Update 2020-2021 School Year
Greetings from the Elms’ campus! I hope this finds you well and healthy. July 1 marked the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, so it seemed natural for the State of Ohio to release plans for the Reset and Restart of Ohio Schools shortly thereafter.
We want to share our good thinking about how the Elms will restart school in August. On a positive note, our plans fit well within the guidelines identified by the Governor. We now can add details that heretofore were not quite ready for public release. Let me share the following with you as we work as a team to ensure every child and every adult in the Elms’ community is safe and comfortable within our environment.
Learning Environments
We are smaller by design, thanks to our structure as a Pre-School through Grade 12 girls’ school, committed to best practices around how girls learn best. We will be a Monday through Friday School for every child enrolled at the Elms for 2020-2021 (Kindergarten through Grade 12, and Pre-School for families who choose that option).
With that as the backdrop, we have measured every space and are clearing out unnecessary furniture to ensure every girl has the ability to thrive in an area that is uncluttered and provides her with a 6-foot bubble so to speak. We want our students to feel safe and comfortable in their classrooms and in the common areas within their building.
Outdoor learning spaces have been identified and will be designed to provide designated areas for classes. With 33 acres available to us, the wide open spaces on campus will facilitate the teaching of all grades and subjects. We have jokingly called this Elms Tree School – we’ll see if that sticks!
The Lower School will have recess!
Professional Development days for faculty and staff are scheduled for August and will help the adults in our community master our health and safety protocols/procedures and the continuous learning platform we have chosen for the Elms.
Visitors to the building will be discouraged. We have demonstrated that meetings can happen successfully via zoom or via phone. We will limit access to the buildings until further notice.
I would encourage families to plan to pack lunches for the early weeks of the school year. What we may be able to provide for sale will need to be pre-packaged. Diocesan lunch will be available in the Lower School.
Pathways around the buildings will be clearly marked to encourage social distancing; one-way traffic patterns will be established and delineated; locker assignments will adhere to social distancing norms; high school classroom desks are color-coded to ensure desks can be rotated and sanitized between classes.
This is one of those rare times when I am happy we have no school buses! Busing may be needed for athletics, and we will address that need as a part of our protocols for varsity sports.
Health & Safety
A Director of Health & Safety has been hired for 2020-2021. This person will be working with us to establish protocols regarding classrooms, common areas, athletics, etc. and assumes this role full-time on August 1.
We are in the process of hiring an outside cleaning service to handle the enhanced day-to-day housekeeping needs, as well as building sanitizing.
As we approach the start of school in August, we will be issuing directives regarding arrival and dismissal of students. What doors will be accessible, what times students should arrive and how we will be conducting health screenings including the taking of temperatures every morning.
As always, Katie DiNardo our school counselor will be available to any child who is experiencing stress, confusion, fear, anger, sadness or anxiety. We want every child to feel safe and to know she has an advocate in Mrs. DiNardo.
Mask Policy
We agree with the Governor that masks for children in Pre-School through Second Grade will not be required in school. All adults will be wearing masks/face shields, and all students from Third Grade through Twelfth Grade will be required to wear masks unless it compromises an existing health concern as identified by a physician. We also recognize that there are times throughout the day when that’s not possible or might be dangerous from a health and safety standpoint – think lunch time and athletics.
Contingency Planning
We know that we must be prepared to pivot and move to teaching from home if required to do so by the State of Ohio or if we experience an outbreak. Our faculty are preparing for just that.
Our decision to become a one-to-one technology school is based on this possible scenario. If your daughter is in Kindergarten through Grade 5, she will be assigned a Chromebook that she can use at school and that can go home with her if we return to distance learning. She will not be sharing this device – it will be assigned to her for the year. If your daughter is in the Middle/High School and does not have a device available to her, she will be assigned a school laptop. She will be responsible for its maintenance and upkeep during the year. In both scenarios, we will have the school computers loaded with the appropriate apps or software, which will include firewalls and restrictions as to accessing various non-academic information.
Isolation areas have been identified in both buildings. If we have a child or adult who becomes ill during the day, she/he will be isolated until she/he is able to leave school with a designated family member. We will have a nurse in each building throughout the day to oversee the care and quarantine of patients who become symptomatic.
If a student or a family member receives a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, she will be required to self-quarantine for 14-days. School policies will be adjusted so as not to penalize students, and continuous learning plans will be put in place to ensure the student keeps current with assignments.
Mr. Kevin Kelly will share more details in his missive to parents on July 31st. In the meantime, enjoy summer with your family. We miss each and every one of you!
Blessings,
President