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A Word from Dr. Gurley

Headshot of Dr. Royal A. Gurley Dear staff and families,

I’ll keep my first note short and sweet. It’s been a pleasure to be here, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know students, staff, families, and community partners.

This message primarily focuses on COVID updates from vaccines to testing. But let’s start with a celebration of how well our students and staff are following our protocols. The Blue Ridge Health District reports how pleased they are with our practices. As long as transmission is high in our community, we will have families report COVID cases. But (knock on wood), we are glad to see our case numbers dropping.

As a reminder, there is no school for students on Friday 10/29 through Tuesday 11/2. We hope to see families at conferences during that time (check with your school to sign up). And we also hope that it’s a time for staff and families to rest up and take care. We’ll look forward to seeing our students again on Wednesday!

Sincerely,

Dr. Royal A. Gurley

Approved Concept Designs for Buford and Walker

Approved concept designs for Buford (left) and Walker (right). Learn more here!

The Blue Ridge Health District (BRHD) is planning for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines for children 5-11. Tonight at 7pm, they are hosting a town hall to answer questions about children’s vaccines and about COVID boosters. In addition, they have opened a confidential interest survey about children’s vaccines to help them plan for the roll-out.
Both the COVID and the flu vaccines are important. There will be a free, drive-through flu shot clinic at CHS on Saturday, 11/6 from 2-5pm. The whole family can get vaccinated. In addition, we are working with BRHD to plan for school-based COVID vaccine clinics for students since they expect a roll-out during the second week in November. Stay tuned.
Good news — our opt-in school-based COVID testing programs start Wednesday. The program has now changed from group testing to individual testing. Find updates, sign up (if you haven’t already), and learn more about testing at charlottesvileschools.org/covid-testing.
Please remember to send your child to school each day with a mask. We recommend keeping a spare at school, too. If your family needs assistance getting reusable masks for your child, please contact your teacher or school. Thanks to our students for their great track record on wearing masks at school!
Among the challenges U.S. schools are facing is a lack of substitute teachers. Want to be part of the solution? Pass the word on to friends and neighbors — or consider subbing yourself! We’re also reaching out to colleges, checking with our retirees, and recommending a pay raise. Learn more about subbing here! We appreciate the parents and others who have stepped up!
Bring the fam to our drive-through fall festival on 10/30 from 11am-1pm at CHS (1400 Melbourne Rd). We love costumes! While supplies last, families will receive goody bags, community resources, & more. Thanks to CCS Family Engagement for leading this! And save the date for the next Response to Essential Needs Event on Saturday, 11/20 from 11am-1pm at CHS.
This newsletter went out with a phone call. We recently updated some settings about who gets notifications. If you didn’t get the phone call(s), text(s), or email(s) you expected, please check in with your school. If you haven’t updated your student’s registration forms yet, that’s the best way to make the updates.