SCS Reopening Task Force

Jeremy MarshHead of School

Open Doors

We recently launched the SCS Reopening Task Force comprised of representatives from SCS Administration, Staff, Faculty, and Parents. The Task Force includes working groups which will continue to meet over the next month with the goal of creating a Reopening Plan that enables us to safely reopen our doors to all SCS students on September 9, 2020.  The working groups are as follows: 

  1. Health, Sanitation, and Facilities
  2. Educational Technology
  3. Athletics
  4. Fine Arts
  5. Preschool
  6. Pedagogy, Schedule, Well-Being, and Professional Development

Below, for your situational awareness, are some of the baseline assumptions which are guiding our planning work: 

  • As an independent school, Stillwater will be allowed to reopen on September 9 without mandatory social distancing requirements.  SCS students will meet on campus for in-person classes on every school day.  
  • Stillwater need not mirror what local public schools are doing; however, what local schools are doing is a relevant data point in our decisions. 
  • CDC guidelines and recommendations for schools, as well as those of state and local health authorities, set norms for what legal authorities will view as the “standard of care” for schools in America.  
  • The reopening of Montana during the busy tourist season makes it possible that we’ll see an increase in Covid-19 cases in the Flathead during summer or early fall.  
  • Depending on the severity of spread, a higher percentage (10-30%) of our community, including students and staff, may be absent at any given time during the school year. 
  • We will continue to use and maximize Google Classroom as our primary learning management system for at least grades 5-12.  
  • We recognize the importance of our fine arts and athletics programs to the health and well-being of our students and the culture of SCS and will continue them to the greatest extent practicable. 

I look forward to updating you on the status of our reopening planning as it continues.  Our goal is to be able to outline our plan to our community on August 3, 2020.  In doing so, we must all realize that circumstances will require us to be flexible and adaptable.