Head of School Update & Reminders – April 1, 2022

Happy Aloha Friday Saint Mark Parents,

I hope and pray you all are doing well and that your families enjoyed a wonderful spring break.  I am writing with the latest updates (one of which is VERY IMPORTANT) and reminders as we complete our 1st week of the 4th quarter.  Please be sure to read this as it contains some “Exciting News!” regarding indoor masking in grades K-8.  And this is no April’s Fool Joke!

COMMUNITY CONDITIONS REMAIN PROMISING
Hawai’i’s current COVID-19 numbers have remained relatively low the past few weeks.
Current Numbers –        The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases is     118 (94 on O`ahu)
March 11 Numbers –     The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases was 142 (99 on O`ahu)
March 3 Numbers –       The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases was 186 (119 on O`ahu)
February 11 Numbers – The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases was 796 (510 on O`ahu)

COVID-19 TESTING CONTINUES (No Positive Cases Since January!)
In the past week, Saint Mark administered 163 COVID-19 tests (to nearly every student in grades K-8) with 0 positive results for a positivity rate of 0.0%.  This brings our 11 week total to 633 tests administered with 8 positive results for a positivity rate of  1.2%.  We have detected 0 positive cases since the end of January.

Saint Mark will continue to test students/cohorts, athletes, etc. When positive cases are detected on campus, the COVID-19 protocols as detailed in the recently revised COVID-19 Campus Plan will be followed.

CHANGES to INDOOR MASKING POLICY (for GRADES K-8) 
Just as planned, Saint Mark dramatically increased the number of on-campus COVID tests administered this week. We did this to determine whether or not the low COVID counts we experienced in early March would continue at Saint Mark following the two week spring break.  As reported above, we tested every class from Kindergarten to grade 8 this week and had no positive test results.

With these highly encouraging results (along with the low community transmission rates and recent abolition of the state masking mandates), I am pleased to announce that Saint Mark will be expanding its optional masking policy to include indoor spaces for all students in grades K-8.  The details are as follows:

• Masking Optional for Grades K-8 –  Beginning this coming Monday, April 4, masking on the K-8 side of the Saint Mark campus will no longer be required.  This means that all students, staff and visitors of the K-8 program will have the option to mask while on the Saint Mark campus (both outdoors and indoors).  Equal respect will be shown to those who choose to mask and those who do not.
• Indoor Masking Must Continue for PK Students – This policy change will not include the students and staff in our Early Learning Program.  This is because our Early Learning Program is licensed by the State of Hawaii’s Department of Human Services (DHS), and they are still requiring indoor masking for all pre-school students age 2 years and older. Therefore, all of Saint Mark’s PK students and staff MUST continue to mask indoors.  We plan to relax this masking policy and align our Early Learning Program with our K-8 Program as soon as Hawaii’s DHS removes the mandate.
• Shields Optional for K-8 – Students in grades K-8 have the option whether or not they want to wear their shields when eating.
• Masking May be Required for Large Gatherings – For large gatherings such as chapels, music concerts, graduation, etc. masking may be required.
• Restrictions Could be Reinstated – It is important that we all understand that conditions may again deteriorate requiring us to reinstate this and other mandatory mitigations.  If that need arises, I am certain that the Saint Mark community is experienced enough to quickly pivot back.  As I have previously explained, Saint Mark remains flexible with our COVID policies, procedures, and overall strategies.

In conclusion, it is my hope that all of our families have seen and appreciated the positive results of our collective efforts over the past two years and understand that every COVID decision is made only after much research and careful thought.  So although most other Hawaii schools have not yet made this change to their indoor masking policies, we are positive that it is the correct move to make at this time.  As I have explained in previous emails, we work hard to address the true risk of the current situation while continually putting the well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and families at the forefront.  Taking all factors into account, we feel supremely confident in this decision.

STAYING HOME WHEN SICK
While we steadily ease COVID restrictions, we continue to emphasize the personal responsibility of not coming to school if you have symptoms of an illness. Symptoms of illness include but are not limited to Cough, Runny or Stuffy Nose, Fatigue, Sore Throat, Body Aches, Headache, Shortness of Breath/Difficulty Breathing, Decreased Sense of Smell and/or Taste, Diarrhea, Nausea, Vomiting, and Chills/Sweats or Fever of 100.4° F (or higher) in the past 24 hours.  Any student arriving to school with COVID-like symptoms (or developing symptoms while at school) will be removed from the classroom and parents will be called.

TEMPERATURE CHECKING WILL CONTINUE
Although the community conditions have improved, we will continue temperature checking our students for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year.  We are doing this because our routines are well-established & fairly unobtrusive and because temperature checking does help support our collective efforts to prevent sick students from inadvertently making their way onto campus.

VARSITY BASKETBALL SEASON BEGINS
The Saint Mark Varsity basketball season began this week with 28 students (13 girls and 15 boys) mostly in grades 7 & 8 enthusiastically taking the court.  The team includes a handful of grade 6 athletes who excelled in the JV season and were invited to join the varsity team.  A big mahalo goes to our Athletics Director/Coach, Mr. Markillie and Coach Ms. Shiroma for their dedication and commitment to our student athletes.

SAINT MARK CROSS COUNTRY COMPETITION 
Following last year’s extremely popular Cross Country Competition, we are happy to share that all Saint Mark students (PK-8) will once again be participating in this exciting race.  All students (PK-8) will participate on Friday, April 22, and then the top three male and female finishers in grades 5-8 will move on to compete in the finals on Friday, May 6.  Like last year, both races will take place on-campus during the school day.

With the loss of a number of school activities this year, we are excited to provide this great opportunity for our students to have a little on-campus fun while promoting physical activity and fostering some healthy competition as we enter into the home stretch of the school year.

ALL are INVITED to EASTER CELEBRATION
With Easter just around the corner, I would like to offer up a quick invite to all those who are interested to join Saint Mark Lutheran Church for an Easter Celebration on Sunday, April 17.  The exciting service begins at 9:00 a.m. and will be followed by a Easter breakfast, egg hunt, and Kona Ice.  Pastor Dan will be sending an official email invite in the coming weeks.

MAHALO NUI
Mahalo for your continued patience, commitment and compliance as we survive and thrive together.  And as always, please do not hesitate to let us know should you have any questions.

Mahalo, Blessings and Have a Wonderful Weekend,

David Gaudi
Head of School