Upcoming Pesach Holiday and Other Safety Protocols

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Dear IRDS Families,

I know we are all looking forward to the upcoming Passover holiday and Spring Break, which begins this coming Monday, March 22 and goes through Friday, April 2nd.  This year as we enter Passover, a season of renewal and rebirth, it feels timely that this season also coincides with improvement and optimism around the COVID-19 pandemic. With new sectors opening, vaccine eligibility expanding, and case rates declining, we start to anticipate a greater sense of freedom.

While new freedoms are a blessing, they need to be accompanied with continued vigilance and mitigation in order to keep our school and our community moving in the right direction.  We know how difficult it may be, but it remains our expectation that our families will continue to be cautious and follow not only our school safety protocols, but those of the county as well.

As we entered into the red tier yesterday, and speculation is looming of an additional move to the orange tier in the weeks ahead, we promise to keep everyone posted as to any impact these tier changes will have on school.  However, for the time being and as we head into break, I want everyone to keep a few things in mind:

Travel
As a reminder, Los Angeles County still has a mandatory Travel Advisory that applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The advisory strongly discourages nonessential travel of more than 120 miles away from your home, but only requires a mandatory 10 day self-quarantine if you travel out of state. If out of state travel is in your plans, we ask you to let us know, and remind you that the mandatory 10-day quarantine begins upon the first day of your return home.  Please note that the daily health screening will be adjusted to reflect this change in the travel policy.

Passover Gatherings 
Last year, Passover was very different and while this year things are indeed improving, we hope our families will continue to creatively observe Passover and gather in ways that align with the current Health Officer Orders.  We ask that if your family will be gathering with others, you do so under the guidelines of that Health Officer Order which require these gatherings to:

• take place outdoors
• include no more than 15 people from three households or less
• are limited to two hours or less
• preserve physical distancing and use of face coverings

Alternative Guidance for Vaccinated Individuals
The current Health Officer Order was updated on March 10, 2021 to provide some additional guidance for fully vaccinated individuals. To be a fully vaccinated individual means you have had the final dose of a vaccine, and at least two weeks have elapsed since that dose. These adjusted recommendations in the current order only apply to small gatherings, and DO NOT apply to travel, and have specific parameters around public spaces and gatherings.  All travel advisories remain in place. Gatherings are still to be kept brief (no more than two hours) and should not include anyone with symptoms of illness or anyone who may be vulnerable or at higher risk of severe illness. If you are fully vaccinated, please be sure to review the detailed Health Officer Order for specific guidance.

Our Return in April
School will resume for all students on Monday April 5. As we enter these final few months of school we are happy that our 1st – 5th graders will now be on campus all day on Friday’s as well. There are no changes to the schedule for our ECE and Kindergarten, for our elementary school pick up on Friday will be:

We thank all of you for your support, patience and understanding as we have navigated these waters over this last year and we are grateful that together as a school and as a sacred Jewish community we will celebrate this Passover with increased joy, optimism and spirit.

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and happy Passover season.

Yuri