DOS Letter to HIS Families Mar 5

Dear HIS Families, 

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful day.  I am very proud of our students, parents, and faculty for their resilience, motivation and commitment during this period of E-learning.  We have taken on board many excellent suggestions and will continue to improve our platform as best we can.  We thank all for following appropriate channels of communication so that support can best be identified.  To consolidate information and provide more ongoing updates, we have developed the following webpage to keep the HIS community informed about frequently asked questions (FAQ), reopening preparations, and support for E-learning:

https://www.his-china.org/inform/news/coronavirus-community-updates

During the week, we have learned of many developments of international schools within the ACAMIS region.  However, the Hangzhou Education Bureau (HEB) still has not set a date for reopening of the school campus.  Therefore:

HIS is closed from February 03 until further notice
under the force majeure direction of the government

As mentioned last week, the HEB advised us that they will give us at least 14-days notice before a reopening date is allowed.  As China has become one of the few countries that is focusing its containment measures to a close, many countries throughout the world are just experiencing a surge in new cases.  While many returning families from unaffected areas have not had to conduct a strict quarantine until recently, we believe it is becoming increasingly likely that those arriving from outside of China will need to serve a full 14-day quarantine at home.  We have been advising against making travel plans in advance to countries that may or have already become affected by this outbreak.  As such, we will be looking at how we can best serve families who are in Hangzhou or return to China within the 14-day announcement notice in preparation for the reopening of the school.  In addition to the need for families to complete government quarantine requirements before returning to work or school, the HIS administration has been concerned that the opening dates may fall within our calendared Spring Break or just prior.  Should this happen we will shift our ‘Spring Break’ period to a scheduled ‘break’ as below:

 

While there is a strong possibility that we will not have to move the Spring Break period, we want to be prepared to offer as much face-to-face learning once allowed to reopen.  If the reopening date occurs after April 06, then we will take the scheduled Spring Break and E-learning will continue until the school reopens. 

We will continue to provide regular community updates every Thursday and will immediately advise all as soon as we learn of a specific reopening date.  Please be advised that it is very possible that HIS will be allowed to open with the upper school grade levels first, before lower school and early years.

Please remember to encourage your child(ren) to take breaks to be outdoors, get plenty of exercise and avoid isolation. Our counselors are available online and by phone as a resource for any student or parent who may need them during this time.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support, patience and understanding.

Warm Regards,
 

Jeffry R. Stubbs
Director
Hangzhou International School
 

HIS大家庭成员，你们好：
 

这一段时间以来，我为大家在线上学习期间所表现出的坚韧，耐心和动力感到骄傲。学生们，家长们和老师们都付出了无法想象的努力。我们广泛采纳了许多优秀的建议和意见，使我们的学习平台可以不断改进。我们也感谢大家打通有效的沟通渠道，让学生取得更好的支持。经过巩固及评估我们这些天所做的改进，我们特意制作了以下网页，可以回答大家的一些常见问题，开学准备工作以及线上学习的小技巧：

https://www.his-china.org/inform/news/coronavirus-community-updates

在过去的一周里，我们不断地在跟中国和蒙古地区（ACAMIS）的国际学校取得联系，有一部分已经有了确认的开学日期，但是到现在为止，杭州还在等待教育主管部门的进一步通知。

在不可抗力情况下，按政府指示：

杭州国际学校校园自2月3日关闭，开园日期另行通知！

随着中国成为极少数几个集中遏制措施的国家，世界上的许多国家正在经历着新增病例的激增。各别HIS家庭成员最近从非重点疫区回来，也需要执行14天的自我隔离，我们猜测，可能会有越来越多的境外回杭人员会被执行此项要求。我们一直建议大家不要提前制定出境计划，很可能到时会受到疫情的影响。因此，我们继续考虑如何为那些在杭州或在14天通知期内返回中国的大家庭成员提供最好的服务，为重新开学做准备。除了要求大家积极配合政府部门的隔离要求，校方也担心迟迟不能决定的开园日期可能会影响到我们的课表安排。校方预排了以下日程表，供大家参考：

 

这样的安排是希望利用好保留春假的决定，又可以尽多地为学生提供线下课程时间。我们依旧每周四会向大家公布更多的消息。当然，一旦得知开园日期也会第一时间跟大家分享，但我们不排除高年级先开学的可能性。

还有很重要的一点，请记得一定要提醒孩子们多出门走走，到户外去活动活动，不要老关在家里。同时，我们的心理老师仍然随时在线提供心理辅导，他们可以用电话或别的沟通工具来帮助学生或家长。

再次深深地感谢大家在这一段时间的耐心和理解。

Warm Regards,
 

Jeffry R. Stubbs
Director
Hangzhou International School