Coronavirus Response & Resources

Welcome back! I hope that your children had an enjoyable first week back from Winter Break. While we look forward to welcoming students back to campus, unfortunately, COVID-19 case counts in Los Angeles are still rising, and the hospitals are overwhelmed. This past Thursday, Los Angeles County Public Health (LACDPH) Director, Barbara Ferrer, issued a strong recommendation that all TK - 12 schools suspend all on-campus activity through the end of January. The health and safety of our community remains our number one priority, and consequently we will be following this recommendation and pausing all on-campus activities for an additional week, through January 29th. It is our hope that we will be able to resume in-person learning at the beginning of February for our K-2 students, and also move forward with additional on-campus opportunities for our 3-6 students.

Dear Laurence Families,

I hope that you are having a relaxing Winter Break with your loved ones.  A new year is upon us, and with it, bringing hope for happier, healthier, and more enjoyable times for all.  

As all of us are aware, the COVID-19 situation in LA County remains critical, with case numbers still surging, a regional stay-at-home order, a hospital bed shortage, and anticipated additional fallout from holiday travel and gatherings.  In consultation with our medical task force and keeping in mind a variety of factors, including numerous positive cases in the community as well as local hospitalizations, ICU capacity, oxygen availability, and positivity rates, we have made the decision to stay completely virtual through the end of the week of January 18. While this may not be the news that you were hoping for, I trust that you understand the difficult circumstances and the need for us to protect our faculty, staff, and entire school community.

Since reopening our campus to students in late October, we have done everything possible to keep our school community safe, by continuing to follow or exceed the strict guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH), in consultation with our medical task force.  Last week, Los Angeles County issued a revised targeted Safer at Home order, in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases and the declining ICU capacities in our area hospitals. Given all the circumstances, we believe that it is prudent for us to be consistent with the intent of the Safer at Home order and to do our part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 during this extreme surge.  To that end, we have decided to close our campus to all student activities (K-2 in-person instruction and 3-6 sports conditioning) for the week of December 14th.  All instruction will be remote for K-6th grade, and sports conditioning is cancelled.  We are asking all families, K-6, to sign up for a supply pickup next week, running December 15-17. Families with a K-2 student will be able to pick up supplies on either Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Dear Laurence Families,

I can hardly believe that it is already December!  While this year most certainly looks different than most, there is still so much to be thankful for.  And we at Laurence are grateful for the opportunities we have, both virtual and in-person, to safely spend time with your beautiful children. As the holidays approach and the shorter days set in, we look forward to spreading some holiday cheer with a Winter Spirit Week, starting on December 14th and culminating with an all-school Family Holiday Party on December 18th!  You will find more details about these festivities below.  

First, however, I want to address health and safety during the upcoming months. 

I continue to feel grateful each day that our K-6 students are on campus in some capacity.  At the same time, with a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases locally and across the country, and with a potential Stay at Home Order on the horizon, we are planning for all contingencies. Since my email last week, Los Angeles County, the State of California, and the CDC have all issued important advisories regarding travel, gatherings, and ways we can all do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Pursuant to guidance from the LACDPH, which we received today and is based on increasing case numbers in Los Angeles, learning will be virtual for all students the week after Thanksgiving (Nov. 30-Dec. 4).  We will resume regular on-campus classes for grades K-2 and other on-campus activities beginning Monday, December 7th.  This will provide us time to test our faculty and staff after the holiday, prior to your children returning to campus.  

Additionally, we ask that you please adhere to the following guidelines...

We hope that you are well, and we look forward to seeing many of you at this Friday's Halloween Boo Thru car parade.  We are loving having our kindergarteners on campus a few times a week for in-person learning, and seeing our 3rd-6th graders for optional sports conditioning after school!  We have more exciting news... we are thrilled to share with you that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) and California Public Health Department (CPHD) have approved Laurence's waiver application for kindergarten-2nd grade in-person instruction!

Dear Kindergarten Families,

We are thrilled to share with you that we will be bringing our Kindergarten students back to campus for staggered in-person learning beginning October 20th. We are over the moon that we will finally be able to welcome your little ones into their physical classrooms!

This past Friday, we received support from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) to bring our Kindergarten students to campus in accordance with the most recent State rules, which allow for a limited number of students with the highest needs to return to campus for specialized support and services that cannot be met through distance learning. While we look forward to when we can bring all of our students back to campus, the LADPH has supported the return of only our Kindergarten students at this time, as they are most in need of in-person instruction for their academic learning, as well as their social and emotional development.

Dear Laurence Families,

I hope that the first few weeks of virtual learning are going well and that last week's Back to School Night events were informative and helpful for you and your family.

I'm writing to share some initial exciting news! We have received support from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to move forward with bringing our Kindergarten students on campus for staggered, in-person learning. While we look forward to the time when all students can return to campus, the LADPH has supported the return of only our Kindergarten students at this time. 

Beginning on August 17th, our Administrative Team will be hosting grade level coffees to discuss the start of the 2020-21 school year and answer your questions! In order to allow us to prepare, please submit your questions ahead of time. You can access the question submission forms and Zoom information for each coffee from our website by clicking here.

I am thinking of all of you and your children as the start of the school year is quickly approaching. I also want to thank you for your responses to our recent parent survey. Our administrative team, school directors, faculty leadership, and Board of Trustees have been working day and night to prepare for the 2020-21 school year. We have been diligently readying Laurence's campus for our students' return to in-person instruction, while simultaneously planning for a potential remote start to the school year. Although I had held on to the hope that we would be able to start in person, it has now become clear that we will need to start our school year in an all-remote learning environment.  

I hope that you and your family are safe and healthy, and finding ways to enjoy the summer months. Yesterday, Governor Newsom announced new mandates for both public and private schools regarding opening this fall. A school will be allowed to open for in-person learning when the county in which it is located has been off the state's monitoring list (which tracks positive COVID tests, hospitalization rates and capacities) for 14 consecutive days. If this requirement is not met, schools may only reopen remotely. Los Angeles County is currently on the monitoring list, however, the start of our school year is still weeks away. While we are hopeful that things might change and LA County could turn their numbers around, we will be watching the situation in our county closely, with the health and safety of our students, families, faculty, and staff as our top priority.

Dear Laurence Families,

I miss you all and hope to see you soon! As I mentioned in last week's email, the current rising trend of COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles area is concerning, and we are closely and continuously monitoring guidance from and consulting with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and our medical task force. While we continue planning to return to campus for the 2020-21 school year, we are also keenly aware of the potential need to go remote. The health and safety of our students, staff, and families remain our top priorities.

As you have likely heard, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that, as of now, all public schools will start the school year in August with remote learning. We are not obligated to adhere to the decisions of our local school district; however, becoming educated about and understanding LAUSD's reasons for not opening is important and necessary for us to consider. Please know that we are seeking more information, as we continue reviewing and reflecting on our reopening plans.

Plans for Reopening Campus

Dear Laurence Families,

We hope that the summer months are providing you and your family with some time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. During this time, our Administrative Team, school directors, and Board of Trustees have continued planning for our students to return to campus this fall for in-person learning with diligence, thoughtfulness, and care for the well-being and safety of our students, families, faculty and staff.

The current rising trend of COVID-19 cases is concerning and we are monitoring guidance from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Based on this week's Department briefing, we are preparing to move forward with plans to resume school this fall with all students on campus full time in accordance with the latest mandates and guidance. (Click on "Read More" for the full plan below and for information about our upcoming parent webinar.) Should the situation change, we will be ready with plans for remote learning. In order to complete the necessary campus upgrades to bring everyone back for in-person learning, we will be pushing back the start date of school by a week, with a potential for staggered start dates for different grade levels following Labor Day.

I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your partnership throughout the past several months. It has undoubtedly been a challenging time for all, and we never could have imagined that we would be ending our school year with remote learning - having pivoted overnight back in March.  But we did it, together, and I am so thankful for each of you. 

As we look forward to our next school year, many have asked, "What will it look like?"  We are eager to be back on campus, and we are moving forward with planning to do so in a safe and healthy manner.  Although we cannot say exactly what it will look like with total certainty at this moment in time, we are planning for all scenarios to ensure we are ready.