The Eagle Beat

August

• 18th: Middle School and New Student Orientations
• 18th: Virtual Welcome for All QSI Families: Zoom 7:00pm
• 19th: First Day of School 8:40-12:00
• 20th: Full Day 8:40-4:00

September

• 1st: Virtual Open House with your teachers 6:30-7:30

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the new school year! We are looking forward to a great year of teaching and learning. This year we are welcoming many new families and staff members to BIS. Our teachers have been busy preparing their classrooms and lessons for the students. We will be welcoming our new students to campus on Wednesday, August 18th for orientation. Our middle school children will also have a special orientation on Wednesday as well.

As I'm sure you have all been seeing, the COVID cases are currently on the rise here in Azerbaijan and around the world. Our hope is for a regular school year, but as with last year, we will be following the laws of Azerbaijan for campus openings and closings. We are planning on opening school on campus on Thursday, August 19th, and will continue with on-campus learning unless notified otherwise. We are only planning on offering on-campus learning. There will be no online lessons at this time.

On Wednesday evening, we will be holding a virtual welcome for all families. We will be introducing you to the new admin team and teachers, reviewing our plan for the year and discussing COVID protocols for the opening of school.

As always, we thank you for your support of BIS.

Lisa Haberman

• Temperatures will be taken upon entering school grounds
  
• Masks must be worn by everyone aged 5+
  

We are happy to be welcoming the students on campus for the opening of the school year. The health and safety of our school community are of utmost importance to a successful re-opening during this pandemic. To ensure everyone's wellbeing, we will be adhering to a strict set of guidelines, which are outlined in the Campus Covid Procedure Guide and documents below. We will be reviewing these guidelines and procedures at the Zoom meeting on Wednesday.

The most important thing is trust! We must be able to trust each other and take care of each other. Please be vigilant about checking your child's health before sending them to school. If your child is showing any signs of illness, keep him/her home. Your child's mental wellbeing is just as important. Are they excited or anxious about returning to campus? If your child is showing any signs of anxiety or distress, please let us know. We are here to ensure a safe transition!

Even with all the precautions that we take at school and that you take at home, there may still be a chance that someone in our community gets sick. For this reason, we have written a guide for how to handle the situation if someone in the community has COVID 19. Please see the document below.

We have all seen the sudden rise in COVID cases here in Azerbaijan over the recent weeks. With this in mind, we will continue the same mask policy as last year. Students ages 5 and up are to wear masks in the classroom. Our younger students will be given mask breaks as often as possible, as determined by social distancing. Students do not need to wear masks outside, during lunch, or PE. Please send two disposable masks to school daily or a cloth mask that you can wash daily.

Students of all ages will be required to wear masks on the school bus.

School lunch will be available starting on August 20th. Please let Natavan know if your child will be buying school lunch.

There will be more lunchtimes and fewer students per table to provide adequate social distancing in the cafeteria.

Mrs. Natavan: natavan-hatemi@baku.qsi.org

Bus service begins on August 19th. Please complete the form below if your children will be riding the bus and either drop off or email to Mrs. Natavan in accounting.

The bus monitors will assign seats to the students and take the temperatures of students before they enter the bus. Any student with a temperature over 37.1 will not be allowed on the bus or at school. If possible, please take your child's temperature before they are to get on the bus. The bus monitors will help students disinfect their hands before getting on the bus. Buses will be disinfected twice daily. Bus riders must wear a mask while on the bus.

Mrs. Natavan: natavan-hatemi@baku.qsi.org

All students must bring a labeled water bottle to school. Our water dispensers have been outfitted with new faucets for hygiene. Our water fountains are also touchless, now. For everyone's health and safety, the ceramic mugs will no longer be available. Students must bring their own water bottles to school.

Email: baku@qsi.org
Website: baku.qsi.org
Location: Darnagul Qasabasi Str. Ajami Nakchivani Block 3097 (1.94 mi) Baku, Azerbaijan AZ1108
Phone: +994 12 440 6616
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qsi.baku