Principal’s Update: Upcoming Change to Mask Mandate

Posted February 11, 2022

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February 11, 2022

Dear McKinley-Thatcher Families – 

As you may have heard, the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment is lifting the current mask mandate for Denver-area schools on Friday, February 25, 2022. In accordance with this change, Denver Public Schools will no longer require masks for students or staff starting Monday, February 28, 2022. Masks will continue to be required until that date. Thank you so much for putting our community’s health ahead of individual preference for the past two years!

At McKinley-Thatcher, we will continue to prioritize our community’s health and safety. We have students that are too young to get vaccinated  and many staff members with children under age 5 who inherently put their own children’s health at risk by coming to work everyday. We also have many staff and students with significant and chronic health conditions who are at high-risk for serious complications if they were to contract COVID-19. For these reasons, we will STRONGLY RECOMMEND that all students and staff continue to wear a mask while indoors.

We understand that continuing to wear a mask (or not) is your family’s decision, and we will work to ensure that family decisions are respected by all members of our community. We will not tolerate any animosity toward a community member for their individual family’s choices.  

More information and guidance regarding other updates to COVID-19 protocols will be coming soon from Team DPS, and we will continue to update the McT community as we learn more about this evolving situation. 

Please see these resources for further information from the district: 

Additional Information from Denver Health on the Feb. 25 End of the Mask Mandate
(Published February 11)

Important Update on School-Mask Order
(Published February 9)

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at McKinley_Thatcher@dpsk12.org or (720) 424-5600.

Thank you, 

Sonia Geerdes, Principal
Courtney Waring, Principal Resident