COVID-19 Update: Mandates for In-Person Classes

July 29, 2020

Good Afternoon PAA Family,

Yesterday, Oregon’s governor, Kate Brown, shared new guidelines for Oregon schools which apply to PAA, and I would like to share with you.

We now have three metrics to follow in order to teach in-person. They are:

1. Oregon’s percent of positive tests for preceding 7 days must be less than or equal to 5% (for 3 weeks in a row). We are close to this! The numbers for the last three weeks were 5.9%, 5.4%, and 5.1%.

2. Multnomah county’s percent of positive tests for the preceding 7 days must be less than or equal to 5% (for 3 weeks in a row). We are close to this also! The numbers for the last three weeks were 5.7%, 6.1%, and 4.9%.

3. Multnomah county’s number of cases per 100,000 people must be less than or equal to 10 for the last 7 days (for 3 weeks in a row). This goal is further away. The numbers for the last three weeks were 48.6, 72.8, and 55.5.

Once those three metrics are met we can be in-person.

Until those metrics are met we will be eLearning.

We are hopeful that COVID cases will continue to decline in Multnomah county and throughout the state. The governor encouraged each of us to wear face coverings, wash our hands, and physical distance to facilitate lowering our numbers.

We will look at those metrics as they are posted each week in order to bring students on campus as quickly as possible! I would love for that to happen by August 26th. As a school, we are small and flexible (wonderful strengths), which will allow us to switch to teaching in person more quickly than larger schools. The local public school district announcements that they will be distance learning until November DO NOT apply to us!

When we are in-person or eLearning, we are going to do it excellently! I am so proud of how smoothly we all transitioned to eLearning last spring.

Some pieces that were very important to us were:

1. helping students stay connected to each other,

2. teachers staying connected with students,

3. providing quality instruction and content,

4. encouraging students,

5. structure,

6. and looking for ways to engage and support every student.

I know that with our experience to reflect on, and the feedback we’ve received, we will do even better during the times we have to eTeach this fall, providing learning, growth, challenge, encouragement, connection, community, and relationship.

PAA will be in-person every single moment we are allowed.

We are so excited to be together again, it might be just a couple weeks eLearning before we can be together in-person. Until then, we will celebrate seeing each other in our classes and activities through our screens.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Principal, Mechelle Peinado 503.255.8372 || mpeinado@paasda.org

P.S. Click HERE for our COVID-19 resource page and for weekly metrics and updates on our status.

Portland Adventist Academy will always uphold county and state pandemic mandates. We will always work hard to protect the wellness and safety of our students, staff, and greater community. When we are able to meet in person, students must maintain social distance. That means space is limited because class sizes are capped. Enroll now HERE or book an in-person distanced or a virtual tour  HERE. Read about how PAA demonstrated resilience during distance-learning last spring quarter.