Guiding Principles
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us to reimagine our education and adapt in ways we never expected.
Looking forward to the 2020-21 school year and beyond, Valley Torah High School is resolved to do everything it can to reopen our school buildings, because we believe doing so is in the best interest of our students. We recognize that we need to find a roadmap to reopening our campuses safely with the health and well-being of our entire community in mind.
Our Roadmap to Reopening is guided by the assumption that a vaccine will not be available in 2020, which means VTHS needs to be able to respond quickly to circumstances in our camp, school, community, as well as to conditions in the greater Los Angeles area.
Even as we plan to reopen our buildings, we know that we may need to close them again with very little advance warning. This means VTHS must prepare to adapt and alternate between different learning models designed to fit a variety of circumstances.
Valley Torah High School would like to thank our students for their resilience, adaptability, and spirit; our parents for their support, patience, and understanding; and our faculty and staff for their creativity, professionalism, and dedication.
This roadmap is guided by five principles:
- Prioritize student, faculty, and staff health, safety, and well-being above other principles.
- Act in accordance with the Valley Torah High School Mission Statement.
- Provide face-to-face learning over remote learning whenever it is safe to do so.
- Promote practices and policies to reduce risk of virus transmission by ensuring hygiene and health related policies are research based, clearly communicated, effectively implemented, and diligently enforced.
- Demonstrate flexibility and fluidity by preparing various scenarios with the ability to move from different models on a weekly or even daily basis.This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us to reimagine our education and adapt in ways we never expected.
Looking forward to the 2020-21 school year and beyond, Valley Torah High School is resolved to do everything it can to reopen our school buildings, because we believe doing so is in the best interest of our students. We recognize that we need to find a roadmap to reopening our campuses safely with the health and well-being of our entire community in mind.
Mission-Directed in a Time of Crisis
Values matter, especially during a crisis, allowing individuals and institutions to orient themselves and set priorities quickly. They permit us to navigate confusion, turmoil, and emotion. They compel us to reflect on our relationships with, and obligations to, others. Most importantly, they inform our decisions and actions. That said, our Mission Statement will be our foundation for planning, acting and decision making.
Valley Torah High School Mission Statement
Our mission at Valley Torah High School is to provide an excellent Torah and College Preparatory program that inspires our students to lead lives dedicated to Torah values, the pursuit of higher education and personal growth, resulting in a successful interface with an ever-changing world.
Responsibilities within the Valley Torah High School Community
As a member of our Valley Torah High School community, every student, teacher, and staff member has a fundamental right to be valued and cared for, and that includes the expectation of physical safety. While it is possible that students, teachers, or staff members will be exposed to COVID-19 over the course of their work or studies, everyone is entitled to expect that every effort and reasonable precaution will be taken to prevent this from happening.
We expect our Valley Torah family to have a love for and commitment to Klal Yisrael with a responsibility to advance the welfare of all humanity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this means complying willingly with rules and policies designed to keep our community safe and healthy. This includes thinking of others, appreciating that their risk tolerance might be lower than ours, and adjusting our behavior with sensitivity and respect, even when inconvenient to ourselves.
We expect our respect and sense of responsibility to others to be visible in myriad ways, including the following:
- All members of our community and visitors to our buildings must wear masks, wash and disinfect their hands frequently, and mind physical distancing norms.
- All members of our community and visitors to our school must follow self- screening guidelines for symptoms of illness and refrain from coming to the school when symptomatic.
- All members of our community and visitors to our buildings will cooperate with staff asking to verify their health and taking their temperature before entering our campus.
Per the CDC, symptoms include fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea.
- All members of our community and visitors to our school must comply with self-quarantine rules regarding exposure to COVID-19 and recent overseas travel.
- All members of our community and visitors must take responsibility for maintaining a healthy environment by showing respect and concern for safety for all school staff members including teachers, office staff, administration, maintenance staff and bus/van drivers.
To navigate this unprecedented public health challenge, mutual respect, trust, and a deep sense of our reciprocal obligations to one another will be essential.