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In a letter emailed to Lakeside families on Aug. 10, Head of School Bernie Noe shared that Lakeside will open in a remote model this September. Sections from his email are included below.

This past Friday, after a lot of conversations with my very thoughtful administrative colleagues, and considering guidance from the state, I decided that we will not open the school in a blended format in September. School will instead be fully remote for the month of September, and you can now begin to plan accordingly at home. We will evaluate conditions in King County in mid-September and decide then about opening in a blended format at the beginning of October. And if we do not open in October, we will continue this same process each succeeding month until we feel it is prudent to open the campus.

Our highest priority is the health and well-being of our students, families, and employees. We decided it was most sensible to take another six weeks to follow the trajectory of the pandemic before bringing students and faculty together in person. By the beginning of September, the campus will be completely ready to be open, and as soon as we believe it is safe to do so, we will quickly pivot to a blended format.

When we do open in a blended format, to keep everyone as safe as possible, we will follow the procedures outlined below, which are already in place. These are highlights; please see the reopening webpage for a full list of the actions the school is taking and the actions that students and families must commit to following.

Before we open campus, all students and adults expected to be on campus will be tested to make sure they are COVID-19 free. Once we open campus, students and adults will be tested on a rolling basis or whenever there is a need to do so. We have signed a contract with a testing company who will test for us throughout the school year.
We will contact trace with students and employees throughout the year and have signed a contract with a company that will provide that service. You will receive more information about this soon.
We will use a health screening process in which all members of the community answer questions about possibly COVID-19 symptoms every day they are expected to be on campus. As part of this screening, we will ask all parents and guardians to take the temperature of their student each morning and report the result through an app that we will be asking everyone to download (all employees will do the same). We will also take temperatures at school if a member of the community shows symptoms while on campus. We will begin this practice in September, while school is remote, so you will all have a month to practice, learn the system, and make it a habit.
All students, faculty, and staff will be physically distanced and wear masks throughout the day while on campus.
Classrooms have been outfitted with newly purchased and redeployed furniture to allow physical distancing.
We will have technology in each of the classrooms that allows students who cannot come to school to attend their classes remotely.
Common spaces and high-traffic areas, such as cashier stations and offices, will be outfitted with plexiglass shields in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Enhanced cleaning and sanitizing protocols will be in effect throughout the school year.
Signage will clearly mark direction flow for buildings and hallways, restroom use, room capacity, and reminders about physical distancing, wearing masks, and proper hygiene for students and employees.

A lot of people have worked very hard this summer to get the school ready to be open in a blended format, and we will open for in-person learning as soon as we feel it is safe to do so. In the meantime, while we are in fully remote mode, small groups of students will meet with adults on campus beginning in September. This will help us begin to build community with our students, especially those new to the school. We will do all in our power to build a thriving sense of school community with our students this coming school year. And of course, the quality of the academic program will be comparably strong in both blended and remote formats. As I shared last week, I know that our faculty and staff are ready to implement a rigorous, dynamic, and inspiring online learning program.