Health and Safety Review: 2020-21

As we wrap up the 2020-21 academic year, I wish to thank the entire community for their support of our COVID-19 mitigation measures. From the beginning, we set the goal of trying to offer as much face-to-face learning as we could safely manage.  I am very pleased with our success, particularly when compared to other schools around the world.
 
First and foremost, I am very proud that we have not found a single case of on-campus transmission of the virus. This is evidence that our mitigation measures – when faithfully applied – discourage the spread of the virus. Many thanks to our staff and students for their diligent enforcement of these measures.
 
Second, I am thrilled that we have been able to maintain a largely on-campus educational experience for our students. There were certainly times when we had to close the campus entirely, either because of government decree or because we felt that the level of community transmission was too high to open safely. There were also a few times when we had to move certain grade levels or parts of grade levels to distance learning temporarily, but luckily, those instances were relatively rare. Overall, even our most affected grade levels were still able to be on campus for about 75% of the school year. Some grade levels were on campus for as much as 85%.  Given that there are schools in some parts of the world that still have not reopened their campuses, I believe that we have fared quite well.
 
I feel strongly that the reason for this level of success is that we made our decisions based on the data that we had and the scientific research that was available. We disciplined ourselves not to be driven by fear and emotions, as tempting as it was at times. This is a credit to the team.
 
And speaking of the team, there many people who I wish to recognize for their part in managing our school’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• The AISL Staff: Working on the front lines of pandemic schooling was one of the great professional challenges of our lifetimes. Switching between three Learning Paths or, at times, running all three at once was grueling. On top of that, staff had to police the students and each other to ensure that our health and safety protocols were met. This meant additional duties and a heavy burden of responsibility. Furthermore, the majority of the team were working harder than ever while being paid less, an unfortunate consequence of our pandemic-related loss of enrolment.
• The AISL Students: While still challenging, policing the students for fidelity to our health and safety protocols was much easier than any of us anticipated because the students took their responsibilities seriously. Yes, there were plenty of times when we had to remind, nag, give warnings, and occasionally issue consequences but, overall, these incidents were less common than one might think. Our students generally chose the principled path of looking out for their own health as well as those around them.
• The Board of Directors: These seven volunteers got way more than they had bargained for once the pandemic struck. We went from monthly meetings to weekly ones – sometimes even twice per week. When we weren’t meeting there were WhatsApp and email threads to follow. Our board members asked good questions, offered sound advice, and provided the support the school needed to move forward.
• The COVID-19 Task Force: This volunteer task force included parents with backgrounds in medicine or public health along with several members of our leadership team. They were responsible for drafting, reviewing, and revising our health and safety protocols. During our meetings we reviewed the data we had and the research that was available and then adapted what we learned to suit our own local and school context. Please join me in thanking the members of this team: Andrew Karlyn, Darlene Huson, David Burrows, Driekie Smith, Ingrid Turner, Martina Van Vlaanderen, Rick Odum, Sheila Seiler, Thomas Koestler, Jennifer Anunsacion, Sam Yingst, and Simon Cole. They played a critical role in our health and safety success!
• The Zambia office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The local CDC office was an indispensable resource for us. The entire Zambia CDC team gave generously of their time to review and comment on our various protocols. I wish to particularly recognize Dr. Simon Agolory and Sam Yingst. I relied very heavily on them at times and, despite their busy schedules, they were always happy to take my calls and help me process the complicated scenarios we often faced. We were very lucky to be able to rely on their experience and expertise.
• Our Operations Team:  Health and Safety Compliance Officer, Sonia Old, took on this new role with gusto. She coordinated our health and safety measures, ordered equipment, posted signs, managed cleaning schedules, and so much more. Facilities Manager, Martina Van Vlaanderen, and Security Manager, Mark Haynes made sure that our gardening, maintenance, and security personnel and practices were compliant with our protocols.
• Our School Nurse: Nurse Jennifer Anunsacion has always done amazing work for us. Her kind and caring manner has been a reassurance for both staff and students over the years. The pandemic probably tripled her workload as she worked on contact tracing, managed communication with affected individuals, liaised with health officials, tracked a range of health data from our community, and so much more. 

The school has been very lucky to have all these caring and dedicated individuals working to keep us all safe and healthy. Thanks to their hard work, I believe that AISL managed to weather the pandemic quite well this year. Please join me in thanking them all for their hard work!