Hello HPS Community!
We want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your understanding and patience in what has been a tremendously challenging year. Our staff sincerely appreciates all the support and cooperation we have received from our HPS families! We are continually focused and committed to ensuring the health, wellness, and safety of all of our community members. We are encouraged by the news with regard to the COVID-19 landscape as regional activity levels are moving in a positive direction, and the vaccination process continues to gain momentum.
New Schedule
With this said, we are ready to begin increasing the time that our students can access in-person learning and are pleased to announce that we will be transitioning to a 4 days per week in-person learning schedule beginning Monday, April 12th, 2021. All students electing an in-person schedule will be attending on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Wednesday's schedule will remain the same, fully remote half days that are taught synchronously. The fully remote virtual option will also remain in effect for the remainder of the school year.
In addition, it is our goal to resume full-time, in-person learning 5 days per week starting Monday, May 10, 2021. Achieving this goal will depend on a continued improvement of COVID-19 regional activity and on the continued health and wellness of the HPS community. We will confirm the return to full-time, in-person learning by the end of April.
If you plan to change your child’s schedule to either in-person or fully remote based on this schedule change, please notify Christopher Schumann (cschumann@hunterdonprep.org), Principal, prior to March 25, 2021, so that transportation changes can be arranged by your sending districts.
Travel Restrictions
Please continue to follow precautions against the virus off-campus. Quarantine mandates remain in effect for all travel outside our neighboring states. For example, upon returning from a state on the NJ Travel restrictions list, a person is required to quarantine/self-isolate for up to 10 days upon their return to NJ. Travel restrictions apply even if you have been vaccinated. Please remember this before making any plans for Spring Break. Masking and other precautions, especially in social and other community gatherings, have been and will continue to be critical in our ability to support in-person programs at HPS.
Safety Protocols
Our April return date will allow for increased ventilation throughout the day, provide greater flexibility for outdoor eating, and better enable outdoor mask breaks amid warmer springtime temperatures. Please be aware that as we expand in-person instruction, we may not be able to maintain six feet of distance between students in classrooms. Masking requirements will remain in effect, along with other precautions that we have been taking during this school year.
Daily COVID-19 Forms
We ask parents to continue to complete the daily symptom-free assurance form that we have been using and to remain vigilant about reporting your child’s health status. If there is any illness in your home during this pandemic period, please communicate as soon as possible with our school nurse before you send your child to school. To date, all of these precautions have been successful in mitigating the spread of the virus on campus, and we are confident in our ability to add more in-person student days.
Please remember that this pandemic remains very unpredictable. We will continue to monitor and review local and regional data, as well as the most recent New Jersey Department of Health guidance as we move forward. We remain committed to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of all our community members. As always, we will continue to share updates with our HPS Community via our Global Connect Communication System and through our HPS Communications Center on our website.
