Dr. DEREK ARROWOOD
Hamilton Heights Superintendent
Two weeks into the second nine weeks and students and staff are doing what they do best – teaching and learning. Everyone seems to have successfully shifted to full-on COVID-19 normal, thanks in large part to a strong team effort in making the current situation less daunting.
In-person instruction is a priority for our community and our families. Nearly three months into the school year, we know that it has been a strong collective effort that has allowed us to keep our buildings open as well as offer a virtual learning option to our families.
Moreover, our families’ vigilance in monitoring the symptoms of their children, communicating exposure and test results, and prompt responses to quarantine requests is making a difference. This attentiveness has aided greatly in our ability to work collaboratively with the Hamilton County Health Department to act quickly to identify and quarantine those who are positive for COVID-19 and/or who have or potentially been exposed to the virus. It has become abundantly clear that the better we do with our mitigation strategies, the longer we will be able to keep schools open and have children attend school in person.
The health department has been consistent and clear in its messages to our administrators and staff: School staff and students are doing an outstanding job keeping each other safe. So far, COVID-19 is not being spread within our school walls. We know this based on our extensive contact tracing and investigations with the health department and our own school nursing staff.
While this is good news, it can bring with it some frustration. The reason we can keep our schools safe, in part, is by sending all students and staff home to isolate as a precaution if they are deemed a close contact or exposed. This precaution is based on guidance from the local health department, Indiana State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We can’t take the risk involved of keeping potentially ill students and staff in school.
As cold and flu season gets closer and the weather cools, we expect students and staff will continue to show symptoms of cold and flu … and COVID-19. We will continue to be cautious and keep the safety of our students and staff at the forefront. We know our families will do the same.
Last Thursday, the Northern Hamilton County Chamber of Commerce held its State of the Schools meeting at our STEM/Outdoor classroom at the middle school. We were fortunate to be able to host the meeting and showcase this incredible amenity, the new broadcast program at the middle school, and some awesome students involved with the program. Despite all that is taking place around us, the students, both from Heights and Sheridan, shined bright in the moment. They showed their depth of knowledge, creativity, compassion, and most of all, a glimpse of some of the magical moments taking place in the classroom no matter what the season.
#WeAreHuskies