In THIS we believe

December 8, 2020

Did you ever anticipate that you would know so much about public health? These times of anxiety open our world to new understandings, and also help us define our values. The same is true for organizations. I often joke that we are educators who have been running a health care agency this year. But the fact that we are educators is exactly what helps us define what we believe.

We believe in science.

As educators, we are passionately dedicated to evidence and data. We have been running the school all year, with minimal cases and (so far) no quarantines of a class cohort because of the data-based policies we’ve put in place.

When CDC or county guidelines change suddenly, we turn to our medical advisory team. Mirowitz is so fortunate to have daily access to an esteemed pediatric infectious disease specialist who is updated almost hourly on new understandings of coronavirus. All of the doctors on our team are constantly helping us separate politics from evidence-based science. They interpret the data for us, and point out when it is not in sync with the news or published guidelines. When I get anxious about the safety of our school community, I turn to this team, and they turn to the data.

We believe in kavod (respect).

We respect your time, your opinions, and the sacrifices you are making to ensure in-person learning is possible. We know it’s a stressful line to walk, and that we’d all like to know for certain what is safe and what is not.

Next week, we will send you some guidelines and data-based decisions for our school community that will help you prepare for winter break. We greatly value your suggestions, and appreciate everyone who cares so deeply about ensuring the safety of our community when we return from vacation in January.

We believe in a community of chen va’chesed (graciousness and loving kindness).

We ALL want Mirowitz students to remain in school together. If we know that to be true, we will assume that others have the best intentions in making that possible. We have empathy for one another, and understand that family circumstances might impact a person’s fear of the pandemic. (Within our community, we have grandparents fighting cancer, a grandmother who has ALS, and a grandfather in critical care.) Mostly, we care deeply about one another and discuss our differing opinions in a respectful way, just as Mirowitz teachers teach your children to do.

We are a family, and we will get through this era of anxiety together!

 

Shabbat Shalom,

Cheryl