SCHEDULING AND COHORT INFORMATION
COHORT APPROACH
- Cohorts made up of multi-age classrooms
- Integrity of teacher-to-student ratio maintained
CLASSROOM CONFIGURATIONS
- Furniture arranged to assure that all students are 4-6 feet apart
- Individual materials for students
- Sanitation stations for shared materials
DAILY SCHEDULE PRIORITIES
- Staggered drop-off and dismissal from outside
- Prioritize core instructional time with teachers
- More outdoor break time, outdoor learning
- Independent work time for individual, partner, and group work
- 1 on 1 and small group check-ins with teachers
HEALTH AND SAFETY INITIATIVES
PHYSICAL PLANT UPGRADES
- Significantly reduced occupancy in each class
- Use hand washing stations in each classroom often
INCREASED STAFFING AND SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT
- An extra assistant teacher for School Safety & Student Support
- Full-time janitorial staff to frequently clean public spaces throughout the day
- Abundant Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies
NEW OPERATIONAL PROTOCOLS
- Required daily health screening for students and staff
- Staggered schedules for student arrival and dismissal
- Masks required for all students and staff ages 2 and above as well as caregivers dropping off and picking up students while indoors. Masks are not required outdoors.
- Protocols for assessing possible exposure on campus; guidelines for isolating individuals and cohorts; contact tracing
- Rigorous daily cleaning protocols
- Restricted campus access, and screenings for all vendors and essential visitors
- Current and potential parents will be allowed into the school after all students have been dismissed for the day
- All students are to be dropped off and picked up at the front door only
- Children will be admitted one at a time into the school building
CAMPUS COVID RESPONSE PLAN
ACTION PLAN
- Students presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 will be isolated promptly to a vacant room. Parents will be contacted to pick up their child as soon as possible so they may seek medical care to determine the cause of the symptoms.
- The class will continue for the remainder of the cohort while test results are pending for symptomatic students/staff. Any symptomatic students will be advised to stay home and contact their doctor for guidance.
- If tests reveal a confirmed positive case of COVID-19, the affected student or staff member will be excluded from campus until they are symptom free and produce a negative COVID-19 test. The classroom will remain open and parents may keep their children home at their discretion. Tuition will not be reimbursed due to parents keeping their children home or due to school closures.
- The affected classroom will be informed promptly of any confirmed cases.
- Parents are to keep their child home and notify the school if their child presents any of the following symptoms: achy body, vomiting, runny nose, or any unusual symptoms.
COVID ON-CAMPUS RESPONSE STRATEGY
Step 1: Notify the Department of Public Health (DPH)
If there is a confirmed COVID diagnosis on campus, the School will report it to the DPH and proceed per their directives.
Step 2: Alerts, Quarantine, Contact Tracing, and Cleaning
Families of the relevant cohort will be notified immediately. Teachers and students in the affected cohort will be sent home. The School will initiate contact tracing with the support of the DPH. The cohort’s learning spaces and all shared spaces will be deep cleaned.
Step 3: Communication
We will inform all families and staff of the affected cohort of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and reiterate instructions for monitoring symptoms.
RETURNING TO SCHOOL
Follow the steps below for returning to school after a COVID-19 outbreak:
- Members who revealed a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 are excluded from school until symptom free and produce a negative test result.
- Students or staff members who have confirmed household exposure, are also excluded from school until symptom free and produce a negative test result.
- Anyone having a runny nose, cough, fever, or other symptoms may also stay at home and seek a professional’s guidance.
TRAVEL GUIDANCE
Follow the guidance below after travel:
- Parents that are vaccinated and are traveling within the United States as a family do not need to quarantine before their children return to school.
- Parents and children that have traveled outside of the USA must quarantine for 5 days and acquire the COVID-19 test after the 5th day before returning to school.