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Holiday Scheduling & Cohort Attendance for Middle School
December 21, 2020
Dear Parents of Middle School Students,
Whether remote or in-person, we are excited to begin 2021 in a new way. Teachers are thrilled to have your children back with us as we phase our fourth group of students back onto campus. What we know for sure is that all of us play a critical role in the safe return of our kids, and more than ever, we need your help in executing the plan.
What you can expect when your student returns to campus are stringent safety protocols and sanitizing of classrooms, small cohorts with mask-wearing, and spacing of students to accommodate social distancing guidelines. We align all of our internal safety processes to the County Health Department standards.
Our first days will be wet so make sure kids have raincoats as we plan to get them out for fresh air throughout the day. We also open windows to accommodate airflow, so please ensure they have a school sweatshirt or sweater to wear in the classroom. Students should have books, Chromebooks, a sack lunch, and supplies with them in backpacks. They will be assigned lockers, so please bring those supplies that they will need for locker storage. If your student has not checked out a school Chromebook, one will be issued to them upon return to school so all students will have technology while they are in the building. They will also be able to take them home for their use there. We ask that all students have their school-issued Chromebook with them every day they are in the building.
As you prepare to return, please keep in mind the following:
1) Staying home when sick. We have an online health pre-screening tool (through Alma, our student management system), that allows you to answer the health screening questions, including temperature, before coming to school. Not only is this our record of who has answered the health questions, but it will make drop-off much more efficient. If you answer “yes” to any of the questions, even if you think the symptoms are mild, be safe and keep your child home. We have remote learning so students won’t fall behind. Instructions for accessing the screening survey are attached.
2) Arrival times. Middle School check-in will begin at 8:30 am and end at 8:40 am under the covered basketball court on the playground. We anticipate some will come earlier with siblings, but we do want to ensure that we support the staggered times for our other divisions. We ask that they patiently wait safely under the covered court with their masks on. A pair of teachers will come and check temperatures to come into the building. If your student has a first-period free period, you can choose to drop them off at the main office at 9:40 am for their 9:50 am 2nd period class start time. They will wait in the main hall and be escorted to the 3rd floor.
3) Departure Time: Many students have a 6th period free and their official school day ends at 12:50 pm. Your child can stay at school for a 6th period study period which ends at 1:40 pm, and for those students who have a 7th period elective, they can choose to stay until 2:30 pm which is the official end of the school day for our Middle School. We will coordinate in homerooms daily those students’ departure times at the end of the day. As per our usual process, students in the middle school grades can leave the campus and go home on foot, bike, or be picked up by parents.
4) Wearing masks. The CDC is clear that mask-wearing is the simplest way for us to protect one another. Teachers have guidelines as to when masks can be removed, but from the arrival in the morning until pick-up, both students and adults will wear masks. Our experience suggests that having an extra mask in your child’s backpack is a good idea.
4) Healthy behaviors. These behaviors are important to remember for each student as we transition back to the building:
● 6-feet of separation; hallways are marked, desks are separated
● Staying in cohort/class groups
● Hand-washing and frequent sanitizing
● Appropriate use of technology
● Responding quickly to teachers’ directives
We so look forward to seeing you, being with you, in whatever form that takes. We want you to know that we care for your child’s health and safety while at school. We are all family, and by keeping our school family safe we keep our brothers and sisters, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas safer.
Thank you for being a part of our community and helping up as we transition back to school safely.
Beth O’Reilly
Middle School Division Chair
