Dear members of The Joseph Sears School Community,
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. We know a lot of communication is coming from the school and we appreciate everyone’s understanding. Since sending our request for volunteers last week, we have been asked a few clarifying questions we would like to answer in order to increase our likelihood of securing the number of volunteers needed to support Return to Learning this fall.
We acknowledge asking for volunteers each day from 8:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. is a significant request. The purpose of asking volunteers to commit for the day and trimester is to limit the number of people we have in the building each day and to manage as best as we can the people assigned to each “Bubble.” However, we have heard more people would be able to volunteer if we offered some flexibility, including “job sharing”. For example, if two volunteers wanted to split each day am/pm, or split the days of the week, we would gladly accept their offer to help.
As for being a substitute, this opportunity is only being offered to those who are volunteering as these individuals will already be a part of their grade-level “Bubble.” On most days, the volunteer will be responsible for supervising daily school arrival and dismissal procedures (staggered entrance/exit, social distancing, attendance, hand-washing, etc.), and overseeing health and safety protocols in the hallways, bathrooms, and other areas as students move through the building. However, in the event that a faculty member would not be able to come into the building, the volunteer could step into a substitute role for that faculty member, for that day. Having this option for our volunteers would be a great asset to our plan and would allow us to maintain in-person learning without adding people to the “Bubble.”
Finally, we want to clarify a volunteer’s responsibility to provide the supervision of the bathroom. In this role, the volunteer would sit outside of the bathroom to manage students and ensure they are standing in line with social distancing, allowing one student to enter and use the bathroom at a time, and then ensuring students use hand sanitizer as they exit the bathroom before allowing another student to enter. Volunteers would not be expected to go into the bathroom with students or help with toileting. In addition, all volunteers will be provided with a face mask and gloves (if needed).
Thank you again for your consideration of being a volunteer and helping us reopen our school. If you are interested, please fill out the form below by Wednesday, August 12, 2020.
To be eligible as a volunteer, one must undergo a background check, attend a Training Session on Wednesday, August 19 from 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (via Zoom), and adhere to our Volunteer expectations as outlined in our Volunteer Handbook.
