re: EBR school superintendent released plans for school year

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As we all know, the information and guidelines regarding COVID 19 vary from organization to organization and often vary from day to day. With that being said, my objective has always been to get the students back to school full time in as normal of an environment as possible and to create the best academic plan for St. George School that adheres to the guidelines for a safe and healthy environment for all.

The information below will explain how we have adjusted our schedules and campus so that students will begin school on August 6th (PreK and Kindergarten on their scheduled days) and how we will offer a full academic day, 5 days a week, with all classes being taught by the grade level teachers.

Regardless of which phase we are in, either two or three, social distancing and cohort groups are an effective way to reduce the spread of COVID 19. These two guidelines will be implemented throughout this school year. We have gone to great lengths to add an extra section to each grade level in 1st - 8th grade in order to reduce class sizes as much as possible. PreK and Kindergarten class sizes did not need to be adjusted.

We will further reduce exposure by creating class families in all grade levels. Students will report to their class family upon arrival and will remain with their family throughout the day to reduce exposure to other students. In this model, the teachers will be the ones to move from class to class. The students in each grade level will be taught by their grade specific teachers for all core subjects including religion and will continue to have enrichment or special classes. Teachers will build extra time into their schedules for students to go outside for breaks throughout the day and will utilize outdoor spaces for instruction, lunch, recess and breaks as often as possible. This design provides every student with smaller class sizes and certified grade level teachers in every core subject for every day.

If we returned to Phase 1, academics will be online. We have learned so much since we first implemented online academics in March. Our teachers have attended online academic methods classes over the summer and have continued to develop their skills in Google.

Additionally, students are now more familiar with this type of learning and so are parents. Our Google online academic program will be more rigorous and include more teacher led instruction either through teacher recorded lessons, live stream lessons and/or virtual classes. Please always keep in mind that sometimes technology offers us a wealth of possibilities but the safety of our students and teachers while using technology is always our first concern. Additionally, we are working on increasing our number of devices at school and if we begin online academics, students in 4th - 8th grade will be allowed to take home their Chromebooks.

Notes:

We will most likely not have bus service. We are developing a plan for arrival and dismissal that must consider instructional minutes in a school day, parents schedules, teacher schedules, rainy days and social distancing. The details of this plan will be sent as soon as they are determined.

Before care and after care will still be offered to students currently enrolled in the program. The details of these procedures will be coming soon.

Students will be required to bring a 30 ounce plastic water bottle to school for drinking throughout the day because water fountains will be closed.

Each student will need a mask with them every day for transitions, dismissals and for emergency situations. Any mask that is worn should be a solid color of white, tan, hunter green, navy blue, black or St. George uniform fabric. Gaiter-style masks are recommended since they can remain on the student without being touched or placed on a surface. Other style masks are allowed if there is a way for it to hang down around a shirt collar when not in use. The specific requirements for wearing masks will be determined as we get closer to the start of school. We are working with the uniform stores to create the Gaiter style masks in St. George colors. More information will be sent soon.

Sanitation will be done before entering and exiting the classroom and before and after lunch.

Janitors and teachers will wipe high contact areas throughout the day and at the end of the day.

An extra housekeeper has been added to our staff to disinfect throughout the day.

We will continue to utilize the disinfecting company, DIS.IN.FX, to spray our facilities with an anti-microbial agent. DIS.IN.FX is contracted to spray all buildings at intervals throughout the year and conduct routine swabs to determine if the agent is working to reduce surface germs.

Teachers will assess students in the classroom and take temperatures in the classroom, if needed, before calling the nurse to reduce movement around campus.

Parents will be expected to pick up students within 30 minutes of a “sick child” phone call.

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