COVID-19

We have put safety procedures in place to keep our students and staff healthy. 

• Masks: Masks must be worn at all times by all adults (teachers, staff, and visitors) and students while in the building. If your child is unable to wear a mask for medical reasons, they must have an excuse signed by a doctor on file in the office.
• Handwashing: Students and staff are expected to wash hands thoroughly before and after eating, after using the bathroom, if exposed to body fluids (like saliva or a sneeze), and at other times necessary throughout the day.  
• Drop-off and pickup procedures: Please maintain social distancing between families during drop-off and pickup. Parents are not allowed to enter the building with their child unless arrangements have been made in advance with the office. Please move through the drop-off and pickup line as quickly as possible to make room for families behind you. 
• Visiting our school: We are limiting visitors to the school during this time. Parent and community volunteers have been suspended until further notice. Most parent-teacher conferences and other meetings can be held virtually. All visits must be pre-approved and scheduled with the office. 
• While in the building: When you enter the building, please check in at the front desk. During check-in, you will be given a nametag, health survey and reminded to wear your mask at all times.
• Traffic flow in hallways and common areas: Hallways are marked with arrows. Please keep at least 6 ft. distance between yourself and others.
• Illness: Students and staff exhibiting signs of illness or having a fever of greater than 100.4°F must stay home. If you or someone you know has COVID-19 (or shows symptoms of COVID-19 such as coughing or fever), it is required that you stay home or at a designated care facility for a minimum of 14 days. Please contact us via phone or email as soon as possible.
• Directions for local COVID testing: Please visit the NYS Coronavirus Find a Test Site page to find a test site closest to you.

In addition to asking everyone to wear masks, wash hands, and maintain social distancing, our school has taken several steps to improve the safety of our staff and students. These steps have been recommended by local health authorities to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other illnesses. 

• Changes in class sizes: We've reduced the average class size from 25 to 11 for in-person instruction.
• Improvements in ventilation: In an effort to maximize air circulation, we are opening windows.
• Increases in cleaning frequency: Our custodial team is committed to cleaning all classrooms, every afternoon all classrooms will be deep cleaned. In addition, all classroom teachers have been provided with sanitizing wipes to wipe down surfaces and shared resources on an as-needed basis throughout the school day. 
• Hand sanitation: All bathrooms have been stocked with extra soap for frequent hand washing. In addition, we have provided teachers with hand sanitizer for the classroom and added hand sanitizer stations in common areas. 

Blended learning combines in-class instruction and at-home learning. This allows us to limit the number of students in the building each day for safe social distancing, while still ensuring that students can benefit from direct interaction with teachers and peers. 

• During days in class, teachers will provide direct whole-class instruction and small-group instruction. These days will be used primarily to introduce new topics, provide small group and one-on-one instructional support, and conduct assessments to monitor student progress towards standards. 
• Students will be assigned additional activities to work on independently for there at-home learning days. These activities will allow students to apply and practice what they learned in class. There may be a combination of technology-based learning activities and offline worksheets, projects, and writing assignments. At-home learning activities are an important part of the learning process and will be graded. 
• Teachers and intervention specialists will have limited virtual "office hours" (on Google Classroom) after school hours Monday - Friday from 2:00pm-2:20pm. Students who have questions or need extra support can check in with their teachers during their office hours for help with at-home learning assignments. 
• Students with IEPs or 504 plans, or who have been identified as at-risk for not meeting academic standards, may have additional one-on-one intervention provided either virtually or in school on their blended learning days. 

During blended or 100% remote learning, your child is expected to complete all assignments provided by the teacher. At the same time, we recognize that working independently at home is different and difficult for many students, so we want to provide flexibility. 

• Students and families should check Google Classroom daily for important updates from their teachers.  
• At-home assignments for the week will be posted in Google Classroom by Sunday night each week. 
• At-home assignments for each week should be turned in by 4:00 each Friday. Assignments will be graded. 
• During 100% remote learning, your teacher will conduct live classes via Google Hangouts. Check Google Classroom for your live class schedule.
• When signing in for virtual classes or meetings, students are expected to be on time, appropriately dressed, and ready to learn. We suggest signing in 5 minutes before class starts. Please try to reduce background noise and distractions as much as possible.