SCMS Family, Happy New Year! I hope each of you had a wonderful winter break with your family. I know my husband and I were blessed to be able to spend time with our children and grandchildren! We are excited to welcome our students back to our campus tomorrow morning, Wednesday, January 5th. We are looking forward to an exceptional second semester as we continue to give our very best to each other as educators, and to our students who we are so very privileged to serve. We thank you for your continued support as we work side-by-side to help each student reach their full potential, growing not just academically, but in their character and as a peer. Please continue to speak to your child about what they are learning and experiencing at school. We ask that you also continue to weekly sit with your child to review their academic progress via Focus. After speaking with your child, if you have questions/concerns, please immediately reach out to your child's teacher via school e-mail. Open, timely communication between the home and school is welcomed and is vital to your child's success. Below you will find an important Covid-related message from Superintendent Hanna. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Sue Warmly, Sue Rishell Principal Swift Creek Middle School 2100 Pedrick Road Tallahassee, FL 32317 Phone: 850-414-2670 Fax: 850-414-2650 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Important message from Superintendent Hanna: As we return to school, we are again faced with Covid challenges, this time it is the highly contagious Omicron variant. Omicron is much more transmissible than the Delta variant, however, estimates suggest that the hospital stay risk is much lower than Delta. There have been no local hospitalizations of school age children in the last several months and there are currently no pediatric hospitalizations. We certainly hope this continues to be the case. As we are required to follow the new State directives, there will be no changes for students regarding mask use, however, masks are strongly encouraged while indoors. Based on current advice from our health advisors, if a student tests positive, they should stay home for five days from the day of the test and can return if fever free and symptoms are improving. At this time, a negative Covid test is not required for a student to return to school after the five-day period. According to state directives, quarantines are no longer required for an exposure to Covid. Since the health department is no longer contact tracing, parents should watch closely for any symptoms. If cold-like symptoms develop, students should remain home until symptoms improve. We take our commitment to your child’s safety seriously and are working closely with the Leon County Department of Health to follow health guidelines and best practices during this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed. The health and safety of our students is our highest priority. Sincerely, Rocky Hanna ________________________________ *SUNSHINE LAW AND PUBLIC RECORDS CAUTION: Florida has a very broad Public Records Law. Virtually all written communications to or from School Board of Leon County, Florida Personnel are public records available to the public and media upon request. E-mail sent or received on the LCSB system will be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to State Law. Individual student records are deemed confidential.