Latest Update

July 10, 2020

Dear Mountain Song Families,

I’m writing to keep you abreast of our fall return to school plans.  The Parent Survey that closed July 6^th has been very informative – thank you so much to everyone who completed it. 

First, we anticipate that our current school calendar will remain the same, which includes the following start dates:

• Grades 1-8 – Wednesday, September 2, 2020
• Kindergarten – Thursday, September 3, 2020
• Homeschool – Tuesday, September 8, 2020

What will school look like when we start?  We polled you to help us answer this question. 

Based on the Parent Survey that 202 of you completed (a very high response rate), about 59% preferred in-person learning, about 40% preferred a blended model of in-person and remote learning, and about 18% preferred remote learning only. (The percentages add up to more than 100% because you were allowed to choose more than one preference).  These percentages also varied by grade level, which will be considered in our planning. 

Based on these results, we are preparing options.  A 15-member Return to School Committee composed of faculty and staff are meeting regularly and often to work through the details of what these options will look like at Mountain Song.  Although these plans are not set, we are looking at being able to provide the following options:

• In-person learning with safety protocols in place.
• Remote learning option(s).
• Possible blended option of in-person and remote learning.
• Expanded homeschool options.

Each option has layers of logistics to work through, and we appreciate your patience as we do so.  We also are concerned about the health and safety of Mountain Song teachers and staff.  We are currently surveying them as we need their input as well. 

The Return to School Committee (see membership below) is composed of smaller teams focused on:

• Health, Safety, and Facilities
• Instruction
• Support and Well-being
• Surveys and Communication

What’s next?  We are keeping the Mountain Song Board informed through reports at Board meetings, which are open to the public.  The Board will approve the final plans, so as they take shape, reports will be more detailed. 

 You can expect a communication with an outline of planned options by the end of July, and likely sooner.  Our goal is to have these plans approved by the Mountain Song Board of Directors at the August 4^th meeting.  Once approved, we will communicate these to families.

We have received wonderful guidance from our authorizer, the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), and we are working closely with them as our plans develop.  We are also working closely with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), and our state and county health departments.  Our reopening plans are, of course, dependent upon local health department orders.  We can expect the public health situation to change quickly one way or another over the course of the year, so we are planning contingencies to be as nimble as needed.  

Being a state charter school, we have a certain amount of autonomy for our educational model, and we are committed to staying as true to our Waldorf principles as possible.  Such autonomy also means that we are not working with the resources that a school district has with district administrators managing much of this planning. 

Please know we are working very hard to synthesize the many layers of guidance, science, best practices, regulations, laws, accountability requirements, etc., and these are changing as the pandemic landscape changes.  We appreciate your patience and support. 

We have also greatly appreciated the letters from those of you who are experts, weighing in with more detail on these issues.  We have a great community! 

Our priority is to keep the Mountain Song Community strong and stable through this crisis.  These are the days that we and our children will talk about for the rest of our lives.  Let’s use the opportunity to shine our Mountain Song clarity, warmth, and understanding toward each other.  This is a beautiful community, and we are all united in looking forward to the day when this health crisis is over. 

With so much appreciation,

Dr. Teresa Woods, Principal

Members of the Return to School Committee:  Nancy Carson, Dan Córdova, Sara Feldman, Cori Karasiuk, Sarah Kreger, Dan Kurschner, Eva Manz-Jackson, Claudia Martin, Lauren Martinez, Kyle McCabe, Denise Neal, Gina Nicoletta-Budler, Eli Peake, Amy Siebert, Teresa Woods 

May 6th, 2020

Dear Mountain Song Families,

On Tuesday, May 5^th, the Mountain Song Community School Board of Directors voted to modify the current 2019-2020 Academic School Year and end the school year a week earlier than planned.  The last day of school will now be Thursday, May 28, 2020 (rather than June 4). 

Please adjust your calendars accordingly.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

Teresa Woods, Ph.D., Principal

Dan Kurschner, Director of Operations

Sarah Kreger, Director of School Performance

April 21, 2020

Dear Mountain Song Families,

Yesterday, Governor Jared Polis offered some good news in terms of the impact of Colorado’s Stay-at-Home order, which expires at the end of this week.  He discussed implementing a sustainable phased period for public safety in response to the COVID-19 virus.  As such, on April 27th, the state will move into the Safer-at-Home phase during which Coloradans are still strongly encouraged to stay home and continue with other social-distancing measures.  During this phase, the Governor announced that K-12 schools will continue to suspend in-person instruction until the end of the school year.  

We believe this decision is the right one, although we are terribly saddened by this reality.  We will, however, maintain our Continuous Learning through the rest of the school year and nurture the strong bonds of our Mountain Song Community.  

This decision will clearly impact end-of-year ceremonies, including our 8th grade graduation and the Kindergarten rainbow bridge ceremonies.  We have formed committees to plan how we will recognize, honor, and celebrate all our students in meeting their milestones.  More news about these will be forthcoming.  We would also love parent involvement, and we encourage you to work with your class teacher with any suggestions.  

We continue to enroll students for next year, and we hope more than ever that your children return to Mountain Song in the fall.  

The Executive Leadership Team is working closely with our state leaders to navigate these coming weeks.  Please continue to watch for these and other updates.  

Thank you, Mountain Song, for your grace, understanding, and efforts in helping us support your children’s learning and growth during this challenging time.  We hope everyone stays safe and well.  

With warmest wishes, 

The Executive Leadership Team

April 1, 2020

Dear Mountain Song Families,

Governor Jared Polis today announced that Colorado schools would continue suspending in-person learning through April 30, 2020.  This order aligns with the President’s guidelines announced earlier this week.

Mountain Song is putting in place a more formal structure for our Continual Learning plan while school is shut down.  We will communicate more about that in the coming days.  Up to this point, such learning has continued via e-mail communication with teachers.  We hope you remain in communication with your children’s teachers as we shift toward more formal structures.

We are very aware that the public health crisis we are currently in takes shape in specific ways in your individual family and home situations.  Our highest priority is to simply stay in touch with you, help support you, and let your children know how much we care for them. 

At this time, we do not know if we will return to school after April 30, or if the suspension of in-person learning will continue past that time.  We will maintain close communication with our state leaders and continue to follow the recommendations of state and regional professionals.  As we learn more, we will share updates. 

With all our best wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

March 27, 2020

Dear Mountain Song Community,

Thank you for all your patience and understanding during this trying time for our school and community. As you are aware, Governor Polis on March 25 issued an Executive Stay-at-Home Order.  Previously, on March 18, he issued an Executive Order directing all schools to suspend in-person instruction through April 17, 2020, in order to limit the spread of Coronavirus 2019. Additionally, you should be aware that the governor said there is a high possibility in-person instruction will not resume this school year.

As a result, changes will be necessary for some important educational functions, such as the number of teacher-pupil instructional hours, special education, and graduation requirements.

Waivers for instructional hours

The Colorado Department of Education has waived the minimum number of school days and teacher-pupil instruction hours normally required under state law. Instead, districts must make every effort to provide alternative learning opportunities during this time. For Mountain Song, this means that we are not expected to extend the school year or start early next year to make up for lost in-person instructional time.

As a result of the possibility of an extended period of disruption on in-person instruction, we will transition to continuous learning through a combination of online and home-based learning. We are making plans to determine what continuous learning will look like for Mountain Song. 

This week, March 23-27, has been our regularly scheduled Spring Break.  When teachers return to work next week, they will communicate with you to determine your child’s learning context at home and to provide some learning activities for the week.  We will be training and planning with teachers next week to begin implementation of our unified continuous learning plan for Mountain Song beginning April 6^th.  You will receive further communications about this.

Services to students with special needs

Mountain Song will make every effort to provide appropriate special education and related services for students with disabilities. We have been given some flexibility on how to provide these services, so we are thinking about other ways to meet the needs of students with disabilities based on the nature of a student’s disability and individual needs of the student.

To support students with identified IEP-related services, we will work with our schools to determine whether it is appropriate to provide alternative services or delay services in coordination with students’ parents and IEP teams. We may also determine whether we can make up for a gap in access to the curriculum or delay in services with additional services in the future.

Thanks again for your support during these difficult times.

Sincerely,

The Executive Leadership Team

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Dear Mountain Song Families and Community,

Today Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order suspending in-person learning in public and private schools across the state until April 17^th  in order to protect the health and safety of Coloradans.  You can read more about this announcement at this link.

In compliance with the Governor’s order, Mountain Song will now be closed until April 17^th.  The school building will not be open during this time.  We are preparing alternative learning opportunities to start March 30, after our scheduled Spring Break.  Please watch for further announcements.

While we know this news was not unexpected, it nonetheless requires everyone in our community to rearrange our lives for an even longer period of time, and we understand how stressful this is.  We are all in this together, and we are thankful for the innovative ways that can still connect us while we are keeping our social distance.  Be sure to be reaching out to your support networks. 

Please also check our MSCS COVID-19 webpage with information on food distributions and other resources you may need. 

There are also ways we can help those in need.  The Governor’s Office has launched a website called Help Colorado Now for those who can volunteer or contribute to help at-risk individuals across our state get through the COVID-19 crisis. 

Please stay safe and help our community stay safe by maintaining our social distance.  Do get outdoors if you can, and do what you can to keep you and your family healthy.

With well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

Dear Mountain Song Families and Community,

I hope you are settling into our new social-distancing routines for now.  As the COVID-19 situation continues to change, we are continually monitoring the situation and taking measures to protect our students, families, and employees.  At this time, no MSCS staff members or students have tested positive for COVID-19, but some have been in contact with confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the broader Colorado Springs community, and these cases will likely increase over time.  We are aware of some individuals in our Mountain Song community who have self-isolated as of last week, and while we cannot share specific details due to privacy laws, we want you to know that the following steps have been taken to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19:

• Mountain Song Community School will only be open for mission-critical staff essential to operations during closure.
• Our custodial crew is currently in the process of deep cleaning and disinfecting the school.
• Teachers and Dr. Woods are setting up distance learning options, and these will be in full effect if we need to stay closed after March 27.  Currently, some teachers are forwarding activities to families so that students can stay engaged in learning.

Food Distribution is occurring at all local districts for students. 

Click here for a full list of regional districts and locations distributing free food for children.

Community food distribution sites are available through other community resources.  Please see the 2 PDF flyers attached for more information.

Free Internet Service is being offered for low income families being offered through Comcast.

CMAS Assessments:  We just received the announcement today from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) that the CMAS state assessments will be “paused” for a year.  This means that the CMAS tests will not be administered this year.  Please click here to see the full announcement.

Our MSCS Board Meetings will continue to take place through teleconferencing.  The links to each meeting can be found on the agendas posted at the Mountain Song Governance website.

Stay updated on our MSCS Coronavirus Latest Update webpage.

Remember to get outside and connect to nature if you can – it’s showing signs of spring just waiting to be discovered.

We are heartened by the outpouring of resources and creativity by everyone.  Our hearts are with you all, as well as with our neighbors, friends, and families.  We appreciate everyone doing their part to keep each other and our larger community safe.

Well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

Dear Families,

We hope everyone is settling into our new reality of the need for social-distancing and monitoring our health.  You may be aware that today, El Paso County declared a local disaster emergency related to COVID-19.  In light of this new development, we would like to share important things to keep in mind:

We recommend practicing social distancing, which means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible.

Monitor your health and that of your family.  If anyone shows signs of fever and cough that come on suddenly, call your doctor immediately, or call the El Paso County Health Department at 719-235-2278.  Stay home if you are sick.

Maintain good preventative hygiene.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (long enough to sing the ABC song, Happy Birthday song, or Baby Shark song through baby, mommy, and daddy shark)
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow or tissue, washing hands afterward
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects such as tables, doorknobs, and handrails

Food Resources

• District 11 is offering a free bag meal for all children under the age of 18 during the week of March 16-20, Mon-Fri, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the following sites listed below.  Click here for a map.
  • Doherty High School
  • Russell Middle School
  • Mitchell High School
  • Swigert Middle School
  • The RJWAC Campus
  • North Middle School
  • Mann Middle School
  • Coronado High School
  • West Elementary School
• The Helping Hands El Paso County Community Resources guide is a list of services available in El Paso County.  The guide is maintained by the Pikes Peak Library District.  You can also call 211 from your home phone, or (719) 955-0742 from your cell phone for resource referrals within El Paso County.
• Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado has food pantries and free food distributions.

Free Internet Service for low income families being offered through Comcast.

How to talk to your kids about COVID-19:

• The Understood.Org website provides wonderful guidance about how to talk to kids about this topic, as well as special education concerns, and disability issues at work.
• The Child Mind Institute has excellent guidance about talking to kids about this topic.
• The National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Nurses has released an informative statement about talking to kids about this topic.

Travel guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Activities to keep kids learning from the Understood.Org website.

The measures we are all taking to help protect our whole community are the right things to do.  We thank you for being such an inspirational community!

Well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

Dear Families,

Thank you for joining the entire community in taking such strong measures to help limit and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.  Such cooperation and bold action are testimony to the value we all place on caring for each other and valuing the lives of everyone in our community.  These actions inspire hope in the human spirit. 

MSCS school staff will not be at the school building for a full 72 hours after closure today, which will allow for cleaning.  On Tuesday, March 17, staff will work to create plans for online learning if that should become necessary.  After that, the building will continue to be deep cleaned throughout the week, and only administrators will be present.  We do not plan to be in the offices March 23-27.

We are aware that the school closure will impact families in financial ways.  The Helping Hands El Paso County Community Resources guide is a list of services available in El Paso County.  The guide is maintained by the Pikes Peak Library District.  You can access this list at https://research.ppld.org/HelpingHands, or you can call 211 from your home phone, or (719) 955-0742 from your cell phone for resource referrals within El Paso County.

With the extended break, some families may be tempted to travel.  Please be cognizant about traveling to locations with high incidence of COVID-19, and also be aware of the risks of traveling using public transportation.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information for travel.

Finally, please keep yourself updated on the COVID-19 situation through CDPHE’s webpage on COVID-19 Facts for Coloradans.

We are fortunate to have such caring and kind families in our community during these swift and strong decisions.  Thank you.

Well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team

Dear Mountain Song Families,

Starting Monday, March 16, Mountain Song Community School will join El Paso County school districts in closing for a period of 14 days.  This necessary action is an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 infection.  The closure will be from March 16 through March 27, which includes our already-scheduled Spring Break.  We will reassess and follow the lead of D-11 as we get closer to that end date to determine if students and staff should return on Monday, March 30.  We will work with our authorizer, CSI, in asking the Colorado Department of Education for flexibility on mandatory school days and testing requirements. 

We know that closing our school will have a significant impact on families.  The decision was made out of an abundance of caution and from a belief that strong, urgent action must be taken to prevent the spread of this disease and to protect lives.  This decision was made by local superintendents in the face of an unprecedented public health crisis in our community.  District and school leaders depend on the factual information from local, state, and federal agencies, as well as elected officials, to make decisions that protect the health of students, staff, and families in our community. 

During the closure, Mountain Song will undergo additional deep cleanings with proper disinfectants.  Please continue to practice effective hand washing and follow other recommendations from health agencies about how to avoid the spread of illness. 

We are developing plans for e-learning if Mountain Song needs to be closed for a longer time.  We will continue to communicate with additional information. 

If you need official letters from us for your employer stating your child is enrolled in our school, and that we are closed due to this health crisis, please let us know.  We are happy to provide these.

We plan to follow the lead of D-11 for additional closures.  We will also stay in close contact with public health officials and elected leaders to keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.  Please continue to check your e-mail and other news sources.  We now have a webpage dedicated to updates on this evolving public health situation which we encourage you to check for updates:  https://mountainsongschool.com/covid-19/

Thank you for working with us to protect the safety, health, and wellness of our Mountain Song students, staff, and families.

With well wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team
Teresa Woods, Principal

Dan Kurschner, Director of Operations

Sarah Kreger, Director of School Performance

Dear Families,

We are writing to update you on what Mountain Song is doing to address the spread of COVID-19.  On March 10, Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in relation to this pandemic.  We are working closely with guidance from the local and state health and education departments, and our authorizer, CSI.  At this point, we have no reported cases of COVID-19 in our Mountain Song community, and the risk of contracting this coronavirus remains low.  However, in an effort to prevent and stop the potential spread of this and other infectious diseases, we are implementing the steps below now.

• We are excusing absences related to concerns about this virus spread.  Please use your own discretion if you choose to keep your child at home due to the coronavirus spread.  While COVID-19 does not appear to impact the health of most children, older people and those with underlying health conditions may be more impacted.  People, including children, might not show symptoms of COVID-19, yet they may still be infected and able to spread the virus to others.  To help protect family members that may be at risk, families may choose to keep children home.  If you do this, please call in the reason for your child’s absence, and it will be excused. 

• We are evaluating school events to determine if they should be postponed or cancelled.  Given the higher risk population of older individuals, we canceled Grandparents Day that was scheduled next week.  We will continue to monitor the coronavirus spread situation, and we will make event determinations on a case-by-case basis at this point.

• We are exploring e-learning options if the school needs to close for an extended time due to COVID-19 spread.  Dr. Woods is experienced in online learning, and we are looking at ways to adapt our Waldorf instruction to an accessible online platform.

• We are sanitizing surfaces throughout the school several times a day with a disinfectant that destroys coronavirus.

• We are implementing more stringent health room practices, based on health department recommendations.  If a student has a cough and fever:
  • They will be given a mask and sent home.
  • We will call home and verify if they have traveled to an area with a high incidence of the virus, or if they have been in contact with anyone who has the virus.
  • If they have had recent exposure or probably exposure, we will give them a mask, isolate them from other children, send them home, notify administrators and the school nurse immediately.
  • If there is a possible/probable case for coronavirus infection, the student will need to get tested and have negative results before coming back to school.  Governor Polis has mandated that these tests be free of charge and that co-pays be waived.
  • If a student tests positive for coronavirus, we will report this to the Health Department, and they will direct us from that point.  

The most important things you can do to protect yourself and others are to help prevent the spread of the coronovirus and other viruses by:

• Practicing good hygiene:

• Wash your hands frequently – remember to wash your hands after coughing or sneezing.  Wash Your Hands Fact Sheet: in English and in Spanish
• Wash with soap and water, or if soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands
• Avoid touching your face
• Avoid sharing cups or eating utensils

• Practicing respiratory etiquette:
  • Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing — use a tissue or cough/sneeze into your elbow.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • If you are ill, you should try to distance yourself from others so you do not spread your germs. Distancing includes staying home from work or school when possible.

• Staying home when you are sick:
  • Follow the “How Sick is Too Sick” guidelines from CDPHE for school communities

Please speak reassuringly and appropriately to your children.  People getting sick, schools closing, and news about the coronavirus can be scary and confusing for kids—especially for younger kids. Older kids may worry about missing essential learning. And in general, kids may feel anxious about the unknown.  Please be mindful of the need to reassure children, manage your own anxiety, and speak to them in developmentally appropriate ways.  The Child Mind Institute and Understood.Org offer helpful tips in speaking to children.

We are creating a webpage for our website where we will be posting updates and resources related to the changing conditions related to this pandemic.  In the meantime, here are links to resources worth monitoring:

• CDE’s COVID-19 Resources for Schools webpage for a collection of fact sheets and guidance, including resources for talking with children about COVID-19.
• CDE and CDPHE have developed new guidance for schools and childcare facilities that specifically addresses COVID-19.
• El Paso County’s Health Department Coronavirus webpage.
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus webpage.
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s travel advisory webpage.
• The World Health Organization Director General’s statement.

We know that you and your family might have further questions about the coronavirus and what we are doing at Mountain Song.  We will continue to update you as we develop further plans in response to this swiftly evolving situation.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes,

The Executive Leadership Team