Dear Orange Lutheran Families,
In the midst of so much uncertainty, we are excited to provide you with an overview of what you and your family can expect from Orange Lutheran moving forward.
Before we jump into that, please consider the following:
- God is in control! No matter what happens, we have faith that God will see us through. We find peace in the knowledge that salvation has already been won for us through Christ.
- This is temporary. For the time being, school will be different for everyone. Rest assured that Orange Lutheran is always committed to providing your child with the best Christ-centered experience possible, regardless of the circumstances.
- Your voice is valued. The opinions from our community with regard to how our school, state, and country should proceed vary as widely as you can imagine. We respect them all.
- Adaptability is key. Expect change, curveballs, and twists as we navigate through this together.
- We are a private school. We must obey mandates but will carefully evaluate recommendations and make decisions that are in the best interest of our students, faculty, and staff.
Summer 2020
We are closely monitoring the environment and expect to see a phased return to athletics and other activities in mid-late June. Many factors are in play and yet we are prepared to get our athletes back on their respective field of play as soon as we are clear to do so safely. Since we had elected to take our CIF athletic blackout period the first two weeks of June, the earliest athletics could resume would be June 13.
The first semester of summer school will be a synchronous remote setting, however, we are evaluating the opportunity for students to be on campus in some capacity when we start the second semester on July 6.
Fall 2020
We are making full preparations to have students back on campus when school resumes mid-August. While our ultimate objective is to return to having all students on campus, it is highly likely that some restrictions will still be in place requiring temporary modifications to be incorporated. These temporary restrictions have provided us with an opportunity to create an innovative new approach that will actually enhance our students’ academic experience. We are exploring a number of options that include alternating live on-campus instruction with either synchronous or asynchronous enhanced remote learning. This experience yields a couple of very exciting enhancements. First, the live, on-campus instruction setting becomes more intimate with smaller class sizes receiving even more personalized instruction. Second, we are investing in new instructional technologies that will enhance and simplify access to the material being taught allowing for future reference and aiding in the learning process.
Looking Ahead
As the temporary restrictions in place relax, we will continue to adapt. When we are able to return to larger group settings, we will absolutely begin to safely reintroduce those back into our student experience.
As we prepare to reopen, we would like to provide some insight into how Orange Lutheran is organizing to reopen our campus leveraging our Reopening Task Force teams. These teams are working through a myriad of details to ensure a safe and enhanced experience when our students return. They are working quickly and considering multiple scenarios and contingencies. Regardless of the circumstances, we remain committed to providing our students with a robust Christ-centered high school experience that continues to prioritize the health and safety of our entire community.
Reopening Task Force Teams
School leadership has assembled multiple reopening task force teams with representation from various department leaders on campus to assess and plan for our return to campus. The teams are organized as follows:
- Infrastructure: Facilities preparation, procurement, and enhancement
- Student Safety: Procedures, policies, and communication
- Employee Safety: Preparedness, protection, and communication
- Scheduling: Logistics to enhance social distancing
- Teaching and Learning: Accessibility and modalities
- Communication: Content, protocols, and delivery
- Culture: Adaptations to student life and programming
- Programs: Adaptations to student programs
- Student Support: Social-emotional and academic support systems
Communicating with You
We acknowledge that this is an overview and does not answer some of the detailed questions you might have. As the pandemic situation remains fluid, we as a community need to remain flexible and adapt our plans as conditions change. Orange Lutheran’s leadership team is committed to keeping you informed throughout the summer via our Community Updates and will provide more detail as it becomes available. We encourage you to visit lhsoc.org/covid19 for the latest updates and information, or email responseteam@lhsoc.org so that we can direct your questions to the appropriate office.
We remain grateful for the Christ-centered partnerships that make Orange Lutheran such a special ministry, and we look forward to standing alongside our community as we move forward together. We prayerfully trust that the Lord will guide us through these temporary challenges so that we can continue to faithfully serve the needs of each student and our community at large.
God’s peace be with you.
In Christ,
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Justin B. Stewart
Chief Executive Officer
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