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AdventHealth West Florida

COVID-19 cases on the uptick

July 27, 2021 By B.C. Manion

COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the nation, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, according to officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of July 22, 35% of counties in the United States were experiencing high levels of community transmission, and COVID-19 cases were on the rise in 90% of the nation’s jurisdictions, according to a CDC interpretative summary of the week’s data.

That July 23 briefing, posted on the CDC’s website, notes that “the worrisome trends are due, in part,” to the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The increase in COVID-19 infections is being observed locally, too.

Officials with AdventHealth’s West Florida region are noticing “a significant uptick in COVID-19 cases” and “an increase in COVID hospitalizations at its hospitals in Hillsborough, Pasco, Hardee, Highlands, Pinellas and Marion counties, according to a media briefing from the health care chain.

“The Delta variant is the most prominent strain we are seeing in our system,” AdventHealth reports.

It also notes that “some 94% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19” across its nationwide system have not been vaccinated.

“We continue to urge everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, which is the most effective way to prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19, as well as prevent new variants of the virus from spreading,” AdventHealth’s briefing adds.

The increase in cases is coming as schools gear up for the 2021-2022 school year.

Experts at the CDC have issued guidance for COVID-19 prevention in kindergarten through 12th grade schools.

That guidance says, in part, that “masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (age 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated.”

The CDC also “recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms, combined with indoor mask-wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated, to reduce transmission risk.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics also advocates “keeping masks on in school and urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19” among its recommended interventions to prevent spreading the virus.

The Pasco and Hillsborough public school districts already have announced that masks would be optional in their schools during the upcoming school year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also has made it abundantly clear that he won’t support — and will actively battle — any attempts to make masks mandatory in the coming school year.

He addressed the issue during a news conference on July 22 at Indian River State College.

“We look forward to this upcoming year, to be a normal school year,” the governor said, during the conference, streamed by a television station covering the event.

“There’s been talk about people potentially advocating at the federal level imposing compulsory masks on kids. We’re not doing that in Florida, OK?

“We need our kids to be able to be kids. We need them to be able to breathe,” DeSantis said.

Parents can send their children to school with masks if they choose to do so, the governor said. He added, “But there shouldn’t be any coercive mandates on our schools.”

He elaborated on his opposition to requiring masks: “Is it really comfortable? Is it really healthy for them to be muzzled and have their breathing obstructed all day long in school? I don’t think it is,” DeSantis said.

If an attempt at a federal mandate is made, DeSantis pledged to fight it.

DeSantis went on to say: “If anybody is calling for lockdowns, you’re not getting that done in Florida. I’m going to protect people’s livelihoods. I’m going to protect kids’ rights to go to school. I’m going to protect people’s rights to run their small businesses.”

The governor also noted: “We have a situation where we have three vaccines that have been widely available for months and months, now.”

Contrary to what President Joe Biden said, DeSantis added, people who have been vaccinated have tested positive for COVID-19.

“But I think what it does do, is that it really prevents against severe outcomes, particularly death or a serious hospitalization,” the governor said.

For instance, “the nursing home fatalities are down 95% since the vaccines rolled out,” DeSantis said.

Health officials continue to urge vaccinations.

“The best way to slow the emergence of new variants is to reduce the spread of infection by taking measures to protect yourself, including getting a vaccine when it’s available to you,” the CDC’s summary says.

The Delta variant now makes up an estimated 83.2% of the recent U.S. cases, according to the July 23 CDC report.

Published July 28, 2021

InPrep delivers innovation, through teachers and technology

August 18, 2020 By B.C. Manion

Innovation Preparatory Academy, a public charter school opening in Wesley Chapel next week, is suited for a world that has become increasingly customized and on-demand.

InPrep, at 7800 Avery Scope Way, will deliver face-to-face instruction, live instruction for remote learners, and a hybrid option — which allows students to attend school on campus two days a week and learn remotely on the other three.

The school is part of the Connected City campus being developed by Tampa-based developer Metro Development Group.

Sara Capwell is the principal of Innovation Preparatory School, a pubic charter school that is opening this year in the Connected City area of Wesley Chapel.(Courtesy of Innovation Preparatory Academy)

The Connected City encompasses two Metro Places communities, Epperson and Mirada, each featuring Metro’s exclusive ULTRAFi high-speed internet technology — the fastest internet speeds available with up to 1 Gigabit of speed.

“We wanted to make sure that as part of the Connected City there was a school that supported the big vision of Connected City,” said Kartik Goyani, vice president of operations with Metro Development Group.

Goyani, who grew up in India, said the educational system there was rigid. This school, by contrast, will provide an on-demand, customized form of education.

Principal Sara Capwell said the school’s technology, blended with its instructional method, will deliver a personalized approach to education.

“All of our students are assessed at the beginning, when they first join us. We will develop plans for them that target their areas of need, and extensions, enrichments, as well,” Capwell said.

Whether students are learning face-to-face or remotely, they’ll be able to join in with their teachers and classmates.

“Students will be able to engage in small group instruction with their instructors and peers, utilizing the iPads and specialized cameras that the teachers will have that will be able to follow the teacher, and the teacher’s interactions with the kids,” Capwell said.

It’s as close as students can get, she said, “to actually being there together.”

“If I’m a first-grader, for instance, and it’s time for reading class and I’m at home, I’ll join in. The platform we’re using is Schoology.

A rendering of the front of the school, in an aerial view.

“All of my courses will be in one area, one folder on my iPad, where I can click on my reading link. When I go there, I’ll have my Zoom access for that class, right there, too. My assignments are right there. And, if the teacher wants to assign me an assignment that the other kids don’t have, it’s there, too.

“Then, I click on the Zoom. I interact with the teacher. I can raise my hand and ask questions. I can collaborate with a peer, using the cameras,” Capwell said.

Goyani added: “We wanted to make sure that everyone has access to the same software, the same learning platform, and then they have the hardware device at home, so they’re not left behind.”

To ensure that all students will be able to fully participate, the school is providing a device for each student, regardless how many children a family has, Capwell said.

Kartik Goyani, a vice president with Metro Development Group, said the opening of Innovation Preparatory Academy represents the fruition of a dream that began more than four years ago. He grew up in India, where the education system was rigid. He’s excited about the possibilities that InPrep will offer its students.

Classes also will be recorded, so if a child has to miss a live session, it can be viewed later.

Another thing that sets the school apart is its collaborative approach to teaching, the principal said.

“Grade-level instructors instruct together, as a team, with a grade level of students,” Capwell said. “Each teacher has an area of expertise, that he or she has been hired for, and that is the primary expert teacher for that content area, and the other teachers actually provide support throughout that content time, as co-teachers and co-facilitators. They pull small groups. They provide direct instruction to individual students or small groups, while the content expert is providing the direct, overall instruction.”

The school has adopted a WISH model of education, which stands for wellness, innovation, science and health.

To promote wellness, the school has a partnership with AdventHealth West Florida. It also has two indoor wellness tracks. In addition to wellness walks, there will be other wellness activities, such as yoga and meditation, Capwell said.

The idea is to make wellness a part of daily life, Goyani said.

The school also will emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Capwell said.

InPrep is part of Charter Schools USA, Inc.

It will serve students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, but initially is opening as a K-6 school, and will add grades seven and eight in in subsequent years.

InPrep will have a maximum enrollment of 615 this year, with students coming from Wesley Chapel, Dade City, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes and other communities, Capwell said.

Both she and Goyani are excited about opening the new school.

“We think this is going to be a school unlike anything else that the state has ever seen —  so that’s the part that I’m most excited about,” Goyani said.  “I can’t wait to welcome parents and kids on Aug. 24.”

Innovation Preparatory Academy, K-6
7800 Avery Scope Way, Wesley Chapel
Principal: Sara Capwell, (954) 202-3500

Other area charter schools*

Hillsborough County
Learning Gate, K-8
16215 Hanna Road, Lutz
Principal: Michelle Mason, (813) 948-4190

Lutz Preparatory, K-8
17951 N. U.S. 41, Lutz
Principal: Bonnie Guertin, (813) 428-7011

Sunlake Academy of Math and Science, K-8
18681 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Lutz
Principal: Dr. Judith Moore, (813) 616-5099

Pasco County
Academy at the Farm, K-8
9500 Alex Lange Way, Dade City
Principal: Ray Polk, (352) 588-0508

Countrywide Montessori Charter School, 1-8
5852 Ehren Cutoff, Land O’ Lakes
Principal: Michael Picone, (813) 996-0991

Imagine Charter School of Land O’ Lakes, K-9
2940 Sunlake Blvd., Land O’ Lakes
Principal: Aimee Williams, (813) 428-7444

Published August 19, 2020

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Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law House Bill 7071, which provides more than $1.2 billion in tax relief for Floridians through 10 tax holidays. Check out the dates here: https://buff.ly/380weby

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