The Singapore American School

Safe Management Measures Manual and Reopening Plan

Editor's Note:  The is Welcome Week at SAS. It is a plan made in close alliance and collaboration with the Singapore Government. There is within the safety plan a strong training component on the science of the virus and infection prevention– from social distancing, use of PPE material and expectations for not only faculty and staff, but also contractors to the school. A plan in the process of being implemented, vetted with and by experts.  

"For us to ensure everyone’s health and safety, it will take much more than trying to enforce a series of rules. It will take all of us working together, supporting each other,"

–Tom Boasberg

Table of Contents for the SAS Safety Plan

The SAS Safety Manual– specific, high expectations and everyone responsible

Twice daily temperature screening for everyone associated with the life of SAS

The American Nicaraguan School

–Distance Learning Plan–

As delineated in the Right Model, Right Moment section of the Tiger Reunification Plan, we may implement a range of three different learning models this school year. All three will prioritize our Mission-driven education anchored by ANS core values. The following sections seek to clarify the methodology and programming for the Distance and Hybrid Learning Models.

The reader will notice that the methodology and programming are anchored in a shared philosophy of learning aligned to our Mission. To develop students capable of realizing their leadership potential, the reader will notice an emphasis on core subjects in synchronous sessions to ensure capability in college readiness benchmarks. The reader will notice an expectation of students leading their own learning: making choices from menus of learning, enrichment activities and text types.

To develop critical thinkers and ethical individuals, the reader will notice a curricular emphasis on divergent viewpoints, multimodal content and collaboration amongst individuals. The reader may notice how this curricular focus is contrasted with the restrained use of textbooks, worksheets and other basal types of learning that better fit the Industrial Revolution mold of schooling.

Finally, technology is not the focus of our Mission-driven school; rather, it is a set of tools that opens windows into learning. To make meaningful contributions to society, one must use tools fluently yet purposefully with positive impact. The interactions your child will have necessarily will often take them to experiences off the screen, whether at school or at a distance.

Guidelines for scheduled synchronous AND asynchronous learning time

A lovely touch on reinforcing student learning success– but at home

At the heart of it all is the ANS Digital Citizenship focus

An Interview with China's "Bat Woman": Shi Zhengli 

(From Science Magazine)

The coronavirus pandemic has thrust virologist Shi Zhengli into a fierce spotlight. Shi, who’s been nicknamed “Bat Woman,” heads a group that studies bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), in the city in China where the pandemic began, and many have speculated that the virus that causes COVID-19 accidentally escaped from her lab—a theory promoted by U.S. President Trump. Some have even suggested it could have been engineered there.

"We first received the clinical samples of SARS-CoV-2 on December 30 2019, which were called back then samples of “pneumonia with unknown etiology”. Subsequently, we rapidly conducted research in parallel with other domestic institutions, and quickly identified the pathogen. The complete genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was submitted and published via WHO on January 12. Before that, we had never been in contact with or studied this virus, nor did we know of its existence. Scientists from around the world have overwhelmingly concluded that SARS-CoV-2 originated naturally rather than from any institution." 

–Dr. Shi Zhengli

China has forcefully rejected such claims, but Shi (pronounced SHUH) herself has said very little publicly. Now, Shi has broken her silence about the details of her work. On 15 July, she emailed Science answers to a series of written questions about the virus’ origin and the research at her institute. In them, Shi hit back at speculation that the virus leaked from WIV. She and her colleagues discovered the virus in late 2019, she says, in samples from patients who had a pneumonia of unknown origin. “Before that, we had never been in contact with or studied this virus, nor did we know of its existence,” Shi wrote. The transcript of the interview is worth reading in full.

(Scientific American)

Moderna's Phase 3 Trial with the

National Institutes of Health Begins Today

Biotech company Moderna has been making some pretty promising strides in developing and testing its covid-19 vaccine. The company just announced it was working with the National Institutes of Health to launch what will be one of the largest vaccine Covid-19 trials, a phase 3 study enrolling tens of thousands of American volunteers to assess whether the vaccine could truly protect people from infection. Here’s what you need to know. 

How does the vaccine work? Moderna’s vaccine works by introducing a viral messenger RNA (mRNA) into the body for human cells to pick up. The human cells use the mRNA to create a fragment of SARS-CoV-2 viral particle should not cause an infection, but is enough for the immune system to recognize as a foreign antigen. The immune system learns to recognize the fragment and respond to it such that if the real SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the body, the immune system is able to quickly respond to it before a full-blown infection can occur. 

How promising is this vaccine? There has never before been a successful vaccine created out of mRNA. If this vaccine works, it will be the first of its kind. That’s not exactly super encouraging news, but on the plus side, the vaccine has shown promising results in earlier trials, with the vaccine leading to strong immune responses with tolerable side effects. But while phase 1 and phase 2 trials are designed to check whether the vaccine is safe, phase 3 trials are the ones that actually look into how effective a vaccine is in preventing infection.  

(from Coronavirus Tech Report, MIT)

–THE NEWS of COVID-19–

16,339,678 Cases Worldwide (Johns Hopkins CSSE)

As of 11:45 a.m. EDT on Monday, July 27 there are 16,339,678 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally, with 4,238,500 cases in the US. There have been 646,641 deaths, of which 146,968 were in the US. The US remains the main hotspot for the disease, followed by Brazil, Russia, and India. (MIT)

The "Three New Yorks" in the USA

A surge in coronavirus cases has made California and other hard-hit states resemble “three New Yorks,” the epicenter of the nation’s COVID-19 crisis in the spring, but there are signs the wave is abating, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said Friday. “We’re already starting to see some plateauing in these critically four states that have really suffered under the last four weeks, so Texas, California, Arizona and Florida, those major metros and throughout their counties,” Dr. Deborah Birx said in an interview on NBC’s “Today." “And I just want to make it clear to the American public: What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks with these three major states,” she said, apparently referring to Texas, California and Florida, the most populous of the states she listed. (The Los Angeles Times) 

Infections Increase in Spain

Public authorities in Spain announced new measures to slow the spread of the new coronavirus as the number of cases continued to rise after weeks of relatively low infection rates. Spain’s national health ministry reported 2,255 new cases on Friday, which following Thursday’s figure of 2,615 new cases, indicated a resurgence of the pandemic. Spain has been one of the European countries worst hit by Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. On a single day in early April, 950 people in the country died of the disease. The national death toll now stands at 28,432. But in June, following a marked drop in the number of deaths and new cases, the government lifted a nationwide lockdown, allowing Spaniards to begin reviving their deeply ingrained culture of nightlife. (The Wall Street Journal)

Second Wave of Infections Around the World

Health officials around the world are trying to tackle second waves of the pandemic, with outbreaks from China to Spain underlining the difficulty of stamping out the virus. China reported the greatest number of domestic cases since mid-March amid flareups in the west and northeast. Hong Kong imposed new restrictions as a renewed outbreak showed no sign of abating. A British researcher said the effectiveness of any vaccine is likely to depend on annual doses. India’s epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week. Spain is scrambling to stay ahead of new outbreaks that prompted the U.K. to impose a quarantine on travelers returning from the country. Cases fell in many hard-hit U.S. states, including Florida, Arizona, California and Texas, though reported numbers are often incomplete on weekends. (Bloomberg News, Financial Times)

South Africa is Buckling Under COVID-Threat

Yet With the Hope of "Unbantu"

From the coronavirus pandemic’s first months, the World Health Organization warned that Africa’s health systems would struggle to cope if the virus began to spread on the continent. That prediction is starting to be realized, as Nature has reported from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. But more than half of the continent’s 780,000 reported cases are in South Africa. Initially, a hard five-week lockdown from 27 March helped to keep numbers low, but that became economically ruinous as three million South Africans lost their jobs. The official death toll stands at 6,000, but as with other countries, this is likely to be an undercount, according to the South African Medical Research Council. The government had been easing restrictions to restart the economy, but has again closed schools for four weeks. Health minister Zweli Mkhize has urged citizens to admonish family and friends who are not adhering to social distancing, mask-wearing or hand washing. Salim Abdool Karim a South Africa epidemiologist says, “The best protection we have from this virus is ubuntu — a South African word that means ‘I am because you are’. I am safe because you are safe.”

A USA Shuttered Again– A Redo?

Researchers project up to 175,000 deaths linked to the virus by August 15, according to an ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With overwhelmed hospitals and lengthy delays in testing, some local leaders -- including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti -- said a second stay-at-home order might be possible. That kind of drastic measure is supported by more than 150 prominent medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and other experts who signed a letter urging leaders to shut the country down and start over to contain the rampant spread of the virus.

"Right now, we are on a path to lose more than 200,000 American lives by November 1st. Yet, in many states people can drink in bars, get a haircut, eat inside a restaurant, get a tattoo, get a massage, and do myriad other normal, pleasant, but non-essential activities," read the letter, which was sent to the Trump administration, members of Congress and state governors.

–This Week's CONVERSATION– (summer schedule)

Be with us on July 30–8:00AM EDT

–Tracking the Virus– 

–FROM THE WHO and JOHNS HOPKINS CSSE–

A Final Note: The AAIE COVID-19 Briefing is provided to support your leadership for the school community you serve. We encourage you to use these resources in any way, shape or form that helps you, your communications and toward furthering close relationships across your community.  – The AAIE Board