Dear Cypress Community,

Cypress staff are making preparations to offer limited, small group in-person opportunities.  We are excited and anxious to begin, and want to make sure we have accounted for everything. Our team has provided training to staff on the proper cleaning, distancing, hand washing and face covering protocols to support our students in a safe environment.  I am humbled by the dedication of the entire Cypress team.  

We will be starting with outings to outdoor environments and then begin to allow students interested to return to campus.  The majority of school time will continue to be provided through distance learning.  We are allowed to invite a maximum of 25% of our students on-site and cohorts need to be stable and prohibited from intermingling.  In the strictest interpretation of the state guidance released last week, cohorts will consist of no more than 2 staff meaning the maximum size based on our staffing ratios would be 4 students and some cohorts as few as 2 students.  This limitation in staffing changes our initial plan which kept the total members included in a cohort low but was made up of less students and more staff. 

We are reassigning our groups to address this change, which does limit exposure to fewer people, however we need to ensure students and staff have the behavior support to be safe as well.  We are also taking into account staff availability which may be limited since those with children must secure child care to participate.  This may be more detail than you need, but I would like to offer an explanation of the many limitations involved to put this into motion.  It is a complicated puzzle and we appreciate your patience while we work out all the kinks.  We will be sending more detailed information out soon to spell out the new procedures with health-screenings, temperature checks, face coverings and other information.    

Our first outings will include students currently participating in our ABA program.  Those that have expressed interest in adding that service will be included once we have approval from insurance or the regional center.  As we prepare for this holiday weekend, I want to implore everyone to celebrate safely.  The more diligently we refuse to allow this virus to spread, the sooner we can get to be together again.

Sincerely,

Nate Yates

Director of Educational and Behavioral Services