Dear Crowden Friends,

As we move into August, I want to give you a few updates about Crowden's plans for reopening. As you may already know, Governor Newsom announced on July 17 that California schools may not open in person until their Counties are off of the "watchlist" for at least 14 consecutive days. Alameda County has been on the watchlist since July 12.

For this reason, and for a variety of reasons—including community health and our local Shelter-in-Place Order—all Crowden School academic classes will start the year in a remote learning format until at least October 2. We are currently working with the Public Health Departments of Alameda County and the City of Berkeley to explore the possibility of limited in-person music classes and lessons, both for The Crowden School and for our community education programs.

When Alameda County moves off of the state watchlist, we will resume in-person instruction as soon as we are safely able to, and approved to do so. We greatly appreciate your continued patience and flexibility as we navigate these uncharted waters.

Many of you may be aware that the Governor announcement left open the possibility that elementary schools could apply to their County Superintendent of Schools for a waiver to reopen. At this time, Alameda County has confirmed that it does not have a process in place for such a waiver.

Crowden’s senior Leadership Team and ReOpening Task Force have been working above and beyond to keep abreast of all developments, and to carefully plan safe ways for the Crowden community to return to our programs. We appreciate your patience as we work toward our common goal of reconvening, while also ensuring that our staff members take care of their own physical and mental health. Please consult crowden.org/covid to see our planning and protocols for our youth Chamber Music Workshop, which met in person over three weeks this summer. This resource will be updated for the fall semester throughout August as we refine our plans according to the evolving government guidelines.

We hope to be able to send out more details soon. In the meantime, please stay safe and keep your souls singing!

Warmly,

Doris Fukawa
Executive and Artistic Director