SCIS Hongqiao Campuses - Community Updates
Last updated: May 4th, 2023 at 9:00 AM

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Community Update
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023

Greetings SCIS Parents,

Over the past several days we have had just under a dozen positive Covid-19 cases currently within our Hongqiao Main and Pudong campus communities. Still, with the potential of increased spread due to May holiday travel, we believe it best to send this community update.

As a reminder, we have maintained the following elements of our Covid-19 protocols:

• Heightened cleaning and disinfecting efforts on all campuses.
• Air ventilation and filtration systems being fully utilized.
• Continued promotion of healthy habits through the provision of hand sanitizer and promotion of hand washing throughout the school day.
• Masks remain an option for our community members to wear, but at this stage they are still not required for entry into school, nor are they required to be worn on school transportation. 

With that said, the single greatest impact we can have on reducing the risk of community spread is to ask all within our community to remain diligent in monitoring common Covid-19 symptoms (fever, coughing, fatigue, sore throat, etc.) and to utilize home testing if symptoms are present or if someone may have been exposed to someone a positive Covid-19 case.

Given the very low rate of cases at present, we are not adjusting any expectations on our community at this time, but we do wish to communicate the current guidance from community and government health authorities. Please note these recommendations, including what is required to return to campus after testing positive for Covid-19:

• What to do if there is a positive Covid result?
  • Current guidelines suggest remaining isolated at home upward of a week, or for as long as symptoms remain present, and you continue to test positive on rapid antigen tests (RATs).
• • Once an individual has had 48 hours without any of the symptoms noted above the student may undergo another test before contacting the school nurse regarding a return to campus.
    • If the test is still positive: Continue to recover at home until you have a negative test result.
    • If the test is negative: Contact your child’s campus clinic team (see below for contact info) with a photo of the negative test result. They will reply and confirm your return to campus status.
      • HQ Main Clinic: hq-nurse@scis-china.org
      • HQ ECE Clinic: hq-ece-nurse@scis-china.org
      • PD Campus Clinic: pd-nurse@scis-china.org
    • If you do not have a test available at home, you can email the school clinic and they will coordinate a test to be available at the gate.
• • Government guidelines request all individuals who have tested positive to continue to wear a mask for an additional 5 days after they have tested negative. This is to help minimize any potential risk of community spread.

• What happens if there is a positive Covid result found at school?
  • If a student displays Covid-19 symptoms at school, they will be asked to undergo a RAT at the health clinic.
  • If positive, we will contact parents to come and pick up your child and they will be placed in an isolation area on campus until parents arrive.
  • Students will then need to adhere to the steps outlined above for their return to campus process. 

We will continue to keep you updated as we move forward and greatly appreciate your support in minimizing the potential spread of Covid-19 within our community.

Wishing you a healthy and pleasant week ahead.

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Community Update
Friday, January 20th, 2023

Greetings SCIS Families,

Farewell to the Year of the Tiger and let us welcome the Year of the Rabbit! It has been a great week of celebrations as our students, faculty, and staff engaged in Chinese New Year traditions, activities, and even a traditional Dragon and Lion dance! It has felt particularly meaningful to witness as we have also remained on campus and healthy for the duration of the past three school weeks. It is my hope that we may continue forward into a New Year full of happiness and health.

Please allow me to now share the following reminders and announcements:

• Chinese New Year International Travel Reminder:
  • For those who are travelling internationally, please ensure you are aware of any testing requirements for your re-entry into China. At this time a negative NAT from within 48 hours of the return flight is required to enter China.   
• Testing for Campus and Bus Entry on Mondays Only
  • Students will all be asked to submit a RAT on Monday, January 30. This will be required for gate and bus entry, thank you for your support with this.
• Blended Learning Comes to a Close
  • The December 15^th mandate from the Shanghai Education Commission draws to a close as of today (Jan. 20). As such, SCIS will transition back to our standard on-campus learning model of delivery, meaning we will no longer offer the Blended Learning model. We understand students are absent for a variety of reasons, but the significant strain blended learning places on faculty and the students who are on campus compels us to transition to our standard operating practice once again.
• 2023-24 School Year Important Dates
  • With the 5+3 day quarantine rescinded for all passengers returning to China from overseas, we will update our expected start of school year date to reflect our standard SCIS calendar start and will plan on the following major holidays for our 1^st semester:
    • SCIS will start no earlier than the week of August 14, 2023.
    • Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, and our Autumn Holiday: September 29 through October 8
    • The first day of our SCIS Winter Holiday: December 16

Thank you again for your continued support throughout the Year of the Tiger, it was indeed a challenging year. May the forthcoming holiday provide us all with the time needed to reflect and acknowledge all the experiences, both challenging and joyful, that have brought us through to another new year.

Please allow me to now wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year 新年快乐!  May it bring all of us great happiness, prosperity, and health!

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Community Update
Friday, January 13th, 2023

Dear SCIS Families,

There has been inspiration at every corner of our campuses this week as our students returned to on-campus learning. While getting to this point was not without its challenges, I am grateful for your support and understanding. Our focus now is to transition our campuses toward operating with our new reality with the goal of mitigating the risk of future case surges on our community. 

We do not expect to receive any further clarification from government authorities until after Chinese New Year, as public schools are set to return from holiday the week of February 13. Until that time, we will operate with health protocols that reflect our current Covid-19 impacted status:

• Our Health Survey reflects that over 85% of our community has had Covid-19.
• Of our total population, less than 0.2% are absent for Covid-related reasons. 
• Throughout this week, excluding students who were listed as traveling, we have had lower absentee rates than our annual average. 

Given these realities, we will plan on maintaining a standard level of preventative measures and appreciate your support as we adhere to the following:

• Testing for Campus and Bus Entry on Mondays Only
  • Each student will be asked to submit a RAT next Monday (January 16) and again on following Chinese New Year on Monday (January 30). 
  • We went two RAT kits home with each student this week to support these upcoming tests. 
• Mask Expectations
  • Upper School and Lower School students are required to wear a mask at all times, excluding when eating, at recess, or during physical education. 
  • Early Childhood students are suggested to wear a mask at all times, excluding when eating, at recess, or during physical education. 
• Positive Covid Cases
  • Identified at Home: If a student tests positive for Covid at home we ask that they remain at home until all symptoms have been subsided and only return to campus once they have a negative RAT. 
  • Identified at School: If a student tests positive on campus, parents will be asked to pick them up from school immediately and they should remain home until all symptoms have subsided and only return to campus once they have a negative RAT. 
  • How to Return to School: For a student to return to school they will need to perform a RAT. You asked to email a photo of the negative results to the campus nurse and await their confirmation before their return. 
• Health Symptoms
  • Please keep your child at home, per SCIS School Policy requirements, if they have a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting. 
    • Identified at School: If a student is found to have those symptoms on campus, parents will be asked to pick them up from school immediately and they will perform a RAT with our nurse. If that RAT is positive, we will follow the 'identified at school' positive case protocol.
    • Identified at Home: If a student is found to have these symptoms at home, please confirm this with our team when notifying us of their absence. 
      • How to Return to School: For the student to return, they must perform a RAT. You are asked to email a photo of the negative results to the campus nurse and await their confirmation before their return to school. 
• Campus Cleaning and Disinfecting
  • Our campus operations teams will continue to operate heightened deep cleaning and disinfecting protocols. 
• Campus Visitors
  • We will welcome visitors on a limited time basis at this time. Please know that we are working with PAFA on our plans for welcoming parents back on campus for events and activities in the near future. 

I thank you in advance for your support in maintaining a healthy school environment so that we can maintain a healthy and engaged population of learners on campus! We look forward to welcoming our students back once again next Monday. Until then, please enjoy your weekend ahead.

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Community Update
Monday, January 9th, 2023

Dear SCIS Families,

It was wonderful to welcome all our students back to campus this morning!

Thank you for remembering to have your child’s RAT completed and available to show at the bus or campus gate. We did hear of some miscommunication regarding the change to the NAT Health code and I appreciate your understanding as we continue to adjust the swift pace of change within the post Zero-Covid regulatory era.

I am pleased to share that late this afternoon we received our first official update specific to Covid-19 testing and campus protocols since December. Our team is working through the variety of changes and updates coming through and we will send a full update tomorrow regarding our full adjustments to our protocols moving forward. Please review the information below to be prepared to send your child to school tomorrow (Tuesday, January 10):

• Update: On-Campus Testing
  • Our Pudong and Changing district authorities have officially notified us that we are no longer able to perform on-campus NATs, as a result our locational scan codes have also been deactivated.
  • As a result of this announcement, SCIS will no longer require NAT results moving forward. If a situation requires Covid test results, SCIS will accept RAT results.
• Update: Campus & Bus Entry Requirements
  • As of today, SCIS will only require students, faculty, and staff to submit a RAT on Monday mornings.
    • There is no requirement for RATs to enter campus gates or school buses tomorrow (Tuesday, January 10) through this Friday, January 13.

As we are interpreting the announced changes, it seems clear that we are moving ever closer to a pre-Zero-Covid experience where families are asked to apply our best judgement regarding our child's health and their ability to come to school. So, we do ask that if your child has Covid related symptoms, such as fever, temperature (37.3 and above), vomiting, diarrhea, etc., that you please keep them at home so they may rest, recover, and we may limit the spread of illnesses on campus. If you suspect, they may have Covid-related symptoms the health authorities and SCIS urge you to use RATs as a source of confirmation moving forward.

As shared, I will follow up tomorrow with a broader communication on the full adjustments we will implement moving forward.  

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Community Update
Sunday, January 8th, 2023

Dear SCIS Families,

I am writing to remind all within our community of the exciting news that all students, Nursery to Grade 12, are scheduled to return to campus as of tomorrow (January 9). We still have not received additional guidance from our district health authorities, so we will continue with the plan shared on Friday for how students will enter school buses and gates tomorrow morning.

Please review the information below, which will remain our protocol for the remainder of the week unless we receive an update from government officials:

• Campus & Bus Entry Requirements: 
  • NAT & RAT: Students will need to present either:
    • A Green Health Code displaying a negative NAT result within 48 hours; or,
    • Submit a negative RAT
      • Students should perform the RAT before departing from home and bring the physical test (the rectangle device that displays the test result), so they may present it to the bus monitor or campus guard for entry.
        • We have plastic bags on buses and gates for students to deposit the device into once they have displayed the result to the bus monitor or guard.
• On-Campus Testing:
  • Our understanding is that we will no longer be able to offer on-campus NATs as of tomorrow.
    • Moving forward, any requirement for test results will either be RATs or NATs from off-campus community test sites. 
• Masks:
  • Upper and Lower School students are required to wear a mask at all times, except when eating, at recess, or during physical education classes.
  • Early Childhood students are suggested to wear a mask at all times, except when eating, at recess, or during physical education.
• Personal Hygiene:
  • Students will be asked to wash or sanitize their hands regularly, and the school has ample soap and hand sanitizer available.
• Health:
  • Please keep your child home, per SCIS School Policy requirements, if they have a fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or are too unwell to participate fully in school.
  • If a student is found to have these symptoms on campus, they will perform a RAT on campus, and parents will be asked to pick them up from school immediately.
• Covid Positive:
  • If a student tests positive for Covid, we ask that they remain home until all symptoms have subsided and only return to campus once they have a negative NAT or RAT.
  • As authorities will no longer operate contact tracing, a student who has a positive case in their home will still be able to attend school as long as they have no symptoms and continue to test negative on their RAT.

We appreciate your support as we transition to new protocols. Know that our efforts are focused on maintaining a healthy school environment so that we may continue to pursue safe and healthy learning on campus. As shared above, I will send a follow-up email if or when we receive an update from our government health authorities.

We are very excited to welcome all our students back to campus tomorrow.

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Community Update
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023

Greetings SCIS families,

As shared yesterday, we will welcome back our Grades 10-12 and ECE students tomorrow. To provide clarity on some common questions and general information about our return to campus protocols, I share the information below, I recognize there is a lot and appreciate your patience in reading through this critical information:

Update on Additional Grade Levels Returning to Campus
Unfortunately, we did not receive any update on the status of the Grade 1-9 student return to campus. We continue to work toward their return and will follow up tomorrow with a survey for our Grade 1-9 families that we hope may support our efforts to coordinate in advance of their potential return. 

Update on Campus Testing Requirements

• Testing Schedule: As a reminder, students will have on-campus NAT tests every Tuesday & Thursday
• Single Sample Test: We have confirmed that, for the remainder of this current week (through Jan 6), on-campus tests will be single sample tubes, we have requested for this to remain in place for future weeks and will update you once we have our response. 
• Update NAT QR Code: Please Remember to upload your child’s NAT Testing QR Code via this website: https://www.scis-china.org/upload-nat

Campus Health and Preventive Measures

As part of our return to campus, we will implement the Covid preventative measures established for our new reality:

• Masks: 

• • Upper School and Lower School students are asked to also wear masks at all times, excluding meals and physical or outdoor activity periods (PE, Recess, etc.).
  • Early Childhood students are strongly encouraged to wear masks throughout the day, excluding meals, snack time, and physical or outdoor activity periods (PE, Recess, etc.).
  • All students must wear their masks at all times while on the school bus and when entering and exiting campus gates.
  • Please ensure your child has a minimum of two masks available for use throughout each school day as it is suggested to change masks every 4 hours, though this is dependent on the type of mask you choose for your child. The school will have some extra surgical masks available if a child needs a backup. 

• Cleaning & Sanitizing:
• • Students and staff will be handwashing/sanitizing consistently throughout the school day. We have prepared ample supplies to support increased usage. 
  • Classroom surfaces will be thoroughly disinfected before and after school each day. Highly used surfaces such as door handles, and handrails will be disinfected on a regular basis.
  • Our campuses continue to follow regular deep cleaning routines, that meet and surpass all specific requirements of the CDC guidelines.

• Campus Visitors: 
• • During this unique period of operations and until we receive further clarity from the SEC, we will continue to operate with limited access to campus for visitors.  We do look forward to being able to welcome our parents on campus during operational hours soon and thank you for your patience and understanding in the meantime. 

General Q&A

• What happens if there is a positive or abnormal result from an on-campus test?

• • Only the individual student or staff member will be required to remain home until such time that they have recovered, have no fever for 48 hours, and have received a negative NAT result.

• What happens if there are multiple positives within one classroom? 
• • As Covid-19 is now classified as a class B virus, the procedure for positive cases aligns with other class B viruses, such as Hand Food and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and Chicken Pox. Thus, any classroom that has 3 or more concurrent positive cases will shift to virtual learning for a period of 5 days, at which point students with a negative NAT result will be permitted to return to campus.

• What if there is a positive case within the household, can my child still attend school?

• • According to regulations, class B viruses do not require tracing back to households for contact tracing. Officially, this means your child may continue to come to school if there is a positive case in their household, however, SCIS requests your support in adhering to the following: 

• • • If your child has already tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 30 days, they may continue to enter as long as they maintain a negative NAT result (Green code from within 48 hours) and we ask you monitor them for symptoms and observe an Antigen (RAT) on the second morning after the family member tested positive. 
    • If your child has not already had Covid-19 within the past 30 days, we ask you to use your best judgment, track their symptoms, and have them take an Antigen (RAT) test prior to coming to school on the second and fourth mornings after the family member tested positive. Throughout this time, they will also need to maintain their NAT testing every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. 

Thank you once again for your ongoing understanding and support as we move through this new phase of operations. We are thrilled to welcome some of our students back to campus tomorrow and eagerly await having our entire community back on campus as soon as possible.

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Community Update
Monday, January 2nd, 2023

Greetings, 

I hope you have had a wonderful start to the new year!  I write to update you on our status for returning to on-campus learning for our community.  We continue to work with our district government authorities (Changning and Pudong) as we all await the Shanghai Education Commission’s (SEC) follow-up communication in the aftermath of the Ministry of Education’s communique shared nationwide last Friday. We remain hopeful that the pending communication from the SEC will provide a pathway for a full return-to-campus for our entire community. 

Prior to that much-anticipated communication, I am pleased to share the following:

First Cohort of Students Approved for Return to Campus

The following grade levels may return to campus as of this Wednesday, January 4:

• Upper School: 
  • Grade 10 – 12 students 
• Early Childhood: 
  • Nursery, Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students

Timeline for Additional Grade Levels Return to Campus

For the time being, all Grade 1-9 students will continue with Virtual Learning, but we continue to work with our district authorities to support their earliest possible return.

Campus Entry Requirements 

Please note the following bus and campus entry requirements will be in place for all students, faculty, and staff: 

• Present a Green Health code with a negative NAT test from within 48 hours.
  • Students will need to obtain a NAT on Sundays after 8:00 AM to enter on Mondays and Tuesdays. 
  • Action Required: For entry, this Wednesday, January 4^th, all Grade 10, DP, and Early Childhood students should get a NAT test tomorrow (Tuesday, January 3) to enter campus.  
• Have a temperature of 37.3 and below.

Campus Testing Requirements

We remain compelled under current SEC requirements to operate on-campus testing for all students. Our understanding of the testing requirements is as follows: 

• At present, our on-campus testing schedule will be as follows: 
  • Students will test on Tuesdays & Thursdays
• We have been told we will receive an update tomorrow providing us with a response to our request to have all on-campus tests be single sample test tubes (one person per test tube).  
• Action Required: Please upload your child’s NAT Testing QR Code via this website: https://www.scis-china.org/upload-nat

Covid Impact on Staffing & Programs

We are working diligently to have a smooth transition back to on-campus learning ready for Wednesday. But we do appreciate your understanding that we do remain impacted by absenteeism in areas that may require some flexibility in the days ahead. 

• Transportation: The vendor we use for busing is doing their best to ensure we have fully staffed buses, but please know that we cannot guarantee your regular bus driver or bus monitor will be servicing your route. Further, routes themselves may be impacted, should that be the case you will be notified by our transportation department. 
• Cafeteria: We have been informed that our cafeteria service vendor should be ready regarding staffing, but some menu items may change as supply chains have been disrupted. We will do our best to update the menu online in advance when possible. 

I will follow up tomorrow with an update providing further details regarding on-campus testing, campus health, and preventative measures, as well as any further details on additional grade levels’ potential return to campus. 

We are moving forward through a new Shanghai experience but know that we have continued to connect with schools across the globe regarding their return-to-campus protocols and will continue to strive for a healthy and meaningful return-to-campus experience for all. 

As always, I thank you for your support and understanding as we move through to this new phase of returning to campus.

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Community Update
Friday, December 30th, 2022

Dear SCIS Community,

I hope this email finds you all well, having had the opportunity to rest and enjoy the winter holiday.

As I shared in last week’s email, there have been significant changes to our regulatory landscape as our host city and country transition away from the previous Zero-Covid policy. Most recently, the change to quarantine upon arrival from overseas destinations has been well received as it breaks down the major barrier that led to so many within our community being unable to travel home these past few years. Still, there remains one final area of policy that has not been updated in line with all the other changes and that is the return-to-campus requirements for schools.

As such, we have continued our efforts to press for clear return-to-campus requirements from the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) for all students. We were informed that a message would be communicated today (Friday, December 30), however, as it has not arrived, we must still work from the SEC announcement sent in December. It mandated all schools operate via Virtual Learning until such time that they announce the return-to-campus requirements. The only exception to virtual learning at this time was the allowance for exam grade levels to participate in on-campus learning, for SCIS, this would be the equivalent of our final year of IB MYP (grade 10) and all students participating in IB DP.

Below, please review our current plans for next week, as well as a summary of current testing and campus entry requirements:

Provision of Learning: 

• All grade levels (Nursery through Grade 12) will participate in Virtual Learning next Monday and Tuesday (Jan 2 & 3). 
• SCIS is actively pursuing return-to-campus learning for all students. 
  • We will start with plans to support an initial group of students to return to campus, as approved by the SEC, which will be students in Grade 10 and in our Diploma Programme. 
    • Families with students in those grade levels will receive a follow-up communication with further information soon. 
• We will follow up with an update on the potential of additional grade levels returning to campus once we have received communication from the SEC.

Requirements for Testing and Campus Entry

• As per the most recent announcement: 
  • Students will have temperatures checked twice per day, first on arrival (at the bus and front gate) and again at the end of the school day. 
  • Students will be required to undergo on-campus PCR testing every Tuesday and Thursday.
  • Current language states a student must have a negative PCR result from within 48 hours to return to campus. 
    • SCIS is requesting this be adjusted in line with the health authorities earlier request to minimize student and faculty testing at off-campus locations.
  • We are also very pleased to share that we are no longer required to collect a Daily Student Health Cards, so students will no longer need to fill out the paper form each day.

Campus Response to Positive Covid-19 Cases

• Students who are confirmed to have Covid-19 are required to remain home for 7 days and provide a negative NAT test result before returning to campus. 
• Current language states that all students within a test tube found to have a positive case will be asked to remain home for five days and test negative before returning to campus. 
  • SCIS is requesting an update on this policy, as this was a significant disruption to our ability to maintain on-campus learning the week before our holiday.

While we had hoped to have a different announcement regarding on-campus learning for all, please know we will continue to actively pursue a pathway toward a return to on-campus learning. Know that we remain prepared to move forward through the next phase of operation within the post-Zero-Covid policy era.

I wish you all a Happy New Year as we welcome 2023, may it bring health, happiness, and a return to campus!

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Community Update
Wednesday, December 21st, 2022

Dear SCIS Families, 

I hope you are all enjoying the first few days of our Winter holiday. As shared last Friday, I am writing to update you on our plan for determining our path forward in the weeks ahead. 

Following their mandate for all public schools to shift to virtual learning, the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) announced yesterday (Dec. 20) that International Schools must also comply with the directive for the time being. Per their communication, we are also now beholden to await their declaration for return-to-campus guidelines. However, they did not yet provide a timeline for when we should expect to receive the announcement. 

With that said, we are also aware that the health bureaus model for the Covid-19 peak of cases in Shanghai has moved up from early January to late December in the past weeks alone. We have also connected with schools across China that have already achieved their peak number of cases and have now engaged in returning-to-campus procedures. Considering these factors and the ever-changing landscape of post-Covid Zero regulations (including the continued dismanting of NAT/PCR testing requirements throughout the city), we can now see a pathway toward on-campus learning in January. 

As such, SCIS, along with other schools in the city, will continue to petition the SEC in the days ahead to achieve clarity needed to affirm our plan to strive for on-campus learning in January. In the meantime, if the SEC confirms they are unwilling to allow schools to return to on-campus learning in January or refuse to make an official announcement, we will stand ready to roll out our plan for school operations in January. The plan will include calendar changes that support a reduction in the total number of virtual learning days while also maintaining the number of school days required to bring our first-semester program to an effective close. 

I sincerely appreciate your ongoing patience as we work with our respective government authorities to navigate forward during this challenging post-Covid Zero period effectively. I will be back in your inbox before the end of next week with either an announcement for our return to-campus plan or, our planned change to our calendar to close out our first semester. In the meantime, I again wish you and your entire family all my best and hope you all enjoy good health, joyful moments, and happy memories as you progress through the winter holiday.

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Community Update
Friday, December 16th, 2022

Greetings SCIS Families, 

I hope this email finds you well as we enter our Winter holiday, our first within the post Covid-Zero era of regulations. This past week certainly has been a challenging one for our community, our city, and our host country of China as we face the fastest domestic increase in Covid cases since the onset of the pandemic itself. I share the information below in the hopes that it may provide you with an update on where we currently stand amid all the changes as well as how we are working toward what comes next. 

Travel Guidelines

Regardless of Domestic or International Travel SCIS has been asked to continue to have our community complete the SCIS Travel Form, if possible prior to your travels. 

Domestic Travel

• Most, if not all domestic travel restrictions have been completely removed. You are still urged to check on any local restrictions within the region you may be travelling to, to minimize any potential risk.
• Important: There is no longer a 3-day restriction for returning to campus after domestic travel. Your child may now return to campus under the standard requirements (see below), regardless of travel status.  

International Travel

• While there have been some changes to testing requirements for departure and return travel, there remains a 5+3 day quarantine in effect for those that return from overseas travel. 
• We understand there is potential change underway, but as of now, if a student has traveled overseas, they will be required to adhere to the 8-day quarantine and then, their return to campus requirements will align with the standard requirements (see below). 

Testing Requirements: 

• Campus Entry Testing Requirements:
  • NAT: A student must hold a negative NAT (PCR) test result posted within 24 hour for Mondays or after extended absences and 48 hours for Tuesdays through Fridays.
    • Given mandatory testing on Sundays, we have been advised that community testing sites should comply with the request for students to have single-tube tests performed.  
  • RAT: On Mondays, or after extended absences, a student must also perform an at-home Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and have a negative result before attempting to enter a school bus or campus gate. 
    • We have not been asked to collect the results of the RAT at this time. 
• On Campus NAT Covid Testing Requirements: 
  • Students will now perform on campus, mixed sample NAT’s each Tuesday and Thursday. 
    • Please note, SCIS has, and will continue to request the option to perform the tests as single tube samples, instead of mixed tube samples, unfortunately our requests have been denied thus far.
  • All visitors will be required to have a negative NAT result within 24 hours and submit to a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at the gate for entry. 

Summary of Week 1 Post-Covid Zero

Thank you once more for your understanding and patience as we managed the dual impact of Covid-19 cases spreading throughout our community and transitioning to Virtual Learning. I understand that some might have assumed with the lifting of Covid-zero, we may also see an immediate end to virtual learning. Unfortunately, this will not be the case. As we have now learned, we have and will continue to be required to undergo NAT testing. This will continue to create significant losses for our students, faculty, and staff as mixed tube results mean all ten individuals within an ‘abnormal result’ tube must remain home for five days after the test results are published.

This is the overwhelming burden we ultimately faced across our schools, as our Monday results would have required an additional 350 students (due to 35 identified tubes) to remain home for five days. That added to the over 30% student absentee rate we faced on Monday, and we would have had well over 50% of our students absent as of Tuesday. This same cycle was reflected across our faculty, support staff, and operational staff testing scenarios. As I shared in my previous email, our ultimate choice was to go with virtual learning as we believed it to be the most stable option, something we can now say held true as our virtual attendance from Tuesday onward averaged around 90%.

What does this mean going forward?

I have connected with schools across Shanghai, China (Beijing and Guangzhou are around two weeks ahead of us on the curve of cases) and outside of China to build an understanding of what we will face moving forward. While nothing is certain, it is clear that the next 4-6 weeks will be our most challenging as we build toward the peak of our first surge of cases in Shanghai. The reality is we likely have fewer cases of Covid in our community today than we will have throughout January. Thus, we will face the ongoing pressure of increasing cases, mixed tube results sending ten individuals home for potentially only one positive case, and the unknown reality of what, if any, new government policies or requirements may be placed upon our community.

These combined pressures, in addition to the unknown adjustments from the SEC and Education Bureaus, will likely mean we must stand ready to enter a period of transitions between on-campus and virtual learning. I have received a few requests asking for the specific trigger points that will cause campus closure, and the reality is there are many moving parts in a school that make a specific marker challenging to identify. Instead, we have to balance between the varying rate of absenteeism among faculty, operational staff, transportation staff, cafeteria staff, and, of course, students. We have a wide number of contingency plans to deal with any one of these factors. Still, it ultimately will be the compounding impact of multiple categories that force us toward campus closure. We will do our best to plan for this dynamic reality while we also work to be more transparent in our communication as we face these issues moving forward.  

Will we be Virtual or On-Campus in January?

Many are asking how we plan to deliver programming in the weeks set between the winter holiday and Chinese New Year. We are connecting with schools attempting to re-open next week and remain and continue to push for clarity from our government authorities. At the moment, I can only share that if we remain under our current policies, it will be incredibly challenging, given the peak of the first Covid surge is expected to arrive around January 6 in Shanghai, to operate consistently on campus. We also understand that clarity and early communication on our decision is critical, given its impact on travel plans. Still, as we have shared all along, our priority has been on-campus learning, so we appreciate your understanding that for us to connect with the various government offices and observe the re-opening experience of the schools, we will need until early next week before we make any firm decision on our program of delivery for January.

Please continue to check your email inbox next week as we work through critical decisions and a deeper understanding of new policies as they unfold. I appreciate your patience in reading through this email, and I wish you all good health, a pleasant weekend, and a happy start to our well-deserved winter holiday. 

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Community Update
Tuesday, December 13th, 2022

Dear SCIS HQ Main & ECE Campus Parents,

As shared earlier, we have transitioned to Virtual Learning at the HQ Main Campus as of today. We have now had to make the same decision for our HQ ECE Campus as of tomorrow.  Collectively, our HQ Main and ECE Campuses will remain in virtual learning through to the end of this school week

We had already hit a threshold of incredible student absentee rates, and unfortunately, based on the on-campus testing from Monday, we would have had a significant number more students and faculty who would need to remain home due to mixed test tube results.

I recognize the disturbance this may cause, but I appreciate your understanding that we would not make this decision were it not necessary.  With our ability to now focus on our collective health while maintaining a virtual learning experience, we are confident making this transition is the right decision.

We are working with government authorities to understand what expectations they will have for us in the coming weeks, as you will likely have noted, Shanghai Public Schools have now adjusted their winter holiday to accommodate the expected surge in cases in the weeks ahead. I will follow up with you all as soon as we have a solid understanding of how the changing regulatory landscape will affect our community as well. 

Thank you for your ongoing understanding and support.

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Community Update
Sunday, December 11th, 2022

Dear SCIS Families,

SCIS continues to work through the growing number of changed policies released from our municipal, health, and education authorities last week. As a school, we are doing our utmost to understand what has changed, how the announcements are being applied at district levels, and how to balance the adjustments needed between public school contexts and those of international schools (buses, students mixing throughout the day, etc.). As we continue through this effort, I wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to you all and highlight, once again, how our greatest opportunity for success moving forward will be through our partnership between home and school.

With the removal of most domestic Covid-zero regulations we are also witnessing a near immediate spread of active cases throughout Shanghai and, most unfortunately, the SCIS community. While the current numbers within our schools are relatively low, it is imperative that we work together to minimize the spread of Covid-19 within our school and maximize opportunities for us to continue to provide meaningful learning experiences. Please review the information below and thank you in advance for your support in taking the necessary precautions, action, and responsibility to support the health of our community:

• All students, faculty, and support staff must hold a negative NAT result within the past 48 hours when entering a school bus or campus gate.
  • SCIS is still able to perform NATs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on campus.
  • Any essential visitors seeking to enter campus must provide a negative NAT result from within the past 24 hours and may be asked to perform an antigen at the gate prior to entry.

If your child is ill (fever, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, etc.) please refrain from sending them to school until they have confirmed negative NAT results and have gone to the doctor confirming they are no longer going to spread their illness.

• If a student, or someone in a student's home has tested positive for Covid-19 (either from a NAT or from an initial home antigen RAT) they must remain at home and report the results to our school nurse (Pudong, HQ Main, & HQ ECE Campus) as soon as possible.
  • Our current understanding is the CDC minimum requirement is a 5 consecutive day home-quarantine, however, families will need to work with their neighborhood committee whose decision on length of quarantine prevails.
  • In order to return to campus following quarantine, our understanding is an individual will need to present a negative test result from within 24 hours (Green QR Code).
  • Siblings and household members of close contacts are also restricted from attending school during this 5-day period.

• If a student is within a classroom, bus, or advisory that has a confirmed positive for Covid-19 (NAT) they are identified as a Close Contact and must undergo a 5-day at-home health monitoring period.
  • They will only need to submit to one NAT on the 5^th day and, if the NAT is negative, submit the results to our school nurse (Pudong, HQ Main, & HQ ECE Campus) as soon as possible.
  • Siblings and household members of close contacts are not restricted from attending school during this 5-day period.

• If a student's result is part of an abnormal tube, they will be asked to perform another NAT to confirm their status and, if all results from within the tube are negative, they will be able to return to campus once the negative re-test results are posted and submitted to our school nurse (Pudong, HQ Main, & HQ ECE Campus) as soon as possible.

• Please know that SCIS will always communicate with each affected group via email. We will provide specific timelines and testing requirements in the email, as these may differ as noted above.  If you are uncertain of your child’s status and you have not heard from the school, you may contact your child’s homeroom/advisory teacher or Principal’s office to confirm.

Once again, maintaining a healthy school community will be reliant upon our collective energy, effort, and care. I thank you for your ongoing support and understanding as we work together through this transition to a reality of having active cases of Covid-19 within our community. We will continue to work with you and ultimately update you on adjusting regulations we will send a follow-up email regarding shifts to domestic travel restrictions.

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Community Update
Thursday, December 8th, 2022

Dear SCIS HQ Main Campus Families,

As of this afternoon, the Changning Education and Health authorities have confirmed the positive cases related to yesterday’s testing. Since then, we have been working with them to identify our return-to-campus requirements to bring our community back together as soon as possible.

Now that we have met the required re-testing and campus disinfecting steps, we are pleased to announce the following plan for our return to campus tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 9):

• All Faculty, Students, and Staff:
  • Are required to have a negative NAT result from a test taken today to enter buses or campus gates (no exceptions will be allowed)
  • Must perform 5 consecutive days of NATs (Today through Monday, December 12) at either on-campus or off-campus testing sites.
  • Are required to wear masks on buses and when entering campus gate
    • Faculty, staff, and students are requested to wear masks throughout the school day except during physical activities or when eating.
  • We also ask that all families keep their children home should they display any common Covid-19 symptoms:
    • Fever
    • Sore throat
    • Coughing, etc.
    • If you feel your child may have Covid or have questions about symptoms, please feel free to email our clinic at: hq-nurse@scis-china.org

• Classrooms located near the impacted rooms (Lower School Building’s 2^nd floor):
  • Will be asked to observe the following both tomorrow and Monday:
    • Will be required to minimize mixing with other classes, including:
      • Specialist Classes, Lunches, and Recesses.
      • Will not be able to participate in whole school events

• Classrooms with identified positive cases: 
  • Will be asked to remain in home quarantine under these measures:
    • The home quarantine will remain in effect through Monday (Dec. 12)
      • The classes are expected to be approved for return to campus on Tuesday (Dec. 13) if they observe the health authority's 5-day NAT mandate.

• Individuals with identified Covid-19:
  • We do not have the full requirements for their return, but have confirmed they are meant to comply with CDC instructions and that we will be informed when they are approved for a return to campus. 

Currently, we have not been requested by the government to take any further action. Nevertheless, our community’s safety is our priority, and we will continue with our previously enhanced Covid-19 health and safety cleaning and campus protocols.

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Community Update
Thursday, December 8th, 2022

Greetings SCIS Hongqiao Main Campus Community, 

Please know we continue to work with our government and health authorities in a proactive effort to achieve their requirements for campus re-opening.  At present, we continue to work with them to ensure all students within the test tubes with abnormal and positive results are re-tested, following that we will comply with their request to have our campus disinfected by a CDC vendor.  

Beyond our efforts to work in support of these requests, we also request that all HQ Main Students, Faculty, and Staff obtain a NAT today (Thursday, December 8). This will ensure everyone will meet the expected heightened requirement of a negative NAT result within 24 hours for campus entry. 

While we do not have confirmation on the status for tomorrow, we will follow up with you as soon as we receive word from our authorities, regardless of whether that means continued closure or a return to campus.

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Community Update
Wednesday, December 7th, 2022

Dear SCIS Hongqiao Main Campus Community, 

We have just received notification from our Changning Health authorities that due to some abnormal test results found within today’s on-campus tests, we are being asked to close campus. At this stage, we have only been informed that the closure will be for tomorrow, so that we can work with authorities, track any potential spread, and disinfect the campus.  

You will soon receive a communication from your child’s Principal shortly, outlining our Virtual Learning plans and updates on adjusted events planned for tomorrow. 

We will follow up tomorrow morning regarding any updates we may have as well as details on requirements for returning to campus.  For now, we thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming our students back as soon as possible.

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Community Reminder
Saturday, November 18th, 2022

Dear SCIS Parents,

As we shared earlier this week, our on-campus Covid-19 testing schedule has been shifted from daily testing to Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays only. Additionally, the requirement for students and faculty entering campus or buses has been adjusted to requiring a Green QR code with a negative test result posted within the past 48 hours.

Due to this 48-hour requirement, all SCIS students and faculty will be required to get a NAT off-campus on either Saturday or Sunday each weekend, in order to enter campus and buses on Monday mornings. Thank you for remembering to complete the test this weekend so we may have a smooth start to next week. 

With the 3-day weekend coming up for students next week, we have requested clarification from the Education Bureaus on the policy for students returning from domestic travel outside of Shanghai, we received the following confirmation that the previous policy remains in place, as shared below:

• The requirement of 2 negative NAT results taken within 3 days of a student's return from domestic travel outside of Shanghai remains. 
  • During this 3-day period, students will not be able to return to campus. 

As such, any travel outside of Shanghai will result in missed school days. Please remember to register any travel via our SCIS Covid-19 Travel Notification Survey prior to departure. 

As always, we will send timely updates should we receive them. 

Wishing you a pleasant weekend.

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Community Reminder
Friday, October 28th, 2022

Greetings SCIS Families,

Since we announced the 2022-23 school-year calendar in March, we have maintained that it would remain in place unless there were significant changes to China's Covid-19 related border control measures. Our goal was to ensure our community would be given a clear opportunity to travel internationally while minimizing disruption to on-campus learning. To achieve this, we identified measures we would need to observe significant change within, such as the re-entry quarantine timeline, Covid-19 testing requirements for re-entry (impact of testing positive while overseas), and the accessibility of flights.

Throughout September and October, some limited adjustments took place, but none that would prevent the significant potential of disruption to on-campus learning that a calendar change would bring about under the current set of border policies and requirements. With that, we targeted last week's 20th CPC National Congress to see if significant announcements might stem from the meeting. It is now one week past the conclusion of the meeting, and we still have no major announcements to consider that would impact our decision-making. In light of this and in recognition of our community's growing request for certainty, I hereby confirm that our current 2022-23 school year calendar (www.scis-china.org/calendar) will remain our calendar for this school year. 

Hopefully, the confirmation of our current 2-week winter holiday calendar will allow you to move forward with your holiday planning. We recognize that for many, this will now mean focusing on international travel during the summer of 2023. While I cannot confirm the 2023-24 school year calendar at this early stage, I can share that we expect to start next school year under similar requirements from the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) as we did this school year. This would mean our earliest opportunity for an on-campus start to the 2023-24 school year will be the week of August 28, 2023. 

Once again, thank you for your continued patience, understanding, and support as we worked through this decision-making process. I wish you all a pleasant weekend ahead.

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Community Reminder
Sunday, September 4th, 2022

Dear SCIS Parents,

This email is a reminder to all our families of the following Covid-19 testing requirement for campus entry:

• Students must complete a NAT the day before returning to school after weekends (every Sunday), holidays (the final day of a school holiday), or on the last day of an absence from school.
  • We suggest that students have a NAT between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM to ensure their results will be posted before our bus pick-up times on Monday.

In addition to the testing requirement above, please continue to review our Parent Action Checklist to see the other daily requirements for all students.

While overall, we had a very smooth start to our on-campus NAT testing process, we found one common issue: expired student Testing QR codes uploaded into the system. As such, we ask you to please review your child’s Testing QR code expiration date on the upload-nat website (link below) and if their code is set to expire this week (Sept 5 through 9), please help us by updating their code in the system as follows:

• Please follow this link to https://www.scis-china.org/upload-nat to find the instructions on updating your child’s testing code in our system.
  • Please do not send the testing code to the school via email, SeeSaw, Managebac, etc., as only a parent/guardian can upload the code into the system directly.

We continue to work with local authorities and our fellow international schools in Shanghai to improve the process further. We continue to appreciate your support in following all the requirements needed for us to return to campus successfully.

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Community Update Reminder: Important Steps Needed Before September 1
Thursday, September 1st, 2022

Greetings SCIS Hongqiao Families,

I am so pleased to share a brief update on our wonderful start to on-campus learning!

We were thrilled to welcome our students on campus for the first time since March 14, 2022. It was wonderful seeing the student’s smiling and eager faces coming off the bus and through the gates. Their happiness was matched only by that of our teachers and staff who are so grateful to have the opportunity to connect with students in person once again.

I am also pleased to tell you that we have now completed all Covid testing (NAT) at both our ECE and Main campuses. Even better, we were able to operate over 1,400 tests across both campuses in one hour. We hope to grow even more efficient as we fine tune our process. Please let me add that having valid Testing QR codes uploaded into our system is one simple way we could reduce the time it took us today. While it took one hour for the entire campus, most students had less than a 10-minute period of impacted time and we will continue to do all we can to protect our student learning time.

Thank you all for your partnership in supporting us with the many requirements including both surveys, uploading your child’s Testing QR code, and filling out the daily student health card. Together, our community has helped to create as smooth a process as possible, leading to a successful return to on-campus learning.

Please do remember to continue to have your child’s daily health card filled out and their Entry QR Code with the 24 hour negative test result ready to enter buses and gates tomorrow.

All my best,

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Community Update Reminder: Important Steps Needed Before September 1
Tuesday, August 30th, 2022

Dear SCIS Hongqiao Parents,

As we grow closer to our first day of on-campus learning this Thursday (Sept. 1), we are working hard to ensure every student will meet the requirements needed to enter our school busses or walk through our gates on the special day. Please now take a moment to ensure you have accomplished each of the important steps found in our SCIS Parent Action List and, for those items required before this Thursday, please review below:

• Before September 1^st: 
  • Fill out the 1^st survey (Parent Location Survey)*
  • Fill out the 2^nd survey (Student Covid History & Household Info Survey)*
  • Students must have completed a NAT either yesterday (Aug. 29^th) or today (Aug. 30^th)
  • Students must complete a NAT tomorrow (Aug. 31^st) after 8:00 AM
  • All students, Nursery through Grade 12 must have their Testing QR code uploaded via www.scis-china.org/upload-nat

*If you are having trouble accessing either survey #1 or #2, please contact Dr. David Mazer (dmazer@scis-china.org)

The items listed above are all required for your student to participate on our first day of on-campus learning. We would greatly appreciate if you would take a moment, this evening, to upload the Testing QR code via this link. This will allow our hard support team an opportunity to organize all the codes tomorrow, ensuring we will have a smooth testing process on Thursday.

Thank you for your time, effort, and cooperation.

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SCIS Community Update - August 18th
Friday, July 31st, 2022

Dear SCIS Families,

We eagerly anticipate welcoming new families to New Family Orientation on campus tomorrow (Friday, August 19) and all our students to the first day of school (virtually) next week. We are also pleased that schools are approved to welcome students to on-campus learning as of September 1^st.  We have also recently received further guidance from the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) regarding their return to on-campus learning requirements.

We will provide further details regarding the SEC and Health Authorities Covid Health and Prevention requirements in the days leading up to our return to on-campus learning. For now, I will provide the details we currently have regarding the expected requirements for our return to campus and the testing requirements.

New Family Orientation Campus Entry Guidelines:
To enter a SCIS Campus gate for ‘New Family Orientation,’ the requirements are:

• Parents/Guardians and students all have a temperature below 37.3 Celsius
• Parents/Guardians and, for students with their own code, a green SuiShen code (Shanghai Health Code) that represents a NAT completed within the past 72 hours
• Parents/Guardians and students are wearing a mask

September 1^st (First day of On-Campus Learning) Campus Entry Guidelines:
Students, Faculty, and Staff will be required to meet the following SEC/CDC mandates to enter a school bus or campus gate:

• A temperature below 37.3 Celsius
• A green SuiShen code that represents a NAT completed within the past 24 hours
• Masks worn on school busses and when entering and exiting campus gates
• Additional testing requirements for the two days before our first day of on-campus learning:
  • One NAT on August 30^th must be taken after 8:00 AM, as it must be within 48 hours of entering a bus or school gate
  • One NAT on August 31^st must be taken after 8:00 AM, as it must be within 24 hours of entering a bus or school gate
• A confirmed response to a mandatory location and travel history survey to verify the 14 consecutive days in Shanghai physical presence requirement:
  • A survey will follow this email to your inbox, and we ask that you complete it by Friday, August 26^th at 3:00 PM.

Testing Requirements for On-Campus School Days:
Testing required from the first day of on-campus learning (September 1^st) and beyond:

• All Students, Faculty, and Staff must undergo a daily NAT before departing from campus.
• All Students, Faculty, and Staff must undergo a NAT off-campus every Sunday to meet the requirement for entering a bus or campus on Monday morning
• Everyone on campus will undergo two temperature checks each day

Daily Health Forms:
SCIS will provide a Daily Student Health form to families before September 1^st. All students entering campus, or a school bus will be required to show their completed form which affirms both their and members of their household’s, health, and travel status.

Beginning of School Year Events:
We are pleased to be able to host an adjusted New Family Orientation in the days ahead. Further, we are planning on hosting our parent Back to School Nights (new dates to be announced soon) on campus as well.  At this stage, we expect we will not be approved to host our traditional Back to School BBQ, but we will continue to keep you updated in the weeks ahead as we learn more about our start to the school year.

I recognize that the daily testing, SuiShen code scanning, and ongoing contact tracing efforts add uncertainty and stress to our school year preparations. Please know that we are continuously seeking opportunities to work with government authorities to minimize the impact on our community. As we learn more, we will continue to share details with you all.

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SCIS Community Update - August 15th
Friday, July 31st, 2022

Greetings SCIS Families, 

I am glad to share that the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) has affirmed that schools in Shanghai are able to return to on-campus learning as of September 1^st.  With the announcement came some general guidelines on what we should expect for Covid-19 testing and mask requirements, but we must wait to receive clear details on return-to-campus protocols and requirements in the week ahead. We will update you all as soon as we receive clarity on the various requirements and expectations set for the return to campus.  

In the meantime, we continue to look forward to welcoming our New Families this Friday to our New Family Orientations and to starting our school year next Monday (August 22) via our Virtual Learning program.  You may read more about the SEC announcement in this Shine article. One thing to note is the importance of your child maintaining a 14-day physical presence in Shanghai prior to the first day of on-campus learning, that means all SCIS students will need to remain in Shanghai as from August 18^th forward.  

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SCIS Community Update - July 31st
Friday, July 31st, 2022

Greetings SCIS Families,
 
I hope this email finds you all well and enjoying the final weeks of our summer holiday. I am certain this communication has been eagerly anticipated and appreciate your patience as we worked through all the various steps in making the proper adjustments in the wake of the government announcement’s impact on our planned start to the school year.
 
Please find the updated calendar and related details below:
 
Updated SCIS 2022–2023 Calendar:
Our original 2022-23 school year calendar had the first day of instruction on August 17th, however due to the impact of the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) mandate on our start to the school year plans, we will now push our start date back to Monday, August 22. Further, we will start the school year via our Virtual Learning model while remaining ready to transition to on-campus learning as soon as the SEC permits (hopefully as of September 1st). Please note, our Early Years (Nursery, Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten) and Kindergarten students will also start the year virtually but will be engaged in an age-appropriate Virtual Transition program. Parents of Early Childhood students will receive further details about this program from Principals and our Admissions department shortly.
 
Please find the updated SCIS 2022-23 calendar on our website and note the adjustments represented within it below:

• Friday September 9th will now be a school day.
• Monday January 2nd will now be a school day.
• Thursday March 30th has been adjusted to a half day for students with Student Led Conferences in the afternoon. 

Potential Combined Winter & Chinese New Year Holiday:
As per our initial calendar announcement in March, the calendar linked above remains our official calendar, however, we will remain flexible and ready to adjust to a ‘Plan B’ calendar. This alternative calendar would establish a 5-week combined Winter and Chinese New Year holiday (potential dates December 23 to January 29). This would also likely adjust our final day of school to the date of June 21 to accommodate the additional days added to the winter holiday.
 
As previously announced, this decision will be dependent on border control policies that support international travel for our community. This would include consideration for quarantine timeline, accessibility of flights, and border control mechanisms (PU letter, testing, etc.)  Similar to last school year, we will work with government authorities, chambers of commerce, and solicit feedback with the aim of making a decision early enough to support travel plans. As occurred last year, we expect to announce the decision earlier, but we will affirm the plan no later than November 11, 2022.
 
Additional Physical Presence in Shanghai Requirement:
As shared in my previous email, the SEC also added 7 additional days to the physical presence in Shanghai requirement for entry to campus. Thus, the new requirement for entry is to maintain physical presence in Shanghai for 14 continuous days.

• In order to be ready for the possible return to campus date of September 1st, the 14-day requirement means all students should arrive in and remain in Shanghai as of August 18th. 

Beginning of School Year Events:
We are currently working with authorities to determine our ability to hold our traditional community-wide, in-person, beginning of the school year events (New Family Orientation, Open House, Back to School Nights, etc.). Please look for updates in the weeks ahead on how we will move forward with these community events and please take note of the following information:

• New Family Orientation/Open House August 19: If we are able to host these two events on campus on August 19, it is important for families to note that you will be required to meet all campus entry requirements (Negative test results from within the past 72 hours & physical presence within Shanghai for 14 consecutive days.) Based on these requirements, families looking to participate in these events would need to be in Shanghai from August 5th onward.

I recognize that these changes, on top of all our community has been through in recent months adds additional uncertainty and stress, and I remain hopeful it will not dampen the excitement we all have as we prepare for a positive start to the school year. We will continue to monitor the situation, stay connected with government authorities, and our fellow international schools in Shanghai. Further, we will follow up with any new and pertinent information and our administrators and I look forward to connecting with you in the coming week as we build toward the start of the 2022-23 school year.

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SCIS Community Update - July 22nd
Friday, July 22nd, 2022

Dear SCIS Community,
 
I hope this email finds you in good health and enjoying the summer holiday. Our entire team is focused on preparing for a successful start to the school year with our ever-present dedication to a safe and healthy learning environment. I wanted to share the recent decision set forth by the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) for all schools in Shanghai (Public, Private, and International). Critical details from the announcement include:

On Campus Start Date:

• Schools will not be permitted to hold on-campus learning prior to September 1st.
• At this time our understanding is this communique does not specifically confirm September 1st as the on-campus start date, it only sets it as the earliest possible return to campus date. 
  • We are working with our fellow Shanghai international schools and government agencies to verify this. 

Virtual Learning:

• In light of this mandate, SCIS will plan to start our 2022-23 school year via our Virtual Learning model.

Additional Physical Presence in Shanghai Requirement:

• In addition to their declaration for an on-campus start date, we have also been informed that all faculty, staff, and students must maintain physical presence in Shanghai based on an updated policy of 14 continuous days in Shanghai prior to entry to a campus. 
• All students should arrive in and remain in Shanghai as of August 18th in order to meet the required physical presence needed for the potential of a September 1 on-campus start date. 

Expected Calendar Shift: 

• Based on the additional physical presence requirement’s impact on our employees return to campus, SCIS will pursue a minimal adjustment to our start date.  
  • We expect to shift from the August 17th date to a start date falling within the week of August 22.  
  • We will confirm the updated calendar as soon as we have confirmation on our requests through to our government authorities. 

I will share our updated calendar with you at the earliest possible opportunity. You will be receiving a general ‘start to the school year’ update from my office in the coming week and you should also expect to receive specific information from campus and divisional administration regarding your child’s start to the school year shortly thereafter.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Have another question? Do not hesitate to send us your questions at communications@scis-china.org. 

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SEESAW FAQs & TIPS FOR FAMILIES

Understanding the Difference Between the Family and Class Apps 

The Family App... 

...is parent and caregiver-facing. Here, families log in to see their child’s or children’s journal. It is a communication tool that helps family members keep in touch with their child’s learning. Parents and caregivers can see the student work, like or “heart” the work, and make comments on it. The teacher can also message the parents and send announcements that are received through the Family App. Some students are motivated to do their best when they know that their family members will be providing feedback on or ask them about their work. 
 

The Class App...  

...is student-facing. Students use a variety of creative tools to capture their learning and thinking in a digital portfolio. This is also how students see the activities that have been assigned to them and turn in or submit responses to those activities. Teachers and students interact with the work and reflections that students share, and students benefit from the individual feedback. Students will log into the Class App using their Home Learning Code provided by the school. 

Seesaw Class and Seesaw Family Tutorial (Mandarin)

Watch Tutorial

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IMPORTANT LINKS

• How to Obtain a NAT QR Code
• Renewing a QR Code
• Seesaw
• ManageBac

Contacts

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