Head of School Message: Vaccines, Virtual School, Faculty Survey

Dear Faculty and Staff,

First of all, I’d like to share some great news with you. We have 51 additional faculty and staff who received their vaccines this weekend! With less than an hour’s notice, members of our amazing staff from WaiMun’s Ofice, HR, the Business Office, and the Nursing Team rallied the vaccine recipients on Saturday, getting them to the vaccination center where 43 people received vaccines. Another 8 people received vaccines today!

We look forward to confirmation of the second dose appointments for our June recipients and will inform you as soon as we know. And, for those still waiting, we will continue to advocate on your behalf.

In other good news this weekend, we can now officially welcome the first group of teachers to complete their hotel quarantine, to Ho Chi Minh City! The first group completed the hotel portion of their quarantine today, and others will be finishing up from tomorrow and on.

Overall, the recent days have been very challenging for HCMC, with 5,300 cases being reported on Saturday and strict lockdown measures in place around the city. Without the promise of an imminent improvement of the situation, we have made the difficult decision to start the school year virtually on August 10.

This decision was not made lightly. Other options were considered, such as starting the school year later; however, needless to say, that presents other challenges for faculty, staff, and students now, and later in the year.

And our students, who like us, are in lockdown, need to return to school, to a routine, to their community, to their teachers, and their friends.

Naturally, we all hoped that we would start the school year in physical school, however, I know that you all are committed to delivering an exemplary program for our students, regardless of the platform. During our back-to-school in-service days, the focus will be on ensuring that you are all well prepared.

As the news of the virtual school start will be communicated to parents tomorrow, I ask for your discretion until then.

I understand that for many, the prospect of starting the school year virtually and the current outbreak in HCMC are challenging and may raise many questions. There is much that is outside of our control, however, when there are opportunities to provide additional support or understanding, we will do our best to do so.

One area of concern that we are aware of, is supporting teachers with young children. But, you may have other concerns as well. We can only support you if we are made aware of your concerns. Thus, we ask that you help us to understand what is on your minds by completing this check-in survey by 4:00 pm on Tuesday, July 27. Local staff and teacher assistants will also have an opportunity to share challenges and feedback.

Thank you, everyone, for all that you do for our community. Please take good care of yourselves and of each other.

All good wishes,

Catriona