A special message from Principal Yacubovich

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 02/28/2022 07:46 PM EST

Pine Spring Family,

Starting tomorrow, March 1st, families and staff members will have the opportunity to determine if mask-wearing is still a safety mitigation strategy they want to use during the school day. 

We understand that this change will impact people differently, and at Pine Spring, we will continue to respect your decision as you determine what is best for your family.  We ask that you spend some time tonight or tomorrow morning talking with your child about this change. Talk with your child about your family's choice. Please know that it will be up to each family to ensure that your child understands your wishes. Pine Spring teachers will not be monitoring family mask wishes. This is something that needs to be addressed at home. 

As a community, starting tomorrow, it will be vital that we all work with our children to understand that some individuals will be with or without a mask. We will focus on the understanding that everyone is making the choice that best meets their needs. This change is a wonderful opportunity to teach our children that it is important to accept people’s choices, even if they differ from our own. 

Below are some important updates around the new changes: 

  • School Buses and Vans - Because community levels are low, masks are now optional on school buses and vans. 
  • Contact Tracing - The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) no longer requires schools to contact trace individual COVID-19 cases. As a result, FCPS will no longer contact trace individual cases. Contact tracing will occur in FCPS if there is an outbreak in accordance with the VDH requirement. 
  • Communication- Families and staff will get a daily notification if a COVID-19 case has been reported to the school that day. The daily communication is for information purposes only. Friday notifications will be discontinued.
  • StreamIN/CheckIN - StreamIN/CheckIN will continue for students in isolation following a COVID diagnosis and, when needed, in response to an outbreak.
  • Volunteers- Pine Spring will again welcome volunteers into the classrooms. Please note that we will not yet invite families to have lunch with their students due to space.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Principal Yacubovich or Assistant Principal Ganci. We stand ready to support you.