This email was sent out by the school folloiwng the announement made by the county about a return to in-person learning on Monday, January 10.

Good afternoon North Springs Community,

This is an important message about the return to In-Person learning on Monday, January 10th.

Thank you to our North Springs students and teachers for a great week of virtual learning. I had the opportunity to visit many classrooms virtually this week; participating in some great lessons, and listening to many great discussions with our teachers and students doing some truly amazing thigs. Virtual learning/teaching will never replace in-person leaning, but it is great to see our students and teachers make this shift so quickly and successfully this past week. As the Principal, I am so proud of how the community supported our students and teachers this week.

Fulton County Schools will return to full In-Person learning on Monday, January 10th. There will not be a hybrid or remote learning options at North Springs High School beginning on Monday 1/10.

Fulton County is reinstituting the mask mandate for all students, faulty, staff and visitors who enter the building starting Monday 1/10 through Friday 1/21. With the extreme amount of cases in Sandy Springs, wearing masks in the building will become our first line of defense in helping to lower the spread of the different COVID variants currently in circulation.

• This means that everyone on campus is expected to wear a mask at all times, except for when they are eating/drinking, or at lunch.
• Students are expected to wear their masks correctly, with the mask covering the nose and mouth of each individual. Masks are not chin straps, and do absolutely no good when worn incorrectly.
• Masks will be available for anyone that does not come to campus with one.
• Students will be ask to comply with the returning mask mandate. Students unable, or unwilling will be asked to comply one time. Student refusal to wear a mask correctly will require the student to leave campus. Parents will be notified, and will be required to come get the student.

The COVID mitigation strategies that have been in place since our return to the building in 2020 are still in effect. Our building is still as clean and sanitized as it ever has been, even for a 60+ year old building. However, as I have explained in the past; our building and classrooms have not changed size since the pandemic started. Our classrooms, filled with 25-30 students, really do not allow for effective social distancing. This makes masks so important to wear correctly. Social distancing in other parts of the building is difficult from a logistical and practical standpoint, and students will be expected to manage that based on their own level of comfort.

With the rise in cases in Sandy Springs, it is inevitable that quite a few North Springs students and staff will turn up positive at some point. This is what you need to know about how we will continue to notify the community.

• Fulton County is continuing with its contact tracing protocols. The district is still expecting students/parents in our community to report COVID positive cases to the district and Fulton County Board of Health through the COVID reporting link here: FCS Student COVID-19 Report Form (qualtrics.com).
• The district will still report out the cumulative counts of positive cases submitted to the FCBOH, and that report can be viewed weekly here: District Health Services / COVID-19 Report by School (fultonschools.org). 
• General Fulton County community epidemiology reports produced 2 times weekly can be found here: Epidemiology Reports (fultoncountyga.gov)
• If a student is identified as being a close contact to someone who has tested positive through classroom contact or bus contact, you will continue to receive emails from me with that information.

For the next several weeks there will be restrictions on after school/extracurricular activities that take place on campus.

• Extracurricular clubs/activities will not be able to meet in-person. Extracurricular clubs/activities can meet virtually during this pause.
• Tutoring and our after school program with Ms. Elliott will continue as normal, but with masks and more social distancing.
• Students in sports and performing arts may continue to try-out, practice and compete as normal. There will be continued health screenings for students to ensure teams remain healthy and avoid being sent to quarantine. Students will be required to wear masks when not directly competing/practicing, and will need to follow appropriate social distancing policies for each program/venue.
• Capacity limitations for each venue will be put back into place temporarily. As a part of the capacity limitation, only parents/adults will allowed to attend athletic events. Students will not be allowed to attend athletic events as spectators until this mitigation plan is lifted.

Even without the pandemic raging in the background, people still get sick from common things such as colds and flu. This will mean at times teachers, students, and even me may be out due to getting sick. That is the nature of what we are still dealing with currently. Here is how we will continue to handle these cases.

• If a teacher is out, students will have a substitute teacher assigned to the class and students will work on assignments left with the sub. That sub may be one of our great subs we call on from time to time currently, it might be one of our assistant principals, or it might be me. To be honest, I am looking forward to getting in and teaching a class.
• When a student is ill, they need to stay home. At this time, trying to be heroic and come to school just doesn’t make sense. If you are sick, do not come to school. We all need to take that advice.
• Student absences due to illness require a note to be excused. Please send those directly to Ms. Roquemore.
• When a student is absent, there will not be a virtual learning option for them. We will revert to what we had in place before the pandemic, with students getting work and turning it in at a later time. District policy is that students have how many days they were absent, plus one more day to turn assignments in. Students will work with their teachers on turning in that work.

The district sent out information this afternoon about the new rules for quarantining. Please see that email for that information. It will be important for our community to follow the new quarantining policies to avoid a situation where cases rise exponentially in the building. A significant rise in cases in the building and we will be forced to go back into quarantine and back into virtual learning. We do not want that to happen, so it is incumbent upon all of us to do the right thing to ensure we can continue to offer in-person instruction to our students.

Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Scott Hanson

Michael Scott Hanson
Principal North Springs High School  Fulton County Schools
7447 Roswell Road N.E. Sandy Springs, GA 30328
470-254-2490 ph 470-254-2498 fax
hansonm@fultonschools.org  North Springs HS http://www.fultonschools.org