Dear Brandeis Marin community,
I have received a couple of questions asking to clarify the difference between a cohort, a class and a household. There is an important distinction between these and we all need to understand how our informal private gatherings fit into these different groupings.
A household consists of the people who live under one roof (whether or not they are related).
A class is a group of students who are grouped together at school. At Brandeis Marin, classes do not mix with other classes and we keep them strictly separated (different classrooms, different lunch and recess schedules, different zones on the playground). Health and safety for these groupings are governed by a Site Specific School Protection Plan that has been vetted by and is monitored by public health officials.
A cohort is a group of people involved in a formal activity outside of the family. Examples include a sports team or dance group that a child participates in formally. These groups are also governed by health and safety protocols issued by public health. Public health allows for kids to participate in 3 cohorts. In this context, your child's class at school is one cohort and your children are permitted to be involved with two additional cohorts.
Being part of the same class or cohort is not relevant to a household.
- When a family organizes a gathering with others (a birthday party, a dinner party, a play date, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, a Thanksgiving gathering, etc.) the people in attendance are households.
- Therefore, when planning play dates or other gatherings, or when you accept an offer to attend a play date or gathering, plan on including no more than 2 other classmates. That is the way we adhere to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) mandate to have no more than 3 households in a private gathering.
I know this is hard. It can also be confusing. I hope this is helpful. When we think about getting together with other Brandeis Marin families, no more than 3 households should be involved. (That could be your child and two other children.) We witnessed Marin Catholic and Branson close their schools recently as a result of classmates gathering in groups in violation of the CDPH mandate on private gatherings. I am sharing this information with you so that we can avoid having to close down a class for 14 days as a result of such gatherings.
We are in this together and it really does mean all of us making individual decisions that align with public health mandates. This is how we keep our school open for your children.
Thank you for your partnership. Please review this information with your children so that together as a family you can be aligned. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
With gratitude,
Peg
PS: If you would like to review the previous email regarding the latest public health mandates, click HERE.