- Washington Elementary School
- Homepage
Welcome Back Message from Superintendent Boyd
March 1, 2021
Dear Lowell Public Schools Students, Families and Staff,
We’re approaching one year since our district experienced its first impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. So much has changed since then and I remain grateful for your patience, flexibility and understanding throughout this process as we have worked to deliver the highest quality education to our students, regardless of the setting. We've experienced many ups and downs, but with the recent rollout of the vaccine and declining COVID-19 numbers here in Lowell and across the state, we are confident that brighter days are ahead as we enter into the final months of the school year.
Despite the dreary weather, today was one of those bright days. Our second group of students returned to in-person instruction today, and we now have approximately 3,000 students back on campus - the most students we've had in-person since the middle of October. What a great way to mark the 100th day of school for LPS students. With our classrooms no longer physically empty, our buildings are once again centers for learning and socializing.
As part of the reopening process, we are offering voluntary free weekly COVID-19 pool testing. This testing will lower the risk of spread of COVID-19 by helping to identify those positive cases in people who do not show any symptoms of COVID-19, and I’m pleased to report that there were no positive tests in our first round of pool testing. In order to participate, parents/guardians are required to sign a consent form for their child. Click here to learn more about this program and for the consent form.
We're also looking forward to welcoming back more students to in-person learning in early April and will continue to keep you posted about our plans as we approach this next target date. Please be on the lookout for invitations to join us for online community forums in mid-March as we discuss our expansion plans for in-person learning.
Finally, for the latest COVID-19 data, updates and information, please visit our LPS COVID-19 Dashboard. I encourage the LPS community to utilize this great resource.
Thank you for your continued partnership and continue to stay safe. Even though COVID numbers continue to improve, the virus is still prevalent and we must continue to take precautions like practicing social distancing and wearing a mask in order to assure that we can have more students physically return to the classroom.
Sincerely,
Dr. Joel D. Boyd
Superintendent of Schools