• Thinking creatively about the space in our building and utilizing different areas of the school as regular classroom spaces. This will enable us to keep classes small when possible and have all students socially distanced around the building.

• Utilizing staff in different ways to ensure that the needs of our students are met. Our classroom aides and other teaching staff will help us deliver a complete educational experience for all students so that students can maintain the high quality education that Xavier is known for.

• Limiting the movement around the building by having the specialists (with the exception of physical education) go from classroom to classroom to teach their classes. Students will be staying in class and grade level clusters throughout the day to limit exposure, including recess and lunch times 

• Implementing new procedures for the beginning of the day. We will not be gathering the students to wait together outside at the start of the day. Rather, we will have various doors designated for student entry where students will have a quick temperature screening and then go directly to the classroom. You will be receiving more specific information about this at a later date. 
• Making sure that safety precautions are taught and followed to minimize the possibility of the spread of Covid-19 to our staff and students.  This will mean that we will be taking extra time for teaching protocols and reinforcing lessons about hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and other health measures.  We will also be requiring that all students bring a cloth mask to school.  The use of the masks will be determined by the age of the student and what is going on in the classroom at various times.  Masks will most likely be required by all students when entering and exiting the building daily, in a common area (Mass or hallways) and when working in a small group or directly with a staff member for an extended period of time. 
• Guidelines for face masks include: they do not need to follow the school uniform colors, however, they should be age appropriate and non-disruptive to the learning environment. Allowing your children the opportunity to pick out their own fun mask may help in their willingness to wear them on a daily basis. 

• Asking students to bring their own personal water bottles to school with them daily, so that students do not need to utilize the public drinking fountain.

• Limiting visitors to the building and restricting volunteers at this point, in order to keep exposure at a minimum and everyone as safe and healthy as possible.

• The Xavier System has made a commitment to provide technology tools to support our students both in school and at home if we should need to go to remote learning for any portion of the upcoming year. We will now have Chromebooks available for all students from Kindergarten through Grade 8 at all times. This means that students will not need to share Chromebooks on regular school days, lessening the need to sanitize devices between uses.  It also means that if we should need to move into remote learning for safety reasons, that students will have easy access to devices that they can bring home if necessary.

• We know that when we were involved in distance learning this spring, we utilized several different educational apps that were sometimes confusing for families to access from home.  We will now be utilizing ClassLink which will streamline that entire process.  All apps will be located in one easily accessible location.  

• Teachers will be working together to provide options for remote learning, not only in the event of a shut down, but also for those students who may need to stay home for health reasons. If your child has health concerns that may make this opening plan a challenge, please reach out to me and we will work collaboratively to develop reasonable accommodations for your child.The Xavier System has always offered reasonable accommodations to students who cannot attend school for an extended period due to medical reasons and this will continue to be the case as we deal with the coronavirus. 

• Avoid close contact with others who are not in your immediate family when possible.
• Teach your young children how to wash their hands.They need to be prepared to wash their hands frequently while at school. Practicing washing their hands for at least 20 seconds while at home will get your children prepared for doing this effectively when they are at school.
• Be confident when discussing plans in front of your child and do not show them your fear or concern, even despite your personal feelings on the matter. Their emotions and reactions are a reflection of ours, and we need to try to eliminate the anxiety in our children.
• Purchase a cloth face mask for your child and have them practice wearing it so that they know how to do this safely prior to school starting.  Please do this in a positive and pleasant way so that they are comfortable wearing the mask and know that we are doing this to not only protect ourselves but all those around us. 
• Remind your child to avoid touching their face, eyes, and mouth when in public.
• Teach young children how to blow their nose as well as sneeze and cough into a tissue or into their elbow. 
• Practice opening things such as water bottles and lunch/snack items that you might be sending from home. In the past, teachers and aides often helped young children open these items at lunch.  We will now want to have students be able to open these things on their own if they can do so.  While we certainly will help them if need be, we would prefer to have students be the only ones touching their lunch items.