By DR. DEREK ARROWOOD
Hamilton Heights Superintendent
We are over a month into the school year and continue to have about 87 percent of the student population attending in-person classes. Considering the many unknowns and challenges faced at the start of the year and concerns over the potential spread of COVID-19 inside the schools, this is impressive.
We’ve had some individuals test positive with COVID-19 and some people stay home just as a precaution. As far as we know, nobody has contracted COVID-19 during the school day at Hamilton Heights and we have not had any spread inside our schools. I’m sharing this because it’s a testament to the precautionary measures implemented, tracing methods in place to determine who has been around whom and when, and a strong, collective effort.
With that said, we need to remember that we can’t share whether an individual has COVID-19 or any other illness, or why someone is not at school. This is a private health matter. Based on what we are seeing in our schools, families are taking this seriously and encouraging their students to mask up, wash their hands, and distance when possible. For this, you have my gratitude. It’s making a difference.
As you may be aware, the USDA recently approved a nationwide waiver due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which provides for ALL students, regardless of socioeconomic status, to receive FREE meals at school. The Indiana Department of Education has given Indiana schools the approval to start. We started the program on Monday and have begun refunding student accounts for qualifying meals purchased back to Sept. 1. It will be in effect “until Dec. 31, 2020 or until funding runs out.” No strings attached! Details can be found here.
If you haven’t heard, Hamilton Heights Middle School just launched the Husky Broadcasting Network (HBN). HBN plans to entertain, inform, and build school spirit and unity. This is a great way to get a glimpse of some of the cool things taking place at the middle school. Subscribe to the HBN YouTube channel here.
While we are trying to find a little normal in each day, we’re just not there yet. We realize the frustrations with many of the changes we have had to implement in order to comply within the tight framework of guidelines. It is our desire to keep our buildings open and educate our students while still providing some of those extracurricular activities that only a year ago we took for granted.
Thank you for not giving up on this and continuing to stay the course. I want us to have a whole school year. What we’re doing right now, and the sacrifices we all are making, will give us the best shot of seeing that happen.
#WeAreHuskies