Dear Lakehill Community:
Lakehill is continuing to move forward with plans for a health-informed, in-person semester this fall. Our Plan for Reopening, based on the information we have to date, will be released on July 17. While we are hoping and planning for us to be together on campus, we are continuing to develop our distance-learning plan as well.
This week, I would like to share information on the Campus Experience for our in-person plan.
Staggered Start and Departure Times
We are fortunate that we already have several systems in place that will benefit us in the fall, such as staggered start and end times and different entrances for different divisions. Lower School hours will be 8:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Middle and Upper School hours will be 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Campus Access Plan
The campus access plan is designed to minimize access to campus and limit nonessential visitors. Contactless drop-off and pick-up, with parents remaining in their cars, will be emphasized. A trained staff member will be at each access point taking temperatures.
Drop-off procedures
- The building will open to students at 7:35 a.m.
- Lower School students will be dropped off and enter near the flagpole.
- Middle School students will be dropped off and enter through the southeast door by the gym.
- Siblings may be dropped off together at any of the applicable entrances.
- Upper School students getting dropped off will enter the Commons through the southwest door.
- Upper School students driving a car to school will enter through the west door by the Community Room.
- Once students have entered the building, they will proceed directly to their classrooms. Students will not be using lockers during this initial phase. They will have their backpacks with them in each classroom so that we can maintain physical separation in the hallways.
Cafeteria and Lunch
We are currently furnishing the cafeteria with rectangular tables to allow for increased physical distancing and are installing plexiglass dividers on the tables. The lunch schedule will be adjusted to accommodate smaller groups of students.
There will be no hot meal service this year. Our food service provider, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, will offer boxed cold lunches with a salad or sandwich, two sides, dessert, and bottled water. These lunches MUST be ordered ahead of time. You will receive more information regarding ordering lunches in August. Students may also bring a lunch from home. Microwaves will not be available during this phase. Please do not have food delivered to campus, as we will not be allowing visitors in the building.
Afternoon Carpool Procedures
- All Lower and Middle School families will be assigned a carpool tag.
- Lower and Middle School students will be called directly from their classrooms to the carpool pick-up line.
- Lower School carpool will begin at 3:00 p.m.
- Lower School students will exit out the green door by the gym for carpool.
- Lower School students remaining on campus at 3:25 p.m. will be taken to the cafeteria and the parents will need to join the Middle School carpool line after 3:25 p.m.
- Middle School carpool will begin at 3:30 p.m.
- Middle School students will exit out the northeast door by the flagpole.
- Middle School students remaining on campus at 3:45 p.m. will be taken to the cafeteria.
- Upper School carpool will also begin at 3:30 p.m.
- Upper School students will exit through the door they entered.
After-school Care for Lower and Middle School Students
After-school Care will be available for Lower and Middle School students from 3:45 - 5:30 p.m. Students will stay in the cafeteria with periodic breaks outside. The environment will be controlled to maintain appropriate physical distancing.
Other Requirements and Recommendations
Backpacks: As stated above, students will not be using lockers during this initial phase of reopening our campus. Each student must have a backpack to carry books and supplies. Students will keep their backpacks with them in the classroom. All students (K-12) will be on a blue day/green day rotation, so you might consider having two backpacks, one for each color day.
Technology: All students, kindergarten through 12th grade, must bring their own headphones to school daily for use with computers and iPads. We strongly recommend that each student has a tablet or computer at home to use for homework while we are on campus and for distance learning should that become necessary. A touchscreen and a stylus are extremely helpful, particularly for math classes and handwriting. Every household should also have a printer accessible to the students. Should distance learning become necessary, each student must have access to a device capable of video and audio for Zoom meetings with teachers.
We hope to see all of our students on campus beginning August 24. As we have stated before, we understand that some students may not be able to join us due to various medical reasons, and we will work with those families on a case-by-case basis.
Please feel free to contact me, or any member of the administrative team, with questions or suggestions. We enjoy hearing from you.
Sincerely,
