WACO, TX — Earlier today, Joseph Alexander, principal of Indian Spring Middle School, sent the following message to Indian Spring families and employees explaining that the school would be closing today at 1 pm due to COVID-19:
“Transformation Waco has made the decision to close Indian Spring Middle School at 1 p.m. today, Thursday, Nov. 5. We will transition to fully remote instruction, and the campus will remain closed for in-person instruction through at least next Thursday. At this time, we plan to reopen for in-person instruction on Friday, Nov. 13.
While only two people at our campus have reported testing positive for COVID-19 so far this week, a significant number of employees are currently quarantining as a result of those and earlier cases. Most of our educators are able to teach remotely.
However, the number of employees out presents a challenge for appropriately supervising students without bringing large groups of students together in the same space. Because of that, we made the decision to transition to fully remote instruction for the next five school days.
Today, we will begin dismissing students at 1 p.m. We will follow our normal dismissal procedures, and buses will run their regular routes starting at 1 p.m. If you pick up your student, please do so as close to 1 p.m. as possible.
Before leaving today, all of our in-person students will receive a device to take home with them. Any students without internet access at home will also be able to check out a mobile hotspot.
If you need technical assistance with your student’s Chromebook or a mobile hotspot, you can reach our student help desk between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday by calling 254-284-1072.
We are continuing to work closely with the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District. All areas of the campus will be deep cleaned and sanitized using hospital-grade disinfectants before the campus reopens for in-person instruction.
We will also have rapid tests available to screen in-person students and employees at Indian Spring Middle School for COVID-19 before the campus reopens.
Thank you for helping us make this transition to remote learning as smooth as possible. As always, if there is something that your student needs to be successful, please let us know.”
