Dear ISO parents,

It is good to be back!! My family and I returned from Niamey, Niger yesterday and we had a very enjoyable break. During the vacation period I did get some updates from both parents, teachers, and even students regarding what our first week of school would look like, as per the message I sent on December 16th. This message was sent after holding a Zoom meeting with many members of our parent community that afternoon.

“….And finally, as discussed during our conference call – A Note for Families Traveling over the Break:

Please be sure to check:

• the health and safety protocols of the countries you are traveling to
• that the entry regulations do not change here in Burkina Faso.

Upon return, please be mindful that if you are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 or have been exposed to the virus, you should stay at home until you are medically cleared to return to campus”.

In addition, during this message, I also mentioned that “If the present health trends both here in Burkina Faso, and around the world, continue or worsen, then the school will consider holding the first week of school “on line” to ensure that it is both safe and appropriate to return to our school site and holding classes physically on campus. I return from Niamey, Niger (which presently has less recorded cases than Burkina Faso) on January 6th, and a decision will be made, and communicated at that time.

Unfortunately, conditions regarding recent health trends in Burkina Faso have not improved in the last month, and as such, we will open school this Monday, by distance learning. Many members of our community, (my family included) have traveled to many different parts of the world over the last few weeks. In the interest of keeping everybody in our community safe, and in being able to have another 19 weeks of uninterrupted learning on our physical campus, we will hold the first week back to school virtually.

This will help us to make sure that all airport PCR tests have another nine days to help ensure that all of our community members are symptom free, and have 14 days of more “off campus” during this challenging time around the world.

Once again, I want to thank everyone for their patience, cooperation, and understanding during this challenging period. As discussed before the break, our overall goal remains to keep your children safe and the school open during the COVID-19 pandemic — providing uninterrupted educational services — whether they are in-person or temporarily online. We thank everybody in our community for your unwavering support in making that possible.

Again, it is great to be back, and I look forward to seeing everybody “virtually” next week, or in person, the following week. Have a great final weekend to our winter break.

For parents and students in Kindergarten and first grade, please join me in welcoming Ms. Vania Gulston to our team. Her Biography will be sent to you directly this afternoon.

Jeff