Dear Hopewell Valley Families:

Thank you for your continued patience and support as we navigate a return to school unlike anything we have ever experienced in education.  Our early successes are due to the collaborative efforts of so many individuals. I would like to specifically acknowledge our students and staff who have done an amazing job following the new protocols and procedures while being immersed in a new educational model. 

I think we are all longing to return to some semblance of normalcy; toward this end, we assembled a committee to review our progress and make recommendations. We will share details about potential changes next week.

Social Distancing and Mask Wearing
As we enter the winter months and holiday season,  I am writing to ask your help to protect our staff and students and control the potential spread in our community. To date, we have had six confirmed cases in five schools. Of these cases, none were contracted or transmitted in school and many of the “close contacts”* occurred outside of school. Please support our efforts to contain the virus in our community by encouraging everyone to adhere to social distancing guidelines and to wear a mask both inside and outside of school, whenever they are with non-family members. 

14-Day Travel Quarantine
As we approach the holiday season and enter the winter months, I would also like to remind you of the 14-day quarantine for out of state travel. The 14-day quarantine applies to travel from certain areas identified as those that have a positive COVID-19 test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or have a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average ("impacted states."). These states have been identified and continue to be updated by the State of New Jersey. To protect our students and staff, we will adhere strictly to the State guidelines and Board policy

You have my commitment that we will continue to work hard to ensure that we are doing all that we can to keep our schools, students, and staff as safe as possible. 

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Smith, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
he/his/him
thomassmith@hvrsd.org

*The definition of close contacts has changed: 6 feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more in 24 hours. In our recent COVID case, close contacts occurred outside of school.