Dear CDS Families,
I hope you and your family had an enjoyable break and Semana Santa. Our return to school this week started the fourth and final quarter of this most unusual year! With your cooperative partnership and the incredible work of our CDS staff -- teachers and administrators -- I think we’ve managed quite successfully to deliver consistent and quality learning to our students. Thanks to all the families who followed our travel protocols upon return to Costa Rica, which has helped keep our campus Covid-free.
In this week’s note I want to briefly review our current program and share our thoughts about next year, 2021-2022. Our hybrid model is based on the health and safety expectations of the Ministries of Health and Education, which requires social distancing and safety protocols. With these requirements, we have our Primary (PK-5) students on campus daily from 8:00-12:00, in small class bubble groups, with Virtual School in the afternoons for specials of art, music, PE, and Spanish. In Secondary (MS/HS), because we need to share a lot more MS/HS classroom spaces given the class sizes, students are on campus 2/3 days per week (and 2/3 days per week in Virtual School), alternating weeks. This hybrid model has maximized our students’ on-campus face-to-face learning, within the health and safety constraints.
In consideration for next year, the single biggest variable is the social distancing requirement by the Ministry of Health. If that changes to a smaller distance (less than 2 meters), our classroom capacities will change and we could have more students on campus in different groupings. That’s something we are monitoring closely. We are also looking at schedules and teacher assignments, to see if it’s possible to make any changes to either the Primary or Secondary schedules, while still keeping our students and staff safe. Our team, Principals Keitsa Brisson, Joey Menendez, and myself, continue to analyze options and consider the best possible models for our students and faculty. We’ll be sure to keep you updated and informed as we finalize decisions.
Please reach out to me or our Principals if you have any questions or need further information.
With warm regards,
Dr. Scott Adams
Director
