Greetings Cypress Community,

Well, it has been an eventful week to say the least.  Fires and smoke have displaced a number of our families and disrupted our planned activities.  The politics in Washington continue to prevent meaningful relief for the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.  We have a nominee to replace Justice Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.  The debate was a complete mess.  And this morning, the President, First Lady, and other White House aides, tested positive for COVID. 

On Wednesday, Cypress held our all-staff meeting to prepare for plans to open our campus to limited in-person instruction.  Staff have already begun reporting to campus in their assigned small groups to prepare the space and practice the new safety protocols we have put in place.  I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to this team of professionals.  You have managed to continue the positive energy we always get compliments on from every visitor to our site, into the virtual classroom space.  It is not always easy to be positive these days, and I am proud of the space staff have created for our students to be their authentic selves and the support they have provided during this challenging time.  I would like to acknowledge the staff who have made arrangements for childcare for their own children who are still not able to be back in person at school, to be available to support our students.  We are excited to create that safe space to learn and grow in person as well.  We have transformed the campus to remove all extraneous clutter in favor of a minimalist space with lots of visual reminders for hand hygiene, face coverings, physical distancing, and cleaning.  We are committed to providing an environment where students can be comfortable while making it as unlikely as possible to spread germs.

We know there are inherent risks we are taking on to return to campus.  We have undertaken a great deal of mitigation strategies to minimize that risk.  I urge our Cypress community to continue to be vigilant in your practices at home and in the community so that we can be successful in maintaining a safe and healthy school environment.  Please limit your close contact to a small group of people.  Please monitor for symptoms and inform us of any signs of illness.  Please be patient and understanding as in-person opportunities will need to be cancelled when an exposure or symptoms are reported by a member of the group.  Please practice hand hygiene, physical distancing, cleaning, and use of face coverings.  While my faith in humanity has been tested and shaken of late, my faith in the Cypress community has never been stronger.

We are excited to announce a new member joining our speech team.  Jaimie MacDonald is a former teacher aide at Cypress who has returned as a Speech Therapist!  We are so thrilled to welcome her aboard.  Parents please join our parent meeting on Monday at 2:30.

Sincerely,

Nate Yates, Director of Educational and Behavioral Services