Dear Families,

Included here is the start of our reopening plan for St. Edward School.  We are diligently working through each and every detail to make sure that we are doing everything possible to create a safe and healthy learning environment.

We understand that these circumstances are difficult, and we know that in-person instruction is so vital for our students' academic and social/emotional well-being.  The St. Edward Reopening Teams are doing all that we can to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for our students.

Please contact with me any questions.  I continue to pray for the safety and well-being of our entire school community.

St. Edward, pray for us!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Sara Lasica
Principal
Reopening St. Edward

FAITH & STUDENT WELL-BEING

Faith
Our faith is central to who we are as a school community, and we are working to develop and refine meaningful ways to keep faith and our Catholic identity central to our school day through daily prayer, creative service opportunities, and our religion curriculum.

Social-Emotional Well-Being
While providing students a physically safe environment is our priority, we believe that it is equally important to support our children's mental and emotional health.  We will hold daily cohort meetings which include prayer and community-building activities.  During our cohort meetings, we will take time to implement and teach the required safety procedures with students at every developmental level. 

As we begin our professional development in August, we anticipate providing our teachers time to learn about resources to support our students as they transition back to school.

Teachers will meet with their homeroom before school starts via Zoom to meet and greet, answer questions and for the general purpose of having an opportunity to talk without masks before meeting for the first time; information will be forthcoming about date and time.



ACADEMICS

Cohort Model
As stated in the Archdiocese's guidelines, all Archdiocese of Chicago schools must operate under a "cohort" model when buildings reopen in August.  Under a cohort model, students and staff are grouped by homeroom.  Specials teachers and other content-area teachers will travel to students.

Meetings regarding student support plans (ICEP/504 plans), will take place in August with teachers.  Our goal will be to continue to work with parents and teachers to support our students' academic needs in the coming school year.  For all students, we will continue providing the rigorous instruction St. Edward is known for while acknowledging and supporting any academic gaps that may be present.

Technology
Teachers will be trained in Google Education (Grades 4-8) and Seesaw (Preschool-3rd Grade) in preparation to utilize those two platforms for St. Edward students and families during the entire school year.  All parents will have access to the Seesaw account for preschool through 3rd grades and to Google Classroom for 4th-8th grades.  We will be eliminating shared devices as much as possible and disinfecting devices in between uses when shared devices are necessary.

E-Learning Option
We understand that families have been impacted differently by the pandemic and may have varied needs.  If, for any reason, a family prefers a fully virtual option for a trimester or the school year, the Archdiocese will provide an e-learning option that will allow for simultaneous enrollment at St. Edward.  The online option will include all core classes.  St. Edward will provide religion instruction.  Please contact Mrs. Lasica should this be the desired option for your child(ren).
BUILDING SAFETY

Classrooms
  • We are doing everything we can to increase usable square footage in the classrooms in order to limit physical contact as much as possible.
  • Cohorts will be capped at 20 to ensure social distancing.
  • Non-essential furniture and items have been removed from classrooms to maximize square footage.
  • In preschool classrooms, non-essential toys and materials will be stored outside of the classroom.  When manipulatives that are essential for the learning environment are used, they will be disinfected after use.
  • Wall-mounted hand sanitizer stations will be located in each classroom and hand sanitizer stations will be located at each entrance of the school.
  • Desks will be lined in individual rows facing the same direction
    • Classrooms and desks have been measured and will be spaced approximately 5 feet apart
  • Students will have space in each classroom that allows for individual storage of student's daily items to limit contact between students' items
  • In classrooms with tables (preschool and kindergarten), clear, plastic dividers will be installed
  • Each student will have a paper bag attached to his/her desk for proper and safe mask placement during lunchtime
  • Distinct walking paths will be taped on each classroom floor where needed to minimize contact and maximize distance between students
  • In preschool and kindergarten, rugs will be replaced with individual tiles that will aid in maintaining physical distance
  • Each classroom will have a fan to help circulate fresh air
  • Student-friendly (developmentally appropriate) signage will be utilized regarding proper mask wearing, hand washing, and maintaining a safe distance

Restrooms
  • Restrooms in the main school building will have a three person capacity; restrooms for preschool and kindergarten are already individual rooms
  • Each floor will be assigned its own restroom to reduce contact
  • Specific stalls and urinals will be blocked off to create a safer distance between occupants 
  • Developmentally-appropriate signage will be displayed in every restroom regarding proper hand washing, limited occupancy, and maintaining a safe distance
  • Floor markings displayed for distancing and walking directions
  • Creation of restroom schedule for increased handwashing
  • Additional cleaning sanitation throughout the day

Wellness Space
  • Students who are ill will be able to be separated from other students while awaiting pickup in the office in a special area blocked off with plexiglass

Hallways
  • Physical guides, such as tape on the floor and signs on the wall, will be present to ensure that staff and students remain physically distant in lines and at other times


STUDENT LIFE

Face Masks
  • Students are required to wear a reusable mask or disposable mask upon exit of their car and/or entry onto the St. Edward Campus
  • Masks can be any solid color or pattern and may include school-appropriate images; however, words or messaging of any kind cannot be visible on the mask.  Masks can be purchased through our uniform vendors or privately.
  • The school will provide students with brown paper lunch bags for mask placement during recess, lunch, and PE class.
  • The school recommends 1 reusable mask per day or 1-2 disposable masks per day.  The school will have masks on hand for students whose mask breaks or for other unforeseen circumstances.  It is advisable to send an extra mask with each student daily.  Parents are strongly encouraged to have more than one reusable mask for their child and to wash the mask daily after use.

Arrival
In order to accommodate for physical distance during arrival, we will increase our arrival window.  Students will enter through the following doors: Preschool and kindergarten through individual classroom exit doors, 1st-3rd grades through the main entrance (Door A), 4th-6th grades through the rear east entrance (Door C), and 7th-8th grades through the rear west entrance (Door B).  Staff members will be present to facilitate a temperature and wellness check and to facilitate hand sanitizing for each student prior to entry of the school building.  All students are required to put on their face mask prior to exiting their vehicle or when arriving on campus.

If a student exhibits a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, a parent or guardian will be contacted and the child will be sent home immediately.  Please refer to the Archdiocesan Parent FAQ for more information regarding required illness procedures.

Parents are not allowed entry into the building during arrival.

Dismissal
In order to accommodate for physical distance during dismissal, we will utilize a tiered dismissal schedule.  

Families will be asked to complete a form prior to school starting indicating how their child will arrive and be picked up upon dismissal.


Lunch
Per the recommendation of the Archdiocese and various health organizations, in order to minimize contact, students will eat lunch in their homerooms.  Masks will be removed briefly for lunch.  We are cognizant of various allergies among our students and will take proper precautions, including hand sanitizing before and after eating and disinfecting of desks after lunch.  Given the desire to keep all of our students safe, we will continue to keep our preschool classes "nut free" and we strongly discourage bringing peanut or peanut butter products for lunch.

Water Bottles
Water fountains will be usable only as water bottle filling states; drinking spouts will be disabled and increased cleaning and sanitation will take place daily.  We ask that all students bring a large reusable water bottle to school each day.  Students will be provided multiple water breaks throughout the day.

Recess and Gym
We know that physical activity is a key factor in overall health.  We are creating a daily recess schedule that will allow for one grade level at a time, separated by cohort, to participate in recess.  We will work with our teachers to re-envision recess and PE classes so as to limit contact while still allowing students to maximize their time outdoors in an enjoyable way.

Each preschool and kindergarten class will be assigned one day a week to use the playground equipment.  The equipment will then be disinfected daily.






Contact
  
office@stedwardschool.com
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