Head of School Update & Reminders – April 14, 2022

Happy Aloha Thursday Saint Mark Parents,

I hope and pray you all are doing well as we head into the Easter weekend.  I am writing with the latest updates and reminders.

COMMUNITY CONDITIONS INCREASING SLIGHTLY 
While Hawai’i’s current COVID-19 numbers have remained relatively low the past few weeks, they have increased slightly. As you can see below, the current 7-day state average was reported to be 163.  This is up from and average of 118 new cases on April 1.
Current Numbers –        The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases is     163 (122 on O`ahu)
April 1 Numbers –          The 7-day state average of reported daily new cases was 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 27 COVID-19 tests with 0 positive results for a positivity rate of 0.0%.  This brings our 13 week total to 660 tests administered with 8 positive results (all in January) 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.

REVIEW of INDOOR MASKING POLICY
The first two weeks of our relaxed indoor masking policy have gone well.  As expected, some are masking while others are not.  We continue to carefully monitor the community conditions and remain confident in our masking policy.  However, as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, we must remain flexible and prepared to reinstate more restrictive measures should we see a surge in on-campus or community case counts.   Below is a review of our current masking polices:

• Masking Optional for Grades K-8 –  Masking on the K-8 side of the Saint Mark campus is NOT 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 – 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, 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.  ELP students and staff are permitted to remove their masks when outdoors.
• 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.

STAYING HOME WHEN SICK
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.

GRADE 4 LEARNING TRIP
Ms. Chang’s grade 4 class concluded their unit on ancient Hawaiian Ahupua`a, with a learning trip to the local loko i`a (fishpond), Paepae o He’eia. During the field trip, the class enjoyed a hands-on experience while learning about the importance of preserving the loko i`a.  An important part of their trip involved a service learning activity where the students harvested and relocated/replanted ‘ākulikuli plants.

PRINCIPAL’S LIST and PRINCIPAL’S AWARD
Congratulations to the middle school students who received the Principal’s List and Principal’s Award certificates for the third quarter. Keep up the great work!!

GRADE 1 SHADOW EXPERIMENT
Mrs. Lazaro’s grade 1 students conducted the first part of their shadow experiment by drawing each other’s shadow to compare and contrast the sun’s position in the sky as it rotates throughout the day.  The students discovered that when the sun is low in the sky (as it is in the morning), the shadows are longer, and when the sun is high in the sky (as it is at noon), the shadows are shorter.

PRE-K STUDENTS VISIT THE WORMS 
The current theme in our Early Learning Center is RRR (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).  As a part of the learning process, Ms. Alissa’s and Ms. Kristin’s classes (Ms. Erin’s class will be going next week) took an exciting walking trip down to the worm bin where Mrs. Manu showed the ELC students how Saint Mark does its part to support the environment.  This trip included an explanation of how Saint Mark collects and recycles left over food from student lunches as well as cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.  Mrs. Manu also detailed for the students how Saint Mark uses the recycled food to feed the worms and the cardboard to bed them. The process culminates with the worms creating a soil that is used in the school garden to help grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

SAINT MARK CROSS COUNTRY COMPETITION 
Our campus wide Cross Country Competition is taking place next Friday, April 22!  This is an exciting and fun event in which all grades (PK-8) will participate.  Ribbons will be awarded to the top 3 boys and top 3 girls from every grade level starting with kindergarten!  Other runners will have a chance to earn a Participant or Finisher ribbon for their efforts.  The top 3 boys and top 3 girls from grades 5 through 8 will also advance to a Grand Finale Race on Friday, May 6!

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
All are invited to join Saint Mark Lutheran Church for an Easter Celebration this Sunday, April 17.  The exciting service begins at 9:00 a.m. and will be followed by a free breakfast, egg hunt, and Kona Ice at 10:30am.  Please reach out to Pastor Dan should you have any questions.

SAT & OLSAT TESTING  (May 2 to May 6)
Students in grades 1 to 8 will be taking the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) & Otis-Lennon School Abilities Test (OLSAT) during the week of May 2 to May 6.  While many believe there to be both pros and cons to standardized testing, we see it as another valuable tool in Saint Mark’s ever important assessment tool box.  Mr. Markillie will be sharing more testing details in the coming weeks.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK (May 2 to May 6)
As I do every year, I humbly invite all of our families to consider sending a quick note to their teacher(s)/aid(s) during this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week.  Our teachers are a courageous, loving, and dedicated group of professionals who would most certainly appreciate hearing from you.  Thank You!

NO SCHOOL on GOOD FRIDAY & EASTER MONDAY
Please remember that in observance of Easter, there is no school on Friday, April 15 for Good Friday and Monday, April 18 for Easter Monday.

Mahalo, Blessings and Have a Wonderful Easter Weekend,

David Gaudi
Head of School