On behalf of everyone here at Christ the King School, I wish you the best of health during this unprecedented time in history. The challenges we have had to face presented us with obstacles to living our lives as we have known them. It has not been easy for anyone. This letter is intended to inform you of that process and to give you the opportunity to be informed about how things will operate once school is in session.
By now, most of you have read the Catholic Schools Onward documents that are on the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education’s website. If not, I implore you to do so at this link: https://aopcatholicschools.org/catholic-schools-onward-cso-2/ There will be challenges for us to keep the building safely and securely open for your children. That document is the foundation for that process. The Archdiocese has put forth a fantastic plan for us for a full time reopening of the building. Obviously, we will need to tweak a few items for our own use, but the effort has made me feel positive about a safe environment for our kids.
As always, the teamwork between school and parent is important to all of us and has proven to be an overwhelmingly positive partnership. Our “Small School, Big Family” philosophy easily allows for this. These are some things that you will need to know as we progress through the school year:
Before leaving your house in the morning, you will need to monitor your child’s state of health. If your child is not feeling well, we cannot allow them in the building. Keep them home, because we will not allow them into their classrooms if they have a fever of 99 or above or exhibit any symptoms of Covid 19.
Parents cannot be permitted to be in the building when the students are inside. If you need to come to school, you will need to call Mrs. Smith and let her know that you are coming. We will make arrangements for you for whatever you need.
Our students will be organized by homerooms. The homerooms will keep to themselves the most of the day. The only interaction with people outside their homerooms will be with teachers in grades with departmental situations (Grades 3-8) or with Specials teachers (Grades K-8).
Homerooms will have recess in their rooms and lunch recess at an appropriate socially distant place in the yard from other cohorts.
Services such as Catapult math (with Mr. Michael), CORA Reading (with Mrs. Stack), counseling services (with Ms. Leone and Ms. Maurer), and speech (with Mrs. DiSante) will all occur as regularly as they did last year.
Social distancing is a big part of keeping the students and faculty safe. Our teacher to student ratio is a huge benefit to us since distancing the kids will be easier here than at other schools.
Our classrooms can handle a proper distance between students. Our numbers will allow us to keep the kids in the rooms at at least three feet from each other.
Bathroom times will be managed by schedule. That way, only one cohort will be in the hallway. Obviously, emergencies are an exception, but we would caution frequent bathroom users to be aware of the need to be clear of other groups in the building.
The water fountains are off limits until further notice. Please supply your child with enough water for the day.
Masks
Masks are optional for your children.
Cleaning
Cleaning of commonly touched surfaces, such as handrails, doorknobs, and handles to the stairwell doors, will be undertaken daily. Classrooms will be cleaned every day with disinfectant spray and electrostatic sprayers. The same will be true of the bathrooms.
Entering the Building
We cannot allow any child to attend class with an elevated temperature (99° or higher). It is important that you check your child’s temperature before driving to school. The parents of any child with a high temperature will be called to return to pick up their child. Have a backup plan for an ill child.
We will have the students arrive in the morning in the yard. Drivers need to follow the path closest to the woods to drop off children. They need to drop off the students in the “drop off” zone that we began using last year.
On rainy or colder days, we will need to set up one drop off point for the all grades. The process will be that students will enter the school building at the doors between the school and church.
We cannot allow parents or other adults to enter the building while school is in session. If there is a need for you to come to school, call Mrs. Smith to alert her of what you require. She will handle the arrangements in school for you.
Dismissal
Car line dismissal will proceed as usual with the exception that each cohort (grade) will be dismissed individually. This will add some time to dismissal, but we want to keep a safe distance between the cohorts. Walkers may NOT be picked up in the car line.
Walker lines will be dismissed by grade as well. Car riders may NOT be picked up in the walker line.
Lunch and Recess
Please pack enough snacks and drinks for your child for the day, especially those staying for CARES.
The students will have recess in class and lunch recess outside – weather permitting. They will play as a cohort without joining with the other cohorts.
The students will have time to wash their hands after playing outside.