Dear Lovejoy Community,
As we enter our 6th week of learning, Lovejoy ISD has been monitoring and evaluating the impact of COVID-19 within our schools and community. The district has consulted with multiple resources to determine next steps.
The decision to transition from our virtual start to a hybrid format at Lovejoy High School was made with a focus on the safety of our staff and students. The hybrid model was implemented in an effort to reduce the total number of students on-campus at any even given time and to mitigate the spread by limiting the number of students required to quarantine due to exposure.
As of today, the COVID positive cases and the quarantined high school cases have been traced to close contact with confirmed positive cases outside of the school. This speaks to the success of the hybrid model in facilitating social distancing and managing additional safety measures to help control the transmission of COVID-19. We will need your help from home to assist in the safety of our students as they are away from school. Parties or outside of school activities with large group gatherings have been the source from which many of the positive cases generated.
We have observed and heard the concerns for our students’ social and emotional health and well-being to be addressed. We have heard from the community and their desire to have high school students return to a full five-day face-to-face schedule. As demonstrated by our current procedures on various campuses, the safety protocols and measures we are utilizing within the district have facilitated a successful face-to-face instructional format for the past several weeks. Working together as a community, we can continue this trend and resume five day a week on-campus instruction for our LHS students.
Beginning October 13th, Lovejoy High School students will have the opportunity to return to face-to-face instruction five days a week, or receive instruction virtually. Parents will need to select their preferred student’s learning environment in PowerSchool by Monday, September 28th at 5:00pm.
Regardless of a student’s learning environment, we will continue the A/B Block schedule for the remainder of the school year as this will help us minimize transitions throughout the school day. It is important to know that teachers may sometimes simultaneously instruct students who are both on-campus and virtual learners.
While our Leopards will continue to follow mandated and recommended safety practices such as wearing masks, and social distancing where possible, etc., it is vital that our community works together to help keep all of our Leopards healthy and safe by following recommended CDC guidance. Our goal is to ensure we keep our students and staff safe and in school as long as possible.
LISD will continue to follow the COVID -19 Standard Response Protocol and will require students in classrooms that reach a 10% threshold of positive cases to self-quarantine. Should a 10% threshold of positive cases be reached, instruction for all students will move to a virtual format.
As a One Heart. One Lovejoy. community, we ask for your help as we continue to work to keep all of our Leopards healthy and safe. Together our Best Today will be Better Tomorrow.
Michael Goddard, Ed.D.
Superintendent - Lovejoy ISD
Chris Mayfield
Principal - Lovejoy High School
