We hope the children are enjoying their summer! We wanted to reach out and share some information with you as we work to reopen the school building in the fall. The Task Force, Faculty, and Administration are working with a number of assumptions which are guiding our decision making. Since receiving guidance from Governor Mike DeWine on Thursday, July 2nd about Ohio's guidelines for school reopening, we are refining this work.
As recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, we have committed to offering full weeks and full days of school whenever it is possible under state mandates. We are working to ensure that our students will have the opportunity to play and socialize and will be as unaffected as possible by the changes we need to make. This means that the adults will carry the extra work and care--as much as possible--to keep our students, families, faculty and staff safe during this upcoming school year.
As we seek to provide a positive experience for our students, our foundational changes to mitigate risk will include small group cohorting (each class is a cohort), increased cleaning, physical distancing when developmentally appropriate, robust hand-washing and hygiene protocol, and an increased use of our outdoor spaces. We recognize that the wearing of masks is a polarizing topic with families having differing views on the necessity and appropriateness. We will be communicating our plans in regards to face coverings and other more granular reopening details in late July. In the near future, we will be asking our families to fill out a brief survey to help with our reopening efforts.
At the center of our work is the experience of the children when we return to school. We will continue to work with the Summit County Health Department, the Ohio Department of Health, and the Ohio Department of Education as we develop our plans.
Stay tuned, be safe, and enjoy summer!