Dear Desert Heights Family,
Since the return from Winter Break, we, along with most schools in the country, have had some COVID challenges. With staffing shortages, positive cases, and excessive close contact situations with the omicron variant, we have seen a higher than usual impact on our students and staff navigating the return to campus.
According to U.S. News, this is true of many schools in the country right now and some schools have reported closing for a period of time, while others are transitioning to online learning. We are not without impact, and as a result, have had to make the difficult decision to temporarily transition all K-12th grade student’s academic learning from in person to asynchronous learning, beginning Thursday, January 13th through Friday, January 21st. Our hope is to resume on campus learning on Monday, January 24th, 2022.
During this time, your student’s attendance will not be negatively impacted as this falls under the school’s COVID protocols. If your student is already under a stay-at-home order, the time will simply be extended.
Please be on the lookout for more information from your student’s administrator. Additionally, if your student is receiving services from our special education department, an email communication outlining your student’s plan will follow.
The following services will not be offered as a result of the temporary transition.
· Before and aftercare for all grades K-12
· Transportation services for all grades K-12
· All clubs and events for grades K-12
· All athletic events (games and practices) will be cancelled and rescheduled after January 24, 2022.
I would personally like to thank you all in advance for your support. We know that this decision can create challenges for you and your household. However, we felt that this was the best, and safest, recourse for us as a community at this time. Our hope is that by implementing this district wide Covid mitigation plan, we will see a significant improvement in our community’s susceptibility to the Omicron variant and a return to a continuous instructional model that is both sustainable and more conducive to keeping our students and staff on campus. The charter and the prep offices will be closed for the duration of this asynchronous learning period, but staff will be working from home to address any questions, concerns or needs you might have. Again, thank you and be safe!
