Dear NWCS Families,

Hope you are doing well. With a lot of information passing through about virus outbreak at any media outlets, we all have to exercise extra caution when going to public places. We took extra time to plan our first web learning session this Saturday. We will start our web classroom at 9:00 AM on 3/14/20. Please have your kids ready and situated in your home before class time. Below are the web platforms for our classes. Please follow each teacher’s web learning instruction to join the remote class. For those classes using ZOOM, first time user will be asked to download and install ZOOM software. For elementary school classes, we recommend parents’ assistance to join the web class.

Class teacher will share with you about web class meeting ID (10-digit number for ZOOM) or Google Meet/Hangouts web link. If you don’t receive such information by midday on Friday, please contact your class teacher and request meeting information.

We expect some issues and delays from technology connection. If you are familiar with video conferencing, please join your class teacher to help with the connection. If any questions regarding this try out session, please contact your teacher or reach out to school management members.

Best Regards,
Rick Chan 詹文芳

NWCS Principal
principal@nwcsny.org

Dear NWCS Families,

We had a smooth opening of our spring semester last week. That said, we can’t let our guard down with the Coronavirus. We stay in close communication with our local school district to ensure our information sharing channel stay open.

(1). NWCS class will be canceled this weekend due to concerns about the virus spread.

(2). We are putting a contingency plan. We will provide either remote learning via web based service like Google Hangouts / ZOOM or direct 1-on-1 FaceTime / Skype once a week for 15 minutes in case of school closure. Some teachers have GoogleClass in place for homework assignment and learning materials. We will continue to expand digital for our classes.

(3). Encourage your children to wash their hands frequently and cover their mouth should they cough. These simple precautions have proven effective in combating a virus as is staying home when feeling sick. In fact, we ask that if your child is ill with a fever and/or cough, that your child stay home from school. A child should remain home until fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications. If possible, measure temperature morning and evening. In fact, we encourage parents to consider exercising additional caution should a child exhibit cough or flu-like symptoms and keep them home.

Please find below guidance from government health departments. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s health, please feel free to contact me or class teachers directly.

Additional Information

CDC’s dedicated 2019-nCoV website
NYSDOH’s dedicated 2019-nCoV website
NYSDOH directory of local health departments
New York State Center for School Health website

Best Regards,
Rick Chan 詹文芳

NWCS Principal
principal@nwcsny.org

Dear NWCS families,

Hope you are having a pleasant winter break.
Please note that our Spring 2020 semester starts Next Saturday, February 29th.
Kindly remind the kid(s) to finish their winter break homework!

This newsletter comes out earlier than usual because I would like to share with you some concerns we all might have about the novel coronavirus outbreak over these past few weeks. As we turn on the TV, browse internet news outlets, this is definitely enough to catch our attention and concern.

At the time of this writing, there is no confirmed case reported in our area although there is a report indicating some being asked to administer in-house self isolation for 2 weeks. We are monitoring the development very closely and will take proactive measurement if the situation is deemed necessary. Please take a few moments to visit CDC web site regarding things you should know, situation update, and information about the virus.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Here are some additional suggestions I’d like to suggest all families to follow:

(1). For families who have traveled abroad (to any countries, not just specific to certain Asian countries) or layover at foreign international airports, from the day of returning home, please administer in-house self isolation for at least 14 days and wait for the passing of virus incubation period. This extra precaution measure is to protect our community members for a healthy learning environment. Also, NWCS shares school facility with Briarcliff public school. We need to set standard high to make sure everyone is safe and healthy.

(2). Because of many common symptoms with regular flu, it is easy to miss the early treatment. If there is any sign of flu like symptom, please seek for professional medical opinion immediately.

(3). You probably have read some discriminatory incidences in the media. I couldn’t emphasize enough how important this is for our community. At this unusual time, please take a few minutes to discuss related matter with your child(ren). I have communicated with each teacher to make sure our students follow this policy. As a school community, we will support each other and make sure everyone is welcome.

(4). The outbreak is fluid and changes everyday. A dynamic and flexible policy is our goal to keep our students’ learning going. We will keep a close communication with local school health department and follow their medical guidance. We will actively explore ways to offer remote teaching if the situation requires.

(5). This year’s flu season seems has wider and longer impact than previous years. If you or your kid(s) catch a flu during school time, please follow school guide lines and inform teachers or me directly.

With all these guidance, I hope every family will take this into your own heart and follow. Our family’s health should be the priority. I am open for any suggestions to safe guard our community.

Finally, in case there is a weather related issue, NWCS will broadcast school closings or emergency notifications by text via Remind , in addition to emails.
If you have not yet subscribed to Remind for NWCS, please follow the below instructions to join.

Remind Notification Signup
Sending a text to 81010 with message text @nwcsnotify
You’ll receive a welcome text from Remind.
If having trouble texting to 81010, then try texting to (478) 225-3884 with message text @nwcsnotify

Best Regards,
Rick Chan 詹文芳

NWCS Principal
principal@nwcsny.org