A MESSAGE FROM RABBI GARFIELD

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Rabbi Yitchok Hutner zt”l once said that a Yeshiva can be compared to Noach’s Tayvah. The Tayvah was built as a place of safety and sanctuary. It was designed to rise above the dangerous challenges being faced in the world and enable for its passengers an opportunity for a brighter future. This plan articulates our current approach to doing just that.

The havoc wreaked by the COVID storm that has surrounded us for the past several months has served to amplify the role our school plays in offering sanctuary in the lives of our students. While our faculty did a phenomenal job of transitioning to distance learning, we ended the year with the undeniable feeling that part of us was missing. YTE is not just a place where classes meet and material is taught. In many ways it is home for our students. However, a home that cannot offer safety and shelter is not a home. That's why our first priority must be to ensure the safety of our students and staff while they are on campus. No plan is foolproof, and no one can fully prevent the spread of disease. The following policies are based on guidance from the CDC, the Texas Department of Education, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. This plan is also guided by the advice of Dr. Edward Septimus, MD, FIDSA, FACP, FSHEA. Dr. Septimus is the Medical Director at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Infection Prevention and Epidemiology at Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), and Professor of Internal Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

When implemented with full cooperation from our parent body, these policies ought to significantly minimize the risk of infection and significantly increase the opportunities for our children to grow into the b'nai Torah that we want them to become. Of course, this plan is subject to changes as the data regarding the pandemic continues to evolve.

I look forward to working to partnering with you in this challenging, yet critical endeavor.

Sincerely,

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Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield Ed.D.

Head of School

 

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COVID-19 POLICIES & PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

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Please click on the button below to read YTE's COVID-19 Policies and Procedures Handbook. This document was created with the best information available to us as of today and will likely change as we learn more. We will let you know as those changes take place. 

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Last updated August 2020

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COVID-19 QUESTION HOTLINE

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Over the following weeks parents will have questions about COVID-19 symptoms, possible exposure and our COVID-19 protocols. In order to best address these questions and ensure that we are following the best medical advice, we have appointed Mrs. Yehudis Brody, a professional nurse, as our point person for all COVID-19 questions. 

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Mrs. Brody can be reached by calling our hotline number 713-581-0947 or by emailing covid19@ytehouston.org. She will be available, starting Monday 8/17/20, to answer the phone between 7:15 AM and 8:15 AM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM every day.  At all other times, please leave a voicemail and she will get back to you as soon as she is able to which will be within 3 hours. She return calls until 10:00 PM each night. It is best not to call school administrators about COVID-19 questions, as they will direct you to our hotline. This new feature will require some fine tuning which will be done as we gain experience.