Dear Students & Families,
On March 12, the statewide indoor face covering requirement was lifted for indoor public spaces including Oregon’s schools. This may bring up a mix of feelings for youth and families. River’s Edge Academy Charter School recognizes that students and staff may continue to wear face coverings at school to protect their family’s health.
Every family is unique. The decision to wear face coverings or not is a personal decision. Health experts continue to recommend wearing face coverings for those at increased risk for more severe impacts of COVID-19. This includes people who are not vaccinated, are immunocompromised, have underlying health conditions, are 65 and older, or who live with someone in one of these categories. The CDC has developed a community metric tool to help families and communities make health decisions.
It continues to be important that we actively work together to build cultures of care, connection, and community at home and school. This includes respecting individual and family decisions to wear or not wear a face covering.
There are many things you can do with your student to support their health and well-being during this transition.
Consider reviewing these materials together with your student. Talk with them about what they can do to build care, connection, and community in their classrooms and schools.
Explore how your student can support other students who choose to continue to wear face coverings, and what you can do to support your student’s health and well-being.
Have conversations with your student about how they are feeling about the change to an environment without face coverings. How might that be affecting their mental health and well-being? See ODE’s Mental Health Toolkit for some ideas.
Familiarize yourself with policies and tools for addressing bullying in schools.
Also, please remember:
If your child has COVID-19 symptoms, do not send them to school. Seek a COVID-19 test. Primary and Non-Primary Symptoms of COVID-19 can be found within the Resiliency Framework on page 25.
● Families may order free tests from the US government.
Oregon school districts are updating their health and safety plans to serve the needs of students and families now and in the future. Learn how our school district is preparing for this latest transition at ODE’s Ready Schools website.
Please call our office if you have any questions or concerns.
Warm regards,
Cecile Enright