other strategies. As we did last year, we have created a CESJDS COVID Testing Dashboard so that you may access our testing data if you choose.

As a reminder, you will find all of the School’s most current mitigation strategies outlined on the JDS website. Please review this information as you prepare for the start of the school year.

We look forward to a fabulous school year and hope you are enjoying the final weeks of the summer. We can’t wait to welcome all our students to school.

L’shalom (in peace),

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School 

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN 

Head Nurse 

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse 

Dear Families,

We are excited to welcome all our students in person for the 2021-22 school year. As we prepare for the school year, we are cognizant that we continue to be in the COVID-19 pandemic and are monitoring the recent Delta variant impact. We have developed, in consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), a set of layered mitigation practices to prevent the spread of the virus, keep our school community healthy, and ensure classes will continue in person throughout the school year. 

We had great success last year with our COVID health and safety measures. A large part of that success was based on your partnership in following the School’s COVID Brit and the recommended guidelines outside of school. We appreciate all of your efforts and know that together we can establish a healthy and safe environment so that your children can focus on their learning and activities at school. 

You will find all of the School’s current mitigation strategies outlined on the JDS website. Please review this information at your earliest convenience and prepare accordingly. Just a few weeks ago we had developed a set of guidelines and with the recent spread of the Delta variant and the updated guidance from health organizations and officials, we had to revise a few of our strategies. We anticipate that our mitigations will continue to evolve over the course of the school year and we will update you whenever there is a revision.  

We want to highlight a few important policies/strategies in this email:

Face Coverings

We will follow the latest CDC and AAP recommendation and begin our school year with universal indoor face coverings for all students, faculty and staff, and visitors to our campuses, regardless of their vaccination status. Face coverings will not be required outside. As with all our strategies, we will continue to monitor and update the policy on face coverings throughout the year.  

COVID-19 Testing Prior to the Start of School

To establish a healthy baseline, we are requiring all non-vaccinated students to receive a negative PCR test not more than 72 hours prior to the start of school orientation/visits on Monday, August 30th. CESJDS will provide a drive through testing site at the Lower School Campus (1901 E. Jefferson) on Friday, August 27th from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. If you will be out of town or cannot make that testing time, you are welcome to have your child(ren) tested elsewhere and then email a copy of the negative PCR COVID test to school on their first day. Proof of the negative PCR test results for those doing testing elsewhere should be emailed to covidtest@cesjds.org. Testing done at CESJDS will automatically be reported to the School.

COVID Surveillance Testing During the School Year

The School is currently not planning to conduct surveillance testing on a regular basis as school begins. We do plan to monitor the COVID trends and metrics in the County, DC and Virginia and specifically in our school community for any significant changes that would warrant regular testing for unvaccinated students as we did last school year.  

Symptom Screening Throughout the School Year

We appreciate your partnership in monitoring your children daily throughout the school year for any sick symptoms so that we can maintain a healthy environment for the whole community. We ask that any students with any COVID-like symptoms remain home and get COVID tested so they can return back to school safely. We will no longer require a Magnus COVID screening each morning with the exception of the Gurim students which is mandated by Maryland legal requirements.

We are thrilled to welcome all of our students to school in just a few weeks and look forward to a joy-filled, enriching, and productive school year. 

B’yedidut/In friendship,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School 

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN 

Head Nurse 

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse 

Dear Families,

I hope you are having an enjoyable start to the summer. We are already very busy planning for the upcoming school year and look forward to your return in August. 

After consultation with the Medical Advisory Committee, we will not require a quarantine in the week leading up to the beginning of school. We have not yet determined if a negative COVID test will be required for students to enter campus on the first day. This matter will be discussed in July and we will share our decision by early August, with more than enough time to prepare if we will ask students to receive a negative test prior to returning to campus for the new school year. 

Please reach out with any questions. 

Warmly,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Dear Families,

The month of January has flown by, and with the second semester upon us, increased vaccination supply, and decreasing cases of COVID-19 in the greater community, we are hopeful that these positive trends will continue into February and beyond.

This update includes information on the following:

• Planning for Fall 2021
• Hybrid Update for the Lower School
• COVID-19 Testing Trends at JDS
• March Town Hall

Planning for Fall 2021

We are optimistic, as shared in the Town Hall Meeting on January 19, that we will bring all grades onto campus for five full days of learning for the 2021-2022 school year. Guidance from public health officials and our Medical Advisory Committee indicates that protective measures including mask wearing, extra cleaning, and enhanced hand hygiene practices are likely to remain in place. We expect that all faculty and staff will be fully vaccinated and available to teach in person.

It is not yet known what physical distancing requirements and recommendations will exist in August. Should six feet of physical distancing remain the standard, normal operations will not be possible. The School is investigating additional spaces, including portable classrooms and off-campus properties, as well as additional staffing, to ensure that all students can be on campus five days a week next school year. Full distance learning will be available for those students who are unable to return to campus for health reasons.

Hybrid Update for the Lower School 
The Lower School Administrative Team is excited to share updates on the three areas on which we have been working to expand and improve the full day hybrid learning model for grades 1-5:

• Adding a second full day of in person learning for 5th Grade beginning on Tuesday, February 16
• Balance of school days for Cohort A and Cohort B students
• Addition of full day on-campus programming on Fridays

Read the full  update.

COVID-19 Testing Trends at JDS
Since October, JDS has administered 9,832 tests with 11 positives, resulting in a 0.1% test positivity. This data shows that our health and safety measures have mitigated the spread of COVID-19 in the JDS community. We thank you for your partnership and diligence in maintaining safe and healthy practices in your homes.

March Town Hall
I will host a town hall on Tuesday, March 2 at 7:30 PM. A form will be sent closer to the meeting for those families who would like to submit questions in advance, as well as the Zoom link.

As always, please reach out with any questions, comments, and concerns. I wish you and your families a restful and peaceful Shabbat and weekend.

B'yedidut/In Friendship,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear Families,

We are grateful for your partnership and appreciate your tremendous support, especially during the past 9 ½ months as the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered all of our day-to-day lives. We have a number of items that we would like to share with you as we move to Winter Break and the new year. Looking forward, it is critical that we continue to adhere to state and local health officials and accompanying regulations to slow the continuing spread of the virus.

Please read through the entirety of this email as it will address the following:

• Travel
• Gatherings
• Virtual Learning During the Week of January 4
• January 2021 COVID-19 Testing
• Expansion of Lower School On-Campus Learning
• 2021-2022 Calendar

Travel
Maryland: In the communication sent last Friday, Governor Hogan issued a new emergency order that requires limiting travel for essential purposes only. Marylanders who travel out of state or those who travel to Maryland must obtain a negative COVID-19 test or self-quarantine for 10 days. This applies to all states with the exception of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC. People who are traveling internationally must quarantine for 7 days after they return to the United States and have a PCR COVID-19 test between days 3-5 of quarantine.

District of Columbia: DC residents returning to the District after traveling to any place other than Maryland, Virginia or a low-risk state or country must limit daily activities and self-monitor for 14 days upon their return OR limit daily activities until they get tested for COVID-19 (approximately 72 hours after their return) and receive a negative result.

Virginia: The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) recommends that residents get tested before and after travel and stay home or reduce non-essential activities for at least 7 days after travel.

As the School is located in Maryland, we ask all families and staff to adhere to the State guidelines.

Gatherings
The State of Maryland has joined the Montgomery County Health Department in advising against all non-essential activities and gatherings with people outside their immediate household. Under this advisory, all Marylanders should refrain from attending public and private gatherings of more than 10 people in one location and should practice physical distancing. This guidance does not apply to on-campus school activities. The Commonwealth of Virginia has also capped public and private gatherings to no more than 10 people. The District of Columbia's cap is 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

Virtual Learning During the Week of January 4
All classes for the entire school, Gurim-Grade 12, will be conducted virtually during the week of January 4. You will receive a communication from each respective division regarding virtual learning.

As a reminder, January 4 will be a half day for the Lower School and January 5 will be a half day for the Middle School to allow all students and staff to come to JDS for COVID-19 testing.

Testing
JDS has been actively monitoring metrics in our school community vs. those in the wider community. We have been regularly testing students and staff, and we are finding incredibly low rates among those tested. You may find the JDS COVID Dashboard here. More studies are indicating that attending in-person school is not leading to COVID transmission and our experience at JDS has certainly followed this pattern.
Please refer to this grid regarding testing dates in January 2021. Students must be tested in order to be on campus for learning.

Post-Winter Break In-Person Learning
In-person learning will resume during the week of January 11. You will receive a communication from your respective division(s) in early January regarding this return.

We are thrilled to announce that students in Grades 1-4 will return to campus for two full-days of learning per week. Read all of the details!

2021-2022 Calendar
We will hold a Town Hall meeting on January 19, 2021 to share more about our current thinking around a full return to campus for the 2021-2022 school year.

At this time, we are planning to hold orientations and class visits on Monday, August 30, 2021. CESJDS will begin classes on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. The winter recess will begin on Thursday, December 23, 2021, and school will resume on Monday, January 3, 2022. Pesah break will begin on Thursday, April 14, 2022, and classes will resume on Monday April 25, 2022. The last day of school will vary by division, final exams, and capstone field trips, however, the last "official" day of school will be Friday, June 17, 2022. You can view the tentative calendar, with major dates listed, here. A larger communication including the methodology behind our calendar planning will be sent in early January.

With 2021 on the horizon, we wish you health, safety, and well wishes for the secular new year. Thank you for your strong partnership, and for the valuable feedback that you continue to provide to the School. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions.

B'yedidut/In Friendship,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear Families,

As the weekend and Winter Break approach, we wanted to alert you that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has just issued a new emergency order that requires limiting travel for essential purposes only. Marylanders who travel out of state or those who travel to Maryland must obtain a negative COVID-19 test or self-quarantine for 10 days. This applies to all states with the exception of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The CDC has also updated their guidelines regarding international travel. People who are traveling internationally must quarantine for 7 days after they return to the United States and have a PCR COVID-19 test between days 3-5 of quarantine. Please provide the school nurse with proof of a negative PCR test if you are tested at a facility other than Capital Diagnostics prior to returning to school.

In addition, the State of Maryland has joined the Montgomery County Health Department in advising against all non-essential activities and gatherings with people outside their immediate household. Under this advisory, all Marylanders should refrain from attending public and private gatherings of more than 10 people in one location and should practice physical distancing. On-campus school learning is not included in this guidance.

We appreciate your partnership as county and state guidelines evolve, and as we work diligently work to keep our community healthy and safe. Next week, we will share January testing dates and other information regarding post-Winter Break.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus          Natasha Oksenhendler, RN          Heather Greenblum, RN
Head of School                    Head Nurse                                  Upper School Nurse

November 20, 2020
4 Kislev 5781

Dear CESJDS Community,

I am writing to update you on our current thinking about on campus learning. As you may have seen reported, Dr. Gayles, the Montgomery County Chief Public Health Officer, has asked independent schools in the County to reassess continued in-person instruction and to consider a return to full virtual instruction by December 4th.

This afternoon, JDS will be participating in a meeting with Dr. Gayles and other public health officials. During this conversation, we will discuss his recommendation as well as the data indicating that schools have not been places of COVID-19 spread, and the calls by public policy and other health officials to consider keeping schools open.

JDS plans to follow Dr. Gayles' request to reassess continued in-person learning and to make a decision by December 4th. We will consider information from Dr. Gayles, the state of Maryland, other public health officials and organizations, data from schools, and our COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee.

We will also hold a Town Hall on Tuesday, November 24th from 7:30-9:00 PM to discuss our thinking and hear input from our community. The Zoom link for this Town Hall will be sent on Tuesday morning. After all of these steps, the School will make a determination of how to proceed.

The safety and well-being of our students and faculty and staff, continuity of learning, and maintaining our strong community remain our focus as we evaluate all of this evolving information in our decision-making.

I want to thank all of our families for your ongoing support and partnership during this time and to acknowledge and thank our amazing faculty for their dedication and commitment to our students and school. The decisions we are called upon to make in a constantly changing environment involve many factors and I am grateful to have your support and trust at this time.

Warmly and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Families, Faculty, and Staff,

With Thanksgiving and Winter Break quickly approaching, we would like to share some information with you. To maintain the health and safety for our students, faculty, and staff after the Winter Break Recess, CESJDS will be in full distance learning during the week of January 4, 2021. This is applicable to all students, Gurim - 12th Grade. During the week of January 4, all students and faculty coming on campus will be tested to ensure a safe return and to minimize the chance of COVID spread in our CESJDS community after the Winter Break. 

The state of Maryland updated its travel advisory yesterday has a number of travel restrictions in place:

• Any Marylander who travels to a state with a COVID-19 test positivity rate above 10% or a case rate over 20/100,000 should get tested and self-quarantine at home until the test result is received. D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia are currently exempt from this recommendation.
• Any Marylander returning from out-of-state or any out-of-state traveler should either get tested for COVID-19 promptly upon arrival in Maryland or within 72 hours before travel to Maryland. 

While not in the state of Maryland travel advisory, JDS mandates that any student or faculty member who travels internationally will be required to complete a 14-day quarantine before returning to school, and must provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test result, taken between days 5 and 7 of the quarantine, prior to returning. 

Testing is already scheduled for the weeks after Thanksgiving and Winter Break, respectively. Our nurses will send out the schedule of upcoming testing dates. 

We understand that the upcoming holidays are a time for celebration and joy and that this year will feel different. We ask that you partner with us to keep our students and faculty healthy and safe by abiding by our travel policies and exercising extra caution in following COVID-19 guidelines at home. Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we navigate this ongoing pandemic together and work hard to keep our students and staff healthy.

Regards,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus 

Head of School 

October 30, 2020
12 Heshvan 5781

Dear CESJDS Community,

As we began hybrid learning this week, we are sharing the school's COVID-19 metrics, investments that the school has made to support learning this year, and some hybrid learning detail.

Metrics
CESJDS continues to monitor Montgomery County's COVID-19 metrics. As of today, the 7-day average is 13 cases per 100,000 residents and the 14-day average test positivity is 3.1%. The School's Medical Advisory Committee has met to discuss the implications of these metrics for our hybrid reopening plans. The case number is above our threshold and the positivity rate is below.

When our Medical Advisory Committee first discussed the benchmarks we would use, case incidence and positivity were seen as the strongest criteria. We set these criteria prior to beginning weekly COVID-19 testing within the CESJDS community. These benchmarks were selected with the assumption that there would be a direct correlation between cases in the county and cases in our own community.

To date, CESJDS has conducted approximately 836 COVID-19 tests and all the tests have been negative. Our Medical Advisory Committee has discussed this issue and the conclusion is that based on our CESJDS Community COVID-19 testing that we should continue on-campus hybrid learning. As such, CESJDS will now align our metrics with the State of Maryland's guidance for school reopening, which states that under 5% test positivity and below 15 cases per 100,000 are considered safe for on-campus hybrid learning. If the State of Maryland or Montgomery County issues a closure order, we will follow that order.

The health and well-being of our entire community is the focus of our pandemic planning and decision-making. There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our students and faculty and we will continue communicating with you about this critical area.

Testing Schedule
The School's testing schedule through November can be found here.

Investments
In planning for and holding classes on campus during the pandemic, CESJDS made significant
investments to ensure a healthy and safe learning environment for students, faculty, and staff at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. Some of those investments included:

• The hiring of additional staff
• Increased sanitation and disinfection protocols
• Maximization of outside air ventilation of our HVAC systems
• Installation of touchless faucets and deactivation of water fountains
• Purchase of PPE, plexiglass, signage, and additional furniture
• Rentals and purchases of tents to maximize outdoor time

Equally as important, we have awarded COVID tuition assistance from a special Board-established emergency fund to support families who have experienced financial setbacks due to COVID. These investments are crucial for our school community at this time.

Hybrid On-Campus Learning
We were thrilled to start phasing into hybrid learning this week and welcome our students back to campus.

Lower School  
Gurim/Kindergarten and ESOL – 5 full days/week since the start of the school year
1st & 2nd grades – 2 half-days/week started this past Monday 
3rd & 4th grades – 2 half-days/week starting Wednesday, November 4
5th grade – 2 half-days/week starting Monday, November 9

We are working hard to expand the number of hours and days that Lower School students are on campus. During the week of November 16, we will share the expanded plan and schedule, and will also resume outdoor extracurricular programming.

Middle School 
6th grade – 1 day/week started this past Monday 
7th grade – 1 day/week will start on Tuesday, November 3
8th grade – 1 day/week will start on Thursday, November 5

Starting the week of November 23, each grade will learn on campus two full days per week. 

High School
We are excited to announce that high school students will return to on-campus learning for 2 full days per week, on alternating weeks, starting in December.

9th & 10th grades – will start hybrid learning on December 1st and 2nd
11th & 12th grades – will start hybrid learning on December 9th and 10th

Families will receive more details about hybrid learning from their respective divisions. Just as we are excited about this return, we are also thinking about how to increase the amount of time on campus for all three divisions.

We continue to make health and safety, continuity of learning and community the focus of our efforts during the pandemic. We are cognizant that the logistics of hybrid learning are difficult for families, and are keeping this in mind in our planning. We are grateful for your ongoing support, patience, and trust as we navigate the school year together. As always, we love hearing from you and please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ayala Nuriely Kimel                    Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
CESJDS Board Chair                 Head of School

October 16, 2020
28 Tishrei 5781

Dear CESJDS Community,

Just before Sukkot, we shared that CESJDS would be transitioning to more on-campus learning and indicated that we would update you every two weeks. While there have not been changes to the School's plans since our last communication, we are writing to report on a few different areas.

Required Covid Testing
Covid testing is critical to mitigating and tracking spread in our community. As we wrote in our October 1st update, students and faculty/staff will need to receive a negative test prior to returning to campus for hybrid learning. We began testing this week for all students, faculty, and staff currently on campus. Approximately 150 tests were administered and all of the tests were negative. The PCR test we administered is 98.8% accurate. We are building a CESJDS Covid Test Dashboard on the School's website to enable you to track our community's results. We expect that page to be ready next week. Our School Nurses will continue to communicate information about test dates and times for individual grades.

Our Transition From Distance Learning to Hybrid Learning Plans
As we announced on October 1st, CESJDS will phase in hybrid learning beginning on October 26th for 1st, 2nd, and 6th grade students. 3rd-5th and 7th and 8th grades will then transition to hybrid learning. We have increased social programming and science labs for our high school students, and we hope to move into hybrid learning for those students as well. While we continue to face significant staffing challenges and continue to monitor the health metrics in Montgomery County, our plans to transition to hybrid remain in place at this time. Lower School and Middle School will share their hybrid schedules and will hold information sessions for any questions about our return to campus. You will receive division-specific emails about the hybrid plans later today.

Health and Safety Measures
CESJDS has taken significant steps to ensure the health and safety of our students and faculty/staff when on campus. Required face coverings, physical distancing, increased sanitation, reconfigured classrooms, plexiglass installation, daily health screenings, HVAC modifications, building signage, and traffic patterns are all part of our planning. Please refer to our Guide to Reopening that we initially shared in August for detailed information.

In the spirit of our School's core value of V'ahavta L'rei-a-kha (Love Your Neighbor), we will require every family, as well as middle and high school students, to sign our Social Compact, which outlines the precautions that we have asked our community to adhere to. We have renamed the Compact as the CESJDS Covid Community Brit (Covenant or Compact in Hebrew). Students will not be permitted on campus until their family has signed the agreement. A separate email will be sent shortly asking for your consent and signature to the Brit.

We remain committed to providing your children with an outstanding and continuous learning program throughout the school year. We very much appreciate your partnership and ongoing support as we navigate the pandemic together as a community.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ayala Nuriely Kimel                    Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
CESJDS Board Chair                 Head of School

October 1, 2020
13 Tishrei 5781

Dear CESJDS Community,

We hope you had a meaningful Yom Kippur and want to extend our heartfelt wishes for a Hag Samei-ah (Happy Holiday) as we move into Sukkot. As we shared last week, we are communicating with you about our plans to transition into more on campus learning. This is a longer communication and we ask that you read through all of the information.

Over the summer, we developed hybrid learning plans for each division. Gurim and Kindergarten would be on campus five days a week, 1st - 8th grades would be on campus two days a week, and high school students would be on campus one day per week. We planned to have outdoor activities and athletics across all the grades.

When the County provided guidance in late summer that it was not safe to return to campus, we focused attention on the current JDS distance learning program. We have remained in regular contact with health officials as we evaluated the best timing and sequence for safely transitioning to hybrid learning.

Metrics

In determining our ability to offer increased on-campus academic learning, the status of the virus in our area and the guidance of health authorities have been paramount. The two primary metrics that drive most guidance are test positivity rate and new cases per 100,000 residents. The State of Maryland has set levels under 5% and below 15, respectively, for any hybrid return to campus. JDS considers test positivity below 5% together with 10 or fewer cases per 100,000 (per the Harvard Global Health Institute) to be safe to reopen. If the average test positivity rate and/or cases per 100,000 residents in Montgomery County exceed these levels for 5 consecutive days, JDS will consider it unsafe to learn on campus. These levels will serve as our thresholds for the entire school year. If the State of Maryland or Montgomery County issues a closure order, we will follow that order.

Our Transition From Distance Learning to Hybrid Learning Plans

We have been monitoring our distance learning program closely and we appreciate all of the feedback families have shared. The current program is robust and well-organized, includes small group and individual instruction, and is engaging students. As the public health metrics indicate, it is safe to gradually phase in hybrid learning. 

As we shared in our previous communication, we continue to face significant staffing challenges and concerns around health and safety for in-person instruction. We have reexamined our hybrid plans from the summer in order to deliver the best program we can under these circumstances and constraints. As a result, we are prepared to transition to hybrid learning as follows:

Lower School

The Lower School hybrid schedule will be constructed on a half-day of live instruction model.  Students will come to campus in cohorted groups for two partial days of in-person learning per week, approximately three hours in duration per day, either for a morning or afternoon, led either by their general or Hebrew/Judaic studies teacher. We expect to expand this to four partial days after start up. The portion of the day when students are not on campus will continue to include our distance learning program in the subjects not being studied in school. The time between the morning and afternoon sessions will be used for cleaning and sanitizing classrooms between class cohorts coming to campus. Students wishing to remain at home will have the option of full-time distance learning. We will begin the transition to hybrid learning as follows:

• October 26th - 1st and 2nd grade return to campus
• November 4th - 3rd and 4th grade return to campus
• November 9th - 5th grade returns to campus

Our full distance learning program will continue, with the addition of the weekly in-person outdoor social activities for each grade level alternating between after school and during school hours of the day, until each grade level returns to campus in hybrid. If you have not yet RSVP'd for these programs for the remainder of the month, please do so here.

As we move to hybrid learning, professional development and time to transition to the building will be necessary for our faculty. We will use Monday, October 19th as an asynchronous learning day for students in 1st and 2nd grades. Subsequent communication will notify families of 3rd-5th grade students which days will function as teacher preparation days for those students. 

As we review the composition of the cohorts and schedules we created in preparation for hybrid learning, we will pay close attention to families with Lower School siblings so that we can align school attendance hours within a family unit. Lower School families will receive an email with additional information about days and times for on-campus learning.

Middle School

Middle School transition to hybrid will begin with initiating our optional outdoor on-campus community building programming on October 8th. Students will have the opportunity to come to campus by grade on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon. Each grade will have designated dates, and families will register their children ahead of time. We will share more information in a Middle School-specific email tomorrow with times, dates, and planning for students also already participating in athletic activities on campus. 

Consistency is crucial as we make this initial transition into hybrid which is why we will continue to follow our distance learning schedule through the week of October 26th. Middle School grades will transition to hybrid learning as follows:

• October 26th -  6th grade begins weekly in person learning every Monday
• November 3rd - 7th grade begins weekly in person learning every Tuesday
• November 5th - 8th grade begins weekly in person learning every Thursday

Learning and breaks, including lunch, will take place outdoors as much as possible. Students wishing to remain at home will have the option of full-time distance learning with their current teachers. 

High School

Due to staffing concerns, safety issues, schedule and space limitations we are not able to begin transitioning to hybrid learning for the high school at this time.

Currently, high school students, who are the most independent of our learners, are benefitting from a rigorous, comprehensive academic program which is largely parallel to our typical in-person program, providing various opportunities for students to engage with content, teachers, and peers. The digital platform allows for individual conferencing, making it possible for students to work directly with their teacher individually or in small groups. Breakout rooms offer a platform for peer-to-peer engagement beyond whole class conversation, providing space for hevruta study, simulations, peer review, practice in language acquisition, and other small group activities; opportunities that would be curtailed within the building due to physical distancing regulations. 

We will expand our program to allow for greater social interaction in the high school through broader, regular in-person activities. We are currently surveying the students to determine a schedule of offerings that will interest them; programs will be scheduled on weekdays after the conclusion of the school day. We will begin our programming with the senior class on Friday, October 9th at a tie dye party and will continue with activities for the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors beginning on October 14th. Specific information for each grade will be sent in a separate email. We will communicate with you on November 5th, the end of the first quarter, about transitioning to hybrid learning in the high school. 

Required Covid Testing

In consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee, we believe that Covid testing is critical to mitigating and tracking spread in our community. In order for students and faculty/staff to return to campus, they will need to receive a negative test prior to hybrid learning. We will utilize regular testing to keep our community safe. We will share specific details about our testing program in a separate email closer to the start of hybrid learning.

Health and Safety Measures

CESJDS has taken significant steps to ensure the health and safety of our students and faculty/staff when on campus. Required face coverings, physical distancing, increased sanitation, reconfigured classrooms, plexiglass installation, daily health screenings, HVAC modifications, and building signage and traffic patterns are all part of our planning. Please refer to our Guide to Reopening that we shared in August for detailed information.

In the spirit of our School's core value V'ahavta L'rei'a'kha (Love Your Neighbor), we will be asking each family and students in middle school and up to sign our social compact which outlines the precautions we have asked our community to adhere to. We will send additional information about signing the compact as we near hybrid learning.

Bus Transportation

As we transition into hybrid learning, we are not able to offer bus service until more students will be on campus at the same time. We will re-survey families to determine which students require bus service in order to attend on campus learning, and will develop a plan to meet those needs.

Lunch Program

As the time and number of grades on campus are phased in, we will share information about transitioning to a boxed lunch program. We will share information about the lunch program in a separate communication.

We are excited to begin these first steps to transitioning to more on campus learning. As we increase time on campus and add more grades, we expect increased needs for personnel and will be asking for parent support. We will continue to evaluate our hybrid learning as we safely implement each new phase. In order to increase our communication with you, we will send updates every two weeks. As we approach hybrid learning, we will also send videos of our campuses to introduce you and your children to the changes we have made.

We want to thank you for your support, continued understanding and patience. As we work together to bring your children back to our CESJDS campuses, we are grateful for your partnership. As always, please be in touch with us directly if you have any questions or concerns. We always appreciate hearing from you and love working together to support your children and our dynamic school community.

Warmly and Hag Samei-ah (Happy Holiday),

Ayala Nuriely Kimel

CESJDS Board Chair

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

September 23, 2020 5 Tishrei 5781 Dear CESJDS Community, We are off and running with the 2020-2021 academic year, and are grateful for the many emails and calls sharing your feedback and expressing your appreciation for all of the efforts the School has made to reopen during the pandemic. We want to join you in publicly acknowledging the heroic efforts of our faculty and staff and their dedication to your children. We also want to again thank you for your ongoing partnership and support as we continue to navigate the challenges of this health crisis together - our community has become stronger over the past six months. We are writing to update you on the School's thinking and planning for bringing additional students to campus. Start of School We started the school year with Gurim (Junior K), Kindergarten, and ESOL students on campus and 1st-12th grade students in distance learning. After the first week, we began outdoor athletics, clubs, advisories, and activities for students in 6th-12th grades at the Upper School. Last week, we started outdoor social-emotional programming for 1st-5th graders at the Lower School. As these programs continue, we are working to add additional on-campus activities in the coming weeks. When Will We Expand On Campus Learning to Additional Grades? During the pandemic, our priorities continue to be health and safety, making sure there is continuous and outstanding learning, and cultivating and supporting our community through an emphasis on wellness and social-emotional education. Like JDS, most independent schools in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. are currently in distance learning. As we have shared previously, we plan to reassess the safety of moving into more on-campus learning by October 1st, and we will keep to this schedule and write you with our plans on that date. If we are able to move into hybrid learning, it will take approximately two weeks to prepare for this next step. This time will give both families and the School adequate notice of a change, and how those plans would be phased in while distance learning continues. What Will Hybrid Learning Look Like? Overall, our hybrid program will see some students on campus each day on an alternating basis while other students will continue their distance learning when they are not on campus. We are planning to phase in hybrid learning to ensure the safety of our students and faculty/staff, and to enhance our ability to offer an outstanding program. This approach will prioritize the youngest students in each division, and would phase in the return to campus over a week to ten days. The size of our campuses and the schedules of the divisions do not enable us to have all students on campus while still meeting the State guidelines for hybrid reopening. For those students/families who are not comfortable returning, we will continue to offer a full distance learning option. We will share details of the hybrid schedules on October 1st. Over the coming days, we will be asking families to share whether they are comfortable with a return to campus so that we may plan accordingly. Obstacles We Face We will implement all of the significant health precautions that we shared in our August Return to Campus Plan, while planning hybrid programs which we are confident will be positive and effective additions. That said, we still face obstacles to more on-campus learning. The health situation continues to evolve and we are monitoring this closely. The Covid metrics in Montgomery County have been stable and the rates of test positivity and number of cases per 100,000 population (the State of Maryland's indicators for hybrid learning) have all been below the threshold, meaning it is appropriate to consider on-campus hybrid learning. We also are monitoring and learning from other schools across the country that have opened in a hybrid model but needed to close due to Covid spread. Last, we face staffing challenges as we will need additional staff to support our current faculty so that they can engage students in the excellent education we all want for our children. We appreciate how difficult the pandemic is on JDS families and the effort you are investing to support your children. We continue to be inspired by your partnership and, like you, are looking forward to adding to our on-campus learning. We are taking a thoughtful, safety-first approach. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. As a reminder, if your family has been adversely affected by the pandemic, please be in touch with our business office as we have established a Covid Emergency Tuition Assistance Fund. We hope you all had a sweet and healthy New Year. Shanah Tovah and G'mar Hatimah Tovah (Happy New Year and May you be inscribed in the Book of Life), Ayala Nuriely Kimel                    Rabbi Mitchel Malkus CESJDS Board Chair                 Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

As you may know, Governor Hogan issued further guidance on school reopenings and metrics for on campus learning yesterday afternoon. The two metrics that Maryland State public health officials will rely upon for campus reopening are positivity rates and number of new cases per 100,000 population. According to the State metrics, Montgomery County currently meets the criteria for positivity rates and does not yet meet the criteria for the number of new cases per 100,000 in order to begin hybrid on-campus learning. Montgomery County has reaffirmed their guidance that it is not safe to reopen schools for on campus learning at this time.

This afternoon, CESJDS participated in a meeting with County officials, including the Chief Public Health Officer. The trends in the County over the past few weeks have been positive and while the guidance remains that it is not safe to reopen for on campus learning, the State metrics will be used as a measure for future guidance. According to the State's metrics, Montgomery County has not yet met the criteria to reopen on campus. We continue to monitor these developments closely.

I wanted to share a brief note about the State's health guidance for schools before the weekend so you are aware of the details. We are very excited to begin the school year next week and are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead. We all look forward to the time when we can begin on campus learning as well.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear Families,

The countdown is on to the 2020-2021 school year! We are excitedly preparing to welcome your children, and are grateful for your partnership during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Our goal is to ensure a continued best-in-class educational experience for our students, and the faculty has spent the summer training and preparing to deliver an exemplary and inspiring general and Jewish education whether we are in distance learning or in the building.

As we look forward to the new year, there are a number of documents that are important for families and students to review and discuss together that will ensure a strong and fruitful partnership throughout the school year.

• Family Handbook - Each division's document outlines guidelines for students, behavioral expectations, safety and security protocols, grading parameters, and other general information regarding the student and family experience.
• Covid-19 Handbook Addenda - As a result of the pandemic, the division administrative teams have drafted additional guidelines as they relate to distance and hybrid learning.
• Effective Partnership - The family, student, teacher, and counselor will each play a critical role in creating the most supportive and effective student-team possible. These documents outline the various roles and expectations we have for each group.

Additionally, the School has written a Social Compact, as well as COVID-19 specific health policies. It is our collective responsibility to engage in practices that will help keep the community safe and healthy, both on- and off-campus. Families are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and abiding by these policies throughout the duration of the pandemic.

Lower School
LS Effective Partnership

Middle School
MS Effective Partnership

High School
HS Effective Partnership

Please feel free to reach out to any of us with questions.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matthew Bellas               Dr. Eliana Lipsky                         Roz Landy
Lower School Principal             Middle School Principal              Interim High School Principal

Dear CESJDS Community,

We want to thank you again for your partnership, support and engagement with the School as we work together to begin the school year during the pandemic. We continue to be inspired by your dedication to JDS and we appreciate the many challenges all of our families face as we prepare for the 2020-21 school year. We are so excited to begin the school year and to see all of our students. We have worked tirelessly this summer to make sure that we were ready for any situation we would find ourselves in for the opening of school, from virtual to hybrid on-campus with options for those who are not comfortable returning at this time. We are confident that we will offer an outstanding education from day one of the school year, and that we are ready to move into a new phase of hybrid learning as soon as it is deemed safe.

 

Safety Issues with Reopening

It is our strong desire to reopen on campus for all our grades as soon as it is safe to do so. When we reopen on campus, we will do so with the safety measures that we have shared with you previously. Montgomery County and the DC Department of Public Health are strongly recommending that it is not safe to open schools. These recommendations and the lack of clear metrics have an impact on our ability to reopen the JDS campuses. The recommendations impact guidance from school organizations against reopening. JDS thoughtfully considered safety risks when we determined that we could not reopen on campus, given the advice of public health officials. 

Metrics for Reopening on Campus

As we begin the school year in distance learning, we continue to work with Montgomery County and the State of Maryland to receive clear metrics on how public health officials will determine when it is safe to return to campus. We have been working with the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW) and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) to advocate strongly to our elected and public health officials to develop metrics and thresholds that will enable JDS to make decisions that will ensure the safety of our students and our faculty and staff. 

We understand that two of the primary metrics that the County looks at for reopening schools are cases per day (<8 cases/day would be considered low) and positivity rates (<5% a<d <25 1 11 88 100,000 population would be considered safe). as of friday, montgomery county was at new cases per day. the rate is what leads county's chief public health offer to say it not safe return campus. while we have set date revisit our decision, are prepared earlier if conditions warrant.< p> 

Opening Gurim and Kindergarten in Person

JDS has decided to open our Gurim and Kindergarten programs on campus. Unlike school programs 1st grade and up, the Maryland State Department of Education has permitted early childhood programs (under which Gurim and Kindergarten fall) to reopen under specific guidelines. The mandated guidelines for that age group are: classroom group size not exceed 15; administer daily temperature taking; increase disinfecting and sanitizing; cohort groups; discontinue family-style dining; and wear masks.  

Investments for Reopening and Distance Learning

We have made significant and critical investments to meet our mission of providing students with an outstanding and inspiring educational experience safely in all of the learning scenarios we have planned to address. The investments include:

• Significant professional development to support teachers around distance learning, hybrid learning and social-emotional instruction
• Increased staffing to keep class size even smaller than our usual numbers for distance learning, Gurim/Kindergarten programs, cohorting students and hybrid and outdoor activities
• Furniture, plexiglass and classroom reconfiguration to allow for six feet of physical distancing between students and safety for students and staff throughout both campuses
• HVAC upgrades and modifications to maximize ventilation and outside air flow
• Touch-free faucets in all restrooms
• Expanded daytime janitorial team including dedicated crew members trained in high touch surface (HTS) cleaning and disinfecting
• Nightly electrostatic disinfection of high-touch surfaces
• Signage across both campuses to mark physical distancing reminders and for traffic control; hallways directionally marked for traffic and doors marked for ingress and egress; signage throughout the building will remind us of safety and hygiene practices. 

Financial Impact of Covid

Many families in our community are experiencing adverse financial impact because of the pandemic. We have established a Covid-19 emergency fund to support families under these circumstances and we are committed to this support. If you or anyone you know is experiencing financial issues due to the pandemic, we want to hear from you and will do everything possible to ensure that your family can continue at JDS.  

At the same time, the pandemic is imposing financial stress on JDS and that is being managed by the staff and the board. We have taken necessary steps to position the school to be financially stable while also ensuring that we are delivering an outstanding product in either a virtual or partial on-campus program when safe. With the beginning of JDS's new fiscal year on July 1st, we instituted over $1 million of cost reductions, froze new hiring (after filling teaching positions), and made significant cost adjustments. Rabbi Malkus took a voluntary salary reduction as part of these budget reductions. These measures were difficult, but our Board of Directors felt it was critical to take these actions because of the current financial impact of the pandemic and due to the difficult financial outlook we face over the coming school year. 

We have developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on our website where we cover many topics families have asked about during our information sessions and we will continue to update this page with new information. You may access the FAQ here.

As we prepare to welcome students for the start of the 2020-21 school year, we are excited about the many opportunities they will have to grow and develop. We understand the many challenges families and the school face during this global health crisis and we are dedicated to providing outstanding continuous learning throughout the school year whether that is online, hybrid on campus. K'hillah (community) is a core value of JDS and informs the holistic responsibility we feel to support students and families to the maximum of our ability. We deeply appreciate your ongoing commitment to the school and we will continue to update you frequently. Please reach out with questions or concerns as we always love hearing from you.

Warmly,

Ayala Nuriely Kimel                    Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Board President                         Head of School 

Dear CESJDS Community,

We are writing to share with you our educational plans for the start of the 2020-21 school year. We want to begin by recognizing the incredible partnership, patience and support you have given JDS as we have navigated the challenges and complexities of providing your children with the exemplary and inspiring general and Jewish studies education we all want them to experience. You have been true partners and we are grateful to be together in such a supportive community during this time. 

With input from our Reopening Committee, our faculty and staff, our Covid-19 Medical Advisory Committee, in consultation with our Board of Directors, and in following the guidance of the Chief Public Health Officer of Montgomery County, we have decided that JDS will begin the new school year in distance learning with opportunities for programming in small groups outdoors and on campus in line with County guidelines. We plan to revisit this decision on November 1st and will remain flexible to reduce or extend our period of distance learning depending on public health guidance.

Since we first shared this information with you on Monday, much has transpired between Montgomery County and the Governor's Office. As our local and state officials work out the question of who has the authority to make decisions for independent schools, the underlying guidance that it is not safe to open schools at this time has not changed. As we shared in June in our Return to Campus Roadmap, JDS is following the guidance of national agencies and local public health officials to determine if it is safe to reopen. Our decision to begin the school year in distance learning has been made with our Jewish value of v'ahavta l'rei-a-kha/loving your neighbor and the mitzvah of piku-ah nefesh/saving a life at the top of our minds. We know this is disappointing news as we all have hoped for and been working towards a return to in-person learning.

The school spent considerable time over the summer preparing for multiple scenarios that all maintain outstanding continuous learning throughout the year, prioritize the health and safety of students, faculty and staff, and reflect a strong sense of community and social connection. We have developed plans for both distance learning and hybrid learning. We are prepared to shift quickly to a hybrid model when it is safe to do so. Today's announcement will focus on how we made this decision and the details of how distance learning will take place.

How We Made This Decision

We have spent significant time determining the right course of action for our community and our decision was not taken lightly. CESJDS sought guidance and consulted with our local and regional independent school associations, external medical and educational professionals, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, and our peer independent and Jewish day school colleagues. We have attended countless webinars with public health officials, epidemiologists, and education experts. We have established a COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee. We have reviewed and studied the latest guidelines from state, federal and international agencies. We have worked to weigh the many risk factors to make the best decision for our community.

 

As we prepared for multiple scenarios, we have purchased PPE, redesigned our learning spaces, developed detailed health and safety plans, outlined new schedules, and invested in professional development for our faculty, new technology and upgraded our air filtration systems. We are confident that we have in place everything we need to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for in-person learning when it is safe to do so. At this time, the guidance from our County public health officials is not to reopen on-campus learning. This is also the strong recommendation of the DC Department of Public Health.

 

Distance Learning Plans

We are excited to share with you our plans for distance learning. When we moved to distance learning last March, we quickly developed plans to shift our entire educational program online within a few days. Over the summer, we have thoughtfully reviewed what took place during the spring, carefully analyzed student, family and faculty feedback, attended workshops and webinars, and worked with outside experts and our school associations to develop robust distance learning plans.

 

Our enhanced distance learning programs are designed to:

• Have a consistent schedule, be well-organized and offer a single user-friendly digital platform
• Provide increased live learning
• Prioritize academic rigor and student well-being
• Enable expanded peer and student-faculty interaction
• Offer more individualized and small group learning opportunities
• Provide support for students who have more difficulty with online learning
• Enable each division to seamlessly move into in-person learning when it is safe to do so

Each division's plan is built on the foundation of our School's Mission and Core Values, our Portrait of a CESJDS Graduate, and our current curriculum. Our faculty and staff have participated in professional development focusing on both distance and social-emotional instruction to be able to offer a truly exceptional learning experience. 

You will find specific information about each division's distance learning program in our Guide to Reopening. 

Programming, Activities and Athletics

While it is not safe to begin in-person learning, we plan to utilize our outdoor spaces and large campus spaces for orientations, social-emotional learning, athletics and other programming for small groups of students according to safety guidelines. We know how important peer interactions and faculty-student relationships are for the success of academic learning and we intend to maximize our outdoor spaces for small groups during the period we are in distance learning. We will send communication about these activities later.  

Gurim and Kindergarten

We know how important in-person learning is for all our students, especially our youngest learners. Our Gurim program is licensed separately as an early childhood program, and because, at this time Montgomery County permits Gurim to be open, we are planning for full five day a week in-person learning in smaller cohorts for Gurim. As Kindergarten is part of early childhood education, we have requested guidance from the County if we will be permitted to open that grade for in-person learning. We expect to have an answer next week and we will communicate with Gurim and Kindergarten families separately.

Information Sessions

We are hosting several information sessions for families to hear from our principals and administrators about the details of our plans to start the school year. Please join us for the appropriate session(s) using the Zoom links included below.

• JK-K                         Wednesday, Aug. 19, 7:30 - 8:30 pm
• Grades 1-5               Wednesday, Aug. 12, 7:30 - 8:30 pm
• Middle School          Thursday, Aug. 13, 8:00 - 9:00 pm 
• High School             Tuesday, Aug. 11, 7:30 - 8:30 pm

If you have questions after reviewing these plans for the fall, you can submit them here so they can be addressed in the information sessions. 

As we navigate this pandemic together, we appreciate your support and partnership. We understand that this is a challenging time for all our families and we feel frustrated we cannot yet return to full (or hybrid) on campus learning.  We miss our beloved students and miss being physically with them in our buildings, and can't wait to return safely to our campus. We hope that being a part of our CESJDS family is a source of community, comfort and consistency in your lives. You have our commitment to provide an outstanding general and Jewish education to your families throughout the year and to be your partners in educating your children now and in the future.

Thank you for your outstanding support and partnership. 

Biv-ra-khah u-vi-di-dut (with blessings and friendship),

Ayala Nuriely Kimel

Board President

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

As you are aware, Dr. Travis Gayles, the Chief Public Health Officer of Montgomery County, has issued a directive, prohibiting nonpublic schools from physically reopening for in-person instruction through at least October 1, 2020. Dr. Gayles has said that it is not safe for schools to open at this time. Pursuant to this order and in line with our core value of v'ahavta l'rei-a-kha/loving your neighbor and the mitzvah of piku-ah nefesh/saving a life, CESJDS will begin the 2020-21 school year in a full distance learning program.

As we have shared in our previous communication, the school has spent considerable time since the end of the past school year preparing for multiple scenarios that all maintain outstanding ongoing learning throughout the year, prioritize the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff and reflect a strong sense of community and social connection. We have developed plans for both distance learning and hybrid learning, which we will utilize when it is safe to return to on-campus learning. We are prepared to shift quickly to a hybrid model when it is safe and healthy to do so.

Based on our successful experience last year, feedback from students, families and faculty and  in consultation with experts in the field of distance learning, we have developed a significantly enhanced online program for our students. The program in each division will have a consistent schedule, increased live instruction, more small and individual group experiences, support for all learners, and a single digital platform to make accessing all classes and materials simple and easy for students and families. Throughout the summer, our outstanding faculty have engaged in professional development to hone their instructional approaches and to develop strategies to support students' social and emotional needs in an online environment. We have worked to develop an exceptional program that will be rigorous, robust and support student wellness. As we had planned to share specifics of our learning plans on August 6th, please check your email for detailed plans and sample schedules for our distance learning program this Thursday. 

At the same time, CESJDS is working with our local association of independent schools (AISGW) and with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) to seek clarification on Dr. Gayles' directive in three areas: 

1. May our early childhood programs, Gurim and Kindergarten, take place on campus as we had previously planned?
2. Do schools have the ability to offer small, in-person, physically distanced groups for social-emotional, athletic and other programming both indoors and outdoors?
3. What criteria will be used to determine when it will be safe for students and faculty to return to campus?

Our recent survey of families indicated that while many families intended to send their children to school based on the precautions we were taking, many other families did not feel it was safe to return to campus at this time. For all of us, the fact that we cannot begin the school year with in-person learning is disappointing and presents challenges. While our goal and preference was to find a safe and healthy way to return to our campuses, the health and safety of our students, families, and faculty is our priority and the guidance of our health officials was part of our criteria for our reopening. We are prepared to make our distance learning program an excellent one and to work to partner with you during this pandemic to address the challenges we are all facing.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you have.

Warmly,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

We are writing to advise you of some of the health and safety measures that we will be implementing as students, faculty and staff return to CESJDS. The health and safety of our community is our primary priority. As we did last spring, we will be following the mandates and recommendations issued by the CDC and local public health officials. Since every school is different and has different facilities, the precautions that CESJDS takes to mitigate against COVID-19 may differ from other institutions and our local public schools.

PPE/Signage - When it is safe to return to campus for the 2020-21 school year, students will find faculty, staff, and administrators overjoyed to see them. They will also see the now-familiar reminders of how to mitigate viral transmission. Signs around the campuses will remind students to maintain physical distancing and instruct proper hand hygiene. Students will see desks spaced apart, plexi-glass shields installed in certain areas, and touch-free faucets in bathrooms. All students, faculty, and staff will be required to wear masks. We ask that you please familiarize yourself with the school's Face Coverings Policy upon return to school. The policy contains a number of resources to assist you in acclimating your children to wearing face coverings in school.

Events/Visitors - To reduce the spread of the virus, we have suspended all group gatherings and events beyond individual class sessions. We will be limiting the number of visitors on campus for health reasons, including very limited access for parents and guardians. We will share further details in a later communication.

Cafeterias - Physical distancing and other health measures dictate that our cafeterias will not be able to serve lunches from the serving bays, and that only small groups will be able to eat together. In place of our usual lunch program, our food service will be limited to pre-ordered boxed lunches. We will share information about the boxed-lunch program later in the summer. Students and employees may continue to bring bag lunches from home if preferred.

Health Screening - Screenings are a critical component of community protection. The School will require that all students and employees submit self-screening data each day they are on campus prior to arriving. Anyone with a temperature at or above 100.0 degrees, or exhibiting other symptoms will need to stay home. We will a separate email on how you will be able to submit your screening information via an app-based solution.

Cleaning/Hygiene - CESJDS will enhance sanitation and disinfecting protocols throughout the day and after school hours. During the school day, teachers and students will have ample access to hand sanitizer and surface disinfectants. Faculty and staff will be trained on new health and safety protocols upon their return to campus. As always, our full time registered nurses will be present on each campus and will have implemented measures to address any health needs for the students.

Partnership with Families - Given that maintaining the wearing of face coverings, physical distancing, and hand washing significantly reduces the incidence of transmission, we are asking that all of the CESJDS community be mindful of your level of potential exposure to the virus. We know that many families plan to enjoy the summer locally and may also be traveling outside the area. We ask that you please follow public health guidelines as closely as possible prior to and during the school year. We are all in this together.

We have instituted all of the above safety measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to create a healthy environment on our campuses. We continue to consult with health experts as we consider any additional measures we will take. As always, please be in touch with us if you have questions or concerns.

Warm Regards,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, Head of School

Julie Hoover , Chief Financial Officer

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN, Head Nurse

Dear CESJDS Community,

We have all been dealing with tremendous challenges related to the pandemic, continuous learning for our children, and our country's struggles with racial equality. Our JDS community is a source of strength during this time as we address all of these issues and meet the School's mission by living and making decisions guided by our core values. We particularly appreciate your partnership and support at this time.

Although we all had hoped for a return to regular routines this fall, it is now clear that the pandemic will preclude that. The one thing we know for certain is that we will need to be prepared for multiple scenarios and be nimble in order to respond to changing conditions and guidance from public health officials. As we consider how to reopen, the space requirements for physical distancing, the size and square footage of our classrooms and campuses, and the number of students at our school all factor in our planning. JDS, like every school, has unique circumstances to consider.

We continue to prepare for several scenarios: full return to campus (extremely unlikely); a hybrid approach that takes into account the continued pandemic at a level that allows for activities with precautions and protocols to mitigate the contagion; and enhanced and robust distance learning. We are prepared for a full return if that comes at any point next school year. We are devoting our attention to the middle scenario, the one we expect will largely exist in September. In that scenario, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and others, we seek to maximize on-campus learning for our youngest students in each division. We will also be prepared for students who, in a hybrid model, will not return to campus due to immuno-compromised issues or related health concerns. If health conditions mandate a distance learning scenario, we are working toward increasing the number of hours of synchronous learning, preparing a consistent schedule, and consolidating and upgrading our learning platforms for ease of use--aligned with the valuable feedback you provided in both the ISM and CESJDS parent surveys.

As we have engaged in all our planning, we established three priorities:

• Health and Safety Mitigation
• Quality and Continuity of Learning
• The CESJDS Community Experience

Health and Safety - The health of our community (students, families, and faculty and staff) is our primary focus and, as we did last spring, we will be following the guidance and recommendations issued by the CDC and local public health officials. We recognize that our local health environment can change for better or worse in the coming weeks and months, and we are preparing for as many eventualities as possible. We will share communication specifically dedicated to health and safety measures later this week.

Quality and Continuity of Learning – With the unpredictability of the health situation, we are preparing for multiple learning scenarios and will have the ability to move quickly between educational models. Our preference is to have students learning on campus. We are also prepared to maintain a robust and high quality educational program informed by our school mission, values, and philosophy throughout the year, no matter which learning scenario health issues dictate. We understand that you are eager to know specific plans for each division and we appreciate your patience as we work toward the models that work for our campuses, students, and the health requirements.

The CESJDS Community Experience – CESJDS's educational philosophy is based on engaging students in a rigorous general and Jewish studies academic program, balanced with social emotional and spiritual learning. The warm and dynamic community of students, families, and faculty and staff that is immersed in our school's core values is the foundation of our school. During the pandemic, our community has been essential to our work and we are focused on maintaining this in the coming months and year to support our educational program and goals. We know that students crave interactions with their peers. While we will be required to maintain physical distance, we will also make greater efforts to attend to students' social and emotional well-being and to foster student interaction as well as to integrate new students in our community. We will strive to preserve JDS traditions and milestones as much as possible. While field trips and campus gatherings will be suspended until further notice, we will make the most of our signature community-building opportunities like Kabbalat Shabbat, T'filah/Z'man Kodesh, Morning Meetings, assemblies, Rikuz and Community Time using the digital tools at our disposal.

You can continue to expect regular communication from us throughout the summer, at least every two weeks. As I wrote above, you will receive an email later this week about the health and safety precautions we will be taking and your role in partnering with the school to monitor the health of our students.

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to your division principal or to me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your partnership as we work together to create a safe, thoughtful, and community-based approach to learning at CESJDS this fall.

With warmest regards,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Preparing for the Future: CESJDS’s Return to Campus Roadmap

Dear CESJDS Community,

We hope everyone in the CESJDS community is healthy and safe. With the end of the current school year upon us and as Montgomery County has moved into phase one of its reopening process, we want to update you on CESJDS' plans for reopening in a safe and responsible manner as we work to meet the educational needs of our students. We know how difficult these past few months have been for so many members of our community, and we appreciate everyone's patience, partnership and understanding as we navigate these unprecedented challenges for our school and community.

The School established a working group to plan for all aspects of reopening for the 2020-21 school year and has been examining different scenarios and possibilities. We are pleased to share with you our initial Return to Campus Roadmap. As you will read in the Roadmap, we have set clear criteria for ensuring the health and safety of every member of the CESJDS community as we make decisions for reopening. The Roadmap also shares the three most likely scenarios for how we will engage students in school next year. We plan to update this Roadmap with additional details and expanded topics as we receive more guidance from state and local officials.

As we adjust to operating during a pandemic, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting and sustaining CESJDS' mission to engage students in an exemplary and inspiring general and Jewish education to ensure a vibrant future, in order to foster the growth of confident and compassionate thinkers who engage the world through Jewish values. We also reaffirm our commitment to providing a welcoming, respectful, equitable, and inclusive environment for all members of the CESJDS community. Our educational program will continue to balance rigorous academics with social, emotional and spiritual learning. Throughout the 2020-21 school year we will maintain continuous learning with a preference for on-campus activities when schools may reopen and appropriate protective measures are in place.

COVID-19 has impacted members of the CESJDS community in different ways and created unforeseen challenges, e.g. personally, academically, professionally, as well as physically, mentally, and socially. We understand that this health and economic crisis calls for a thoughtful approach as we proceed. We will seek to communicate frequently and transparently with our community as we navigate this crisis in partnership with students, families and our community. We will we continue to embrace our CESJDS core values of Torah Lishmah (Love of Learning), Ahavat Torah (Love of Torah), K'dushah (Holiness), Ahavat Yisra-el (Love of Israel), Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World), Pluralism, V'ahavta L'rei-a-kha (Love Your Neighbor) and K'hillah (Community).

As always, please be in touch with us if you have questions or concerns. Your feedback has been invaluable during this time. As we move into the summer we expect to communicate more frequently than we usually do at this time of year to keep you updated.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus                   

Dr. Marc Lindner                     

Julie Hoover

Dear CESJDS Families,

As you have heard, public schools in the state of Maryland have been cancelled for the remainder of the school year. While this is not an unexpected news, I am extremely saddened to share that CESJDS will also be closed for on-campus learning for the remainder of the school year.

We will continue distance learning until our regularly scheduled last day of school, Friday, June 12. We were holding out hope to be able to close the academic year together in person, but support the decision of our state and public health officials as they continue to work to mitigate Covid-19 infection rates and protect the health of the general public and all of us. We have been asked to remind our community to continue social distancing and protective practices when you do need to leave your homes.

We are working to plan virtual end of year celebrations and other wrap-up activities and will communicate with you about these in the coming weeks. We are also exploring running summer activities.

Our goals are to ensure that our community stays connected through the next six weeks and beyond into the summer, and that students remain engaged with their learning. Thank you for ongoing partnership and support.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

We are inspired by the strength, resilience and connection of our students, families and faculty as our community has adapted and continued to thrive during this time of distance learning, global challenge and uncertainty. We are all affected by this health, social and economic crisis and we know that many families in our School are addressing serious challenges due to Covid-19. We want to thank you for your commitment to CESJDS and to update you on a number of areas related to the School.

Distance Learning
We continue to engage students and the community in a program of distance learning. Through our experience and valuable feedback from students, families and faculty we have made enhancements and improvements from our initial schedules and formats. Our faculty and staff have stepped up in incredible ways to provide continuity of instruction and an exceptional online program, and parents have been fabulous partners in this effort. We continue to evaluate our program, appreciate all of the feedback that you have given us and have gained important insights that we expect will also enhance our on campus program when we return.

Special Tuition Assistance Fund
We are pleased to announce that we have created and continue to fundraise for a special short-term fund to provide additional tuition assistance to our families to ensure that those who are in need have the ability to attend CESJDS during this time. Just as our families are dedicated to the School, we are committed to supporting you throughout this time. The fund will provide additional short-term support for the next two years to those adversely affected by the current situation.

School Closure and Next School Year
We are actively engaged in scenario planning for all aspects of the school program for both the end of this academic year and for the coming year. While we would love to welcome our students back to campus for end of semester activities, at this time we do not know whether this will be possible. We are planning for ways to maintain educational excellence in the current environment as well as looking at end of the year events and programs. At the same time, we are planning for multiple scenarios for the coming school year. We do not have details to share at this time as public health and elected officials have not provided guidance for schools in our area at this point.\

We feel fortunate to be part of a warm, dynamic and exceptional school community dedicated to ensuring the vibrant future of the Jewish people by engaging our students in an exceptional and inspiring Jewish and general education. The current challenge that we face has shown us again the strength and vitality of our community to stand together. We appreciate everything you do to help make CESJDS an anchor in all of our lives. Please do contact us with any questions or thoughts - we love hearing from you.

Warmly,

Dan Mendelson                  Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Board Chair                        Head of School

Dear Friends,

I want to share a second video message with you about my reflections on the different emotions that many of us are experiencing as we battle against the Coronavirus, and also some of thoughts around changes we will be making to enhance our distance learning after hearing your questions, feedback, and concerns. We will be communicating in more detail about those plans in the coming days.

We are all facing challenges and, at the same time, I feel very hopeful and positive about our community, school, and our ability to overcome the deadly virus that is causing our world so much pain.

Warmly,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Dear Families,

We are aware that Governor Hogan has mandated that Maryland public schools remain closed until April 24 at the earliest. As mentioned in my communication on Monday, we will remain closed for all on-campus learning and business. When public health and state officials provide a specific date as to when it is safe to resume our normal routines and practices, we will communicate further with you. 

Please be in touch with any questions. Wishing you good health.

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

During my video message on Thursday evening I mentioned that, while the School had announced initially that we would be closed until March 30th, it was becoming apparent that this closure might last much longer. As we all have read in the news reports, and today with Governor Hogan's closing of all non-essential businesses, it is clear that CESJDS will remain closed for a longer period. I am writing to inform you that we will be closed for all on-campus learning and business until public health officials and our state officials have provided guidance that it is safe to resume our usual routines and practices.

Distance learning and our other operational activities will continue to function remotely as we have over the first week of the closure. We have not set a return date as we do not have visibility of when it will be safe to return. I also want to note that we are looking at the school calendar to see if we might capture some additional learning days. While we will maintain a Pesah break, we are exploring the idea of sharing resources and activities for the intermediate days of the holiday.

Our principals, faculty, and staff are working tirelessly to support our students and each other. We have also been planning for an extended closure and enhanced distance learning experience during this time. Many parents have participated in online Zoom calls to interact with the principals around distance learning and we have also received feedback from students. We will be sending out surveys to collect further information from you about what is working and what needs to be adapted to improve our distance learning.

I want to remind you about two items. First, I urge everyone to adhere to the physical distancing practices that we are being asked to follow for our collective health and safety. Second, we continue to update our CESJDS Coronavirus webpage with information, resources and an archive of all previous communication. You may access the webpage here.

We know that is a difficult and uncertain time for everyone. We also feel strongly that we will get through this together and that our CESJDS community and extended network is resilient and strong. We hope that being part of CESJDS is a source of comfort and continuity during this period.

Wishing everyone health and safety.

B'yedidut (in friendship),

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear Families and Students,

Welcome to JDS Online! Our campuses may be closed, but we are OPEN for learning, exploration, innovation, community, and yes, some fun too. Our distance learning begins tomorrow morning.

The CESJDS Approach to Distance Learning

Over the past two days, we have been preparing for this distance learning experience and we are excited about this opportunity. Yesterday and today, our teachers have been in virtual professional development sessions preparing for student learning and communication. Our faculty has been professional, creative, and dedicated in their preparations and I want to acknowledge their tireless efforts.

Our overall philosophy is to use this closure and the technological tools we have to maintain continuity of the educational program. We will not be having students replicate their exact schedules and going from class to class online.

Each division has prepared lessons, projects, experiences that will keep our students engaged and active in their learning in ways that are appropriate to their age group. We will be using all of the virtual platforms we do during the usual school operations as we move to distance learning in order to reduce the new things that are introduced to you; keeping it simple has been a slogan for us in planning. As a reminder of the overall framework of learning, please see the learning plans we shared this past Thursday evening.

Our school counselors are available to support you as well and you can contact them through email as you do regularly with questions, concerns, and for support. They are ready and happy to continue their work with you.

What's Happening and When?

Tonight, you will receive an email from each division explaining how the learning and community connections will take place. Among the different things that will be taking place, we will also be sharing video messages and have opportunities to connect through virtual Kabbalot Shabbat and other programs.

Guidance and Recommendations on Your Child's Learning and Day

Many parents have asked how they can support their children in this distance learning period. Children are more productive (and even excited) if they have a role in planning and creating a personal place for learning. Some suggestions:

• Establish a routine that has time for learning, exercise, fun, and social connections (via technology), and mindfulness
• Find a space for learning that is theirs! This might be a specific room or a particular corner of your dining table
• Make sure they have a comfortable chair, and a desk or table
• Encourage your children to make their space their own by being creative
• Have your children organize their personal learning space with everything they will need

Social Distancing and Staying Healthy

As a reminder, you will find our recent email on social distancing here. We all have an essential role to play flattening the curve of COVID-19 so that we protect those who are at risk and in order to maintain the functionality of our health care system and providers. I urge all our families to follow the guidance of our public health experts. The latest guidance can be found here at the CDC Website.

This webpage houses all past communications, updates, and resources we have shared. We will add to the page frequently.

Questions?

We are working remotely and our faculty, staff, administration are available via email and phone. We are also available to set up virtual meetings.

This is new for all of us and we are working to provide an outstanding educational experience through CESJDS Online distance learning. Technology may not work the way we plan. Wifi may fail. Your computer may not work exactly the way you would like. You may feel frustrated. We are here to support your children and your family.

Since we and you have never done this before, we will be seeking your feedback through short surveys for each division after the first three days of learning. We'll send those to you via email.

We have an outstanding community and a fabulous faculty and staff. During this time we are extra grateful for your support, patience, and partnership.

Praying that we all remain in good health, 

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear Lower School Families,

Welcome to the launch of our digital distance learning program for Lower School students that is officially slated to begin on Wednesday morning.  We hope you have had the opportunity to settle into a bit of a routine over the last two days and are now ready to transition into this unexpected, but new and exciting approach to learning during our school closure. This Google Doc contains the details of our learning plan for this week in addition to additional resources. I recommend that you bookmark the page as we will be updating it regularly with ongoing plans for the duration of our closure.  

We want to reiterate some important points before you get into the details of what the learning program will look like for children in different grades:

• Gurim-1st grade students should expect to find their digital learning content on SeeSaw
• Students in 2nd-5th grade should use their grade-wide Google Classrooms to access most of their learning materials. Students should go to classroom.google.com and click the join button. This will only work if a student is logged in with their CESJDS student account. Students will be loaded into these classrooms by 8am on Wednesday morning. Hebrew and JS materials will be housed in SeeSaw.  
• The distance learning format will look very different in different homes as parents and students adapt to working and learning from home.  Our goal in this digital learning design is to provide a solid continuity of education for our students and maximum flexibility for families.
• You will find recommendations for the amount of time to spend on each subject each day, which can be achieved in a variety of ways over the course of a week.  Each grade level has created a "proposed school day" schedule based on the learning plans, in case you might find that helpful. They can be accessed here.  While we want every child to be reading every day, other activities can be flexibly accomplished over the course of week based on a student's motivation and engagement level.
• Remaining connected to one another as a community is a challenge in this environment, so we are building in some elements of the program that attempt to keep everyone (students and parents) connected to us and to each other:
  • Rabbi Bellas will have a daily Morning Announcements video that we encourage every student to view and join in reciting.  They will be added by teachers to SeeSaw and/or the new 2nd-5th grade-wide Google Classrooms. This familiar routine will help students get centered on their learning for the day and feel a connection back to the larger school community.
  • Morning Meetings: Teachers will be taking turns posting Morning Meeting elements for their students: Greeting, Morning Message, and Share.  We encourage every student to respond in writing, voice recording, or video to the Morning Meeting content and to share thoughts on what their classmates have posted as well.
  • T'filah: We will have daily opportunities to engage live with members of the t'filah team for morning Shaharit and after Minhah, mirroring what we offer in school.  Any student on any grade level will be able to join Google Meet gatherings for prayer.  See the chart below for specific details
• We are including a link to a Google Classroom created by our guidance team where you can find helpful resources and information, and each of the counselors is available for a check-in or consultation should you wish to speak with them.
• Instructional Technology team information is also linked here should you require assistance with any elements of the digital learning program. 

We wish you all the very best in this challenging time and welcome your questions or feedback.

B'shalom,

Matthew, Rebecca, Kim, Daniella, Jenny, Alexis, Ginger, Lenore, and Pam
Your Lower School Admin Team

Dear Middle School Families,

We are excited to embark on our Online Learning Experience with our students. Adolescents are one of the most creative people we know and we cannot wait to see what they create during these next two weeks. Here you will find a video explaining the plan in greater detail.

As was mentioned in the original communication, each student is being paired with a teacher-advisor for the next two weeks. You and your child will receive an introductory email from their teacher-advisor explaining the goals and next steps. Please let me know if you have not heard from your child's teacher-advisor by 9AM tomorrow morning.

Our counselors and learning specialists are ready to support your children through this new experience and will be checking in with students regularly.

We appreciate your patience and partnership as we all adjust to working remotely and digitally. Please reach out with any concerns or questions.

Wishing you all good health,

Dr. Eliana Lipsky
Middle School Principal 

Rabbi Janet Ozur Bass
Assistant Principal, Middle School

Dear High School Students,

I hope you are all well.

Starting tomorrow, learning resumes, albeit remotely.  Please note the following:

1. Check your CESJDS email each morning and evening.
2. Watch the morning video that will be sent to your CESJDS email.
3. Check Google Classroom for daily assignments.
4. Don't hesitate to reach out to your teachers, your counselor, Ms. Goldstein, Mrs. Landy or me with any questions.
5. If you haven't read it already, check out the email that was sent to all of you by Mrs. Landy, Ms. Gartner and Ms. Soifer.  They are the best!

For your reference, click here to see the overall high school plan for learning while we're not able to be in the Upper School building.

Finally, in the spirit of two of our school's core values, V'ahavta L'rei-a-khha (love your neighbor) and K'hillah (community), please see the latest guidelines from the US government to keep ourselves and our fellow citizens safe.  Please also see a more comprehensive set of resources that are available on the CESJDS website.

All the best,

Dr. Marc Lindner
High School Principal and Associate Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

As our broader communities and local, state and national governments work to contain the spread of coronavirus, we as a school community need to do our part in this important endeavor. While there is a lot of conflicting information circulating, public health experts generally agree on a core set of actions each of us can do in order to make our contribution to this effort.

We join many other governmental and community organizations in urging you to practice "social distancing," commonly described as staying at least six feet away from people outside of your home. As hard as it is, this means not only avoiding public gatherings, but also playdates, sleepovers, parties, sports games, smachot (celebrations) and other child-to-child interactions. We do encourage getting fresh air and having your children play outside. 

Experts tell us that even young children showing no symptoms may spread the illness, and in that way jeopardize our at-risk populations. In addition, although children do not appear to be at high risk for COVID-19, there have been reports of children in the United States who have tested positive for the virus. When you do need to interact with others outside your home, please remember to wash your hands thoroughly before and after the interaction, and to avoid physical contact of any kind, including hugs and handshakes. And please, if you or a family member is not feeling well, stay at home and not put others at risk. If you feel your situation is emergent, please call your doctor.

We want to share the following helpful links to support your social distancing and prevention efforts:

https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/03/13/what-is-social-distancing/

https://www.ariadnelabs.org/resources/articles/news/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day/

Although we currently have not been notified of any immediate family members who have tested positive for coronavirus in the CESJDS community, we urge you to please reach out to the nurse on your campus if you or a member of your immediate family has tested positive.  

Thank you for doing your part in keeping our vulnerable population safe and helping safeguard our hospital resources for those who desperately need them. 

Sincerely,

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN                     

Head and Lower School Nurse  
noksenhendler@cesjds.org    
 

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse 

hgreenblum@cesjds.org

Dear CESJDS Community, 

We want to share with you our plans for continuing student learning now that the School will be closed from Monday, March 16th - Friday, March 27th.  Our goals during this closure are to:

1. Secure the health of our community and the larger geographic area in which we all live,
2. Provide continuity of learning for our students, and
3. Provide support, as best as we can, for students, families, and faculty and staff.

We have asked our students, and will remind them tomorrow, to take home the following: 

• Grades 5-8: school-issued laptops and chargers; 
• High school: all devices and materials needed to complete work at home;
• Textbooks, including novels or other reading texts that they will need during the closure;
• Tallit and tefillin

Parents - If your child has medication in the Nurse's Office, please email your campus nurse to arrange a time to pick it up, children are not permitted to take medication home on their own.

Each link below will take you to that division's plan for academic continuity. The first two days of the closure will be non-instructional days to allow families (and staff) to prepare for the change in routine and deal with any personal/family-specific situations. Beginning on Wednesday, March 18th, each division will follow the plan which can be found on the Parent Portal.

Thank you, as always, for your continued partnership and support. In addition to the email addresses for questions listed in each division plan above, feel free to reach out with questions to Ginger Thornton, Director of Instructional Technology at gthornton@cesjds.org. 

B'vriut, wishing you all good health,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Ginger Thornton

Director of Instructional Technology

Dear CESJDS Families, 

Governor Hogan announced this afternoon that all Maryland Public Schools would be closed from Monday, March 16th - Friday, March 27th. CESJDS will also be closed during this period. The past few weeks have been a powerful reminder of how critical our connection to one another is, and how strong we are as a community. A group of extremely dedicated staff members have been working around the clock to respond to the challenges and questions posed by COVID-19. 

I am writing to update you on the major near-term changes that will limit exposure to the disease among members of our community:

• CESJDS will be closed to students and families from Monday, March 16th through Friday, March 27th. 
• We will transition to distance learning in all three divisions - Lower, Middle, and High School. Distance learning will begin on Wednesday, March 18th. The two-day delay will enable our faculty to fully prepare for the learning. We will share our plans for this learning throughout the closure in a separate email later this evening. 
• All CESJDS events are postponed or cancelled, effective today, March 12th. We will reevaluate events taking place after April 20th, and will communicate with you as soon as we have more information. 

The decision to close the School is based on the recommendations of public health officials on how to limit the spread of COVID-19 and Governor Hogan's decision. During this closure operations will continue in both buildings to protect the health of the community upon reopening. 

For regular updates, additional information, and archives of our school communications please visit our CESJDS Coronavirus webpage. 

The health and safety of our students, families, faculty and staff, and supporting community public health are our top priorities. We understand that this is an anxious time for you and your children, and we are here to support you during the closure and this time of uncertainty. We plan to communicate with you frequently, and provide a continuous learning experience for your children. 

We continue to keep those directly impacted by the virus in our thoughts, and are joining the local and state communities in helping to contain the spread of COVID-19. Thank you for your patience as we continue to navigate this difficult situation together. 

B'yedidut (in friendship), 

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Upper School Families,



Today, the Athletic Directors in the PVAC (our athletic conference) decided to suspend all league play for the foreseeable future in light of the current unprecedented circumstances. Additionally, in order to promote community safety, CESJDS has made the decision to cancel any athletic activities that involve other schools.We will continue with team practices on campus, as planned, and will send out updates as necessary. 



In the meantime, we will no longer be using shared water-bottles at practices, and will continue to ensure that all athletes and coaches are practicing good hygiene. 

Please let Becky know if you have any questions.

We know this is disappointing, and we appreciate your support for this protective measure.

Thank you,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Becky Silberman 
Director of Athletics

Dear CESJDS Community,

The school continues to monitor the evolving Coronavirus guidance from the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Maryland State Department of Health, and the CDC. As of today, CESJDS is postponing or cancelling all school events of 100 or more people until April 20, 2020. We will reevaluate this decision at that time and send you an update.

As of this morning, Montgomery County, State and National public health officials continue to advise that they believe there is a low health risk for schools and have determined that schools should remain open as normal at this time and teaching and learning should continue as usual. If the situation changes in the county, CESJDS will update you immediately. We will continue to follow good hygiene practices and enhanced cleaning practices as we previously shared.

Overall, the CDC advises that schools have an important role in slowing the spread of diseases and helping ensure students have safe and healthy learning environments. They also ask that schools educate their students and communities. As a reminder, CESJDS has created a webpage with information, resources, and archives of all our communication around Coronavirus. 

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

We are continuing to monitor the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and have the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff, and families at top of mind. 

A webpage has been created that will house all of JDS's communications with regards to COVID-19, as well as links to local, state, federal, and other resources. This page will be updated as additional communications are sent and resources added.

With the start of a new school week and joyous Purim festivities approaching, please help prevent the spread of any flus or colds by keeping your children home if they are sick and have a fever or are contagious. If anyone in your family is exposed to COVID-19, please reach out to the school nurses immediately.

Dear CESJDS Community,

As are you, we have been closely following the news that three Montgomery County residents are the first confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Maryland. At this time there is no reason to believe that there will be a school closure. We continue to prepare for the possibility of a school closure if one were necessary. We will remain in contact with local and state officials to be up to date on any new developments.

Wishing you and your family a Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community,

I am writing to update you on how we have been addressing Coronavirus prevention in school and on our planning more generally. The safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff, and community are our first priority and we are closely monitoring the quickly evolving news and guidance from local, national and international government and other organizations that are addressing the virus. I anticipate that there will be regular updates around this health issue.

We have established a Coronavirus Prevention and Management Team within the School of administrators and professionals to coordinate, plan, research, and communicate with our community. The team is looking at among other areas: in-school health maintenance, education, and prevention; student education and support; planning for any potential closures or cancellations; faculty and staff education and support; facilities management; and communication with our community. Members of our administration are taking all necessary precautions and working to maintain calm and regular activities and routines for our students.

Prevention
To help prevent the spread of colds, viruses, and the flu in general, we strongly encourage students, staff, and the community to follow these simple recommendations from the CDC:

--Wash hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. As an alternative, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
--Avoid touching the face, eyes, nose, or mouth, especially with unwashed hands.
--Cough or sneeze into a flexed elbow, or catch with a tissue and immediately dispose of it in the trash.
--When sick, limit contact with others as much as possible. Take everyday precautions to prevent contagion.

We want to remind JDS parents that if your child is sick or has contagious symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, or stomach pain, please keep them home from school until the symptoms subside. Giving your child adequate time to recover will help them as well as help prevent spreading contagion. As always, we are happy to work with a student's individual needs following a necessary absence.

Our maintenance staff continues to use extra care in disinfecting high touch surfaces across both campuses.

Education
The School continues to educate students on the importance of normal preventive practices. Teachers are working with students on these good hygiene habits and instructing students on how to properly wash their hands. We will be posting signage in bathrooms and other locations to help students remember these habits.

As our partners in educating your children, we ask that you please remind your child at home to wash hands often and thoroughly, to cover and catch coughs and sneezes, and to use hand sanitizers when they do not have access to sinks.

Potential Closures
JDS is fortunate to benefit from our membership in both Jewish day and independent school networks and organizations. We have been participating in numerous webinars and conference calls to be up to date on news of the Coronavirus and recommended practices. We continue to consult with outside health experts and local and state health and education departments. JDS has been a leader in using technology as a tool for learning for over a decade. Our teachers and students familiarity with technology as a tool for their classes will be advantageous if there is an extended closure. We are planning for and exploring different options across all of our divisions to keep the continuity of the academic program if there were a need.

School Trips and Pesah Travel
At this time the guidance from the various organizations we are in touch with is to continue field trips as usual. Towards the end of the school year there are a couple of trips outside the area that involve travel and we have not made any decisions about those trips at this time, as has been recommended to us.

We are aware that many families are planning to travel over the Pesah (Passover) break. While we have heard that some schools have asked families to observe a period of self-quarantine after any international travel, the guidance we have currently does not call for such a quarantine. We will update this recommendation if there is a change. We do ask families to report any illnesses before returning from international travel and for you or your children to self-quarantine if you do experience and illness while traveling internationally.

Communication
We anticipate communicating with you more frequently on the Coronavirus. To help you better manage the communication, we will be numbering our emails and posting them along with links to resources on our website for you to look back on any communication. We will communicate about the website by Friday.

Our primary goal at school is to maintain a safe and healthy educational environment. To achieve this goal, we are taking our planning and communications extremely seriously and making sure that we maintain an atmosphere of calm, regular routines, and the usual sense of joy for learning that characterizes JDS so that our students can focus on their classes and activities.

As always, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly.

B'yedidut (in friendship),

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus
Head of School

Dear CESJDS Community Members,

Information about the outbreak of Coronavirus in China, its spread to the U.S., and other areas of the world is evolving rapidly. CESJDS is monitoring the situation and taking actions aimed at keeping our community safe and healthy. We are writing to give you an update on our actions and planning.

Yesterday, the CDC asked all Americans to be prepared for the potential spread of the virus in the United States. At CESJDS we will perform additional cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces and restrooms throughout both campuses. We receive valuable updates from the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW) and Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools on how to prepare. We are participating in webinars for independent schools around the Coronavirus and planning to address any developments with the potential spread of the virus. We are also consulting with pediatricians in our area.

Finally, it is imperative that we all do our part to reduce the danger of infection by observing best practices for preventing incidences of the flu and other illnesses within our CESJDS community. We want to remind everyone that, as always, we strongly recommend that anyone who is ill or thinks they may be ill should stay home from school and seek medical care, as necessary. Students should not return to school until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever reducing medication. This policy applies to everyone, every year, and we want to emphasize this practice today. The flu season is at its peak right now, and this alone would warrant such caution. Please communicate directly with the school nurse if there is a health concern related to the flu or with any other communicable illness. This information will help us monitor the spread of infection throughout our community. 

We are sharing what we believe is an excellent resource from the CDC website with basic information about the Coronavirus and how to prevent it. You may find this information by clicking here. As with the flu, the following basic good practices are the best ones to follow to prevent getting sick.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your cough and cough into your arm or elbow.
• Stay home if you are sick.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

We will plan to share and remind students in school about these good practices. We will also continue to provide updates of any changes at school and with respect to changing conditions if necessary.

Rabbi Mitchel Malkus

Head of School

Natasha Oksenhendler, RN

Head Nurse

Heather Greenblum, RN

Upper School Nurse