As the faculty and staff of Ascension Leadership Academy prepare for opening the school this fall, we have developed the following guidelines based on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines published in August 2020. As we learn more — and as those guidelines are updated — our procedures may change in keeping with the latest science and knowledge.
Screening
Staff
- Upon arrival to school, all staff members will take their temperature using infrared, digital, non-contact thermometers.
- Any staff member exhibiting signs of illness will be asked to leave campus and will remain away from school until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication. This applies to all nonCOVID-19 related illnesses.*
Students
- Upon arrival to school, all students will have their temperature taken using infrared, digital, non-contact thermometers.
- Any student exhibiting signs of illness will be asked to leave campus and will remain away from school until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication. This applies to all non-COVID-19 related illnesses.*
- In the event a child becomes sick at school, the child will be isolated, and parents will be contacted.
- It is the expectation of the school that parents will immediately pick the child up from school, and the child will not return to school until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication (this applies for all non-COVID-19 related illnesses)*.
- The school requests that parents inform the school if their child is diagnosed with COVID-19, the flu, or is experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Any staff member or student who tests positive for COVID-19 returning to school:
- Most adults and children who have had mild to moderate COVID-19 illness can now leave isolation after completing 10-days in-home isolation and do not need to be retested before returning to work or school. (This is based on newly released Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines).
- The 24-hour fever free rule for returning to school would not be a sufficient rule for COVID-19.
- It appears the virus can remain in a person’s system for some time regardless of symptoms or temperature.
- A staff member or student who has tested positive for COVID-19 will need to remain away from school for at least the 10-day in-home isolation and only return at that time when they have been symptom free for several days.
*Fever Free is defined as more than one degree above the daily charted temperature which will be considered the normal temperature for that person. Individual digital temperatures vary and often read below 98.6 degrees; therefore, the individual’s fever will be determined by measuring more than one degree above their average daily charted temperature.
**It is suggested that any staff member or students who has a fever for any reason, obtain clearance from a physician stating the individual is okay to return to work or school, or provide the school with results of a negative COVID-19 test.
For any staff member or student who is exposed to COVID-19 by a family member or close contact who test
positive:
- Once exposure is confirmed, even if the exposed person is asymptomatic, special care must be given before returning to school.
- Notify the school immediately once you become aware.
- The potential of carrying the virus puts all of the Ascension community at risk.
- Any staff member or student who is exposed to COVID-19, through contact with a family member who has tested positive for the virus, needs to follow CDC guidelines (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html).
- In this case, before returning to school, the individual must obtain clearance from a physician stating the individual is OKAY TO RETURN TO WORK OR SCHOOL or provide the school with a negative COVID19 test (allowing sufficient time between exposure and testing for the test to be reliable).
Visitors
- All visitors to campus will be screened both by answering a questionnaire related to symptoms of the flu and COVID-19.
- All visitors will have their temperature taken using an infrared, digital, non-contact thermometer.
- Any visitor exhibiting signs of illness or having answers on the questionnaire raising concern will not be permitted to enter any sections of the school building or gym.
- All visitors to campus will be required to wear a mask or cloth covering during their entire visit.
- While under the direction of this campus plan, no visitors will be allowed to eat lunch with a student.
Proper Hygiene
Our teachers will continue to stress the following with students:
- Hand washing is a must. Proper instructions for hand washing will be posted at all sinks for student reference.
- Students will be asked to wash their hands before entering the classroom each morning and at certain intervals throughout the day.
- Hand sanitizer will be available in classrooms and in common areas.
- Coughing or sneezing into the bend of the arm or covering the mouth/nose with a tissue is essential, even if wearing a mask or cloth covering.
- Avoiding touching the face with unwashed hands will be emphasized.
- Sharing of foods/liquids with others is prohibited.
Personal Protective Equipment
- Parents will need to provide a mask/cloth covering for their child/children to use at school. The student’s name MUST be on the mask/covering.
- Wearing a cloth covering will be required when social distancing cannot be maintained, but optional when students are working individually in their assigned workspace.
- Students must keep up with their cloth covering and must take it home daily for cleaning.
- Students will not be allowed to share their cloth covering with another student.
- Parents and teachers will educate children as to the need to use the mask/face covering as a protective measure without increasing anxiety in the student.
- Faculty and staff will wear cloth masks when social distancing cannot be maintained.
- Example: When a teacher is giving instruction one-on-one or to a small group of students, he/she will wear the cloth covering.
Enhanced Cleaning of Classrooms, Common Areas, and Materials
- Classrooms will be cleaned once a day. When possible, classrooms will be cleaned twice a day, once during and once after school.
- Visitors to classrooms must wear masks/cloth coverings on their faces at all times during the visit.
- Frequently used items (doorknobs, faucets, etc.) will be cleaned frequently during the school day.
- Shared materials will be cleaned after each use and will be cleaned at the end of the day.
- Students will be given personal classroom supplies, such as pencils, colored pencils, crayons, notebooks, paper, etc.
- Supplies will be kept in a pencil box/container for the student to use.
- The pencil box/contained will have the student’s name on it.
- At the end of the day, the pencil box/container will be sanitized and stored in the classroom for the next day’s use.
- Students should not bring school supplies from home in their book bags.
- Only supplies issued to the student will be used at school.
- The school will furnish replacement supplies.
- Students cannot share their supplies with another student.
- Personal items in book bags must be kept to a minimum and must be necessary to address essential instructional and personal needs.
Lunch and Food Items
- Students are required to bring their lunch from home.
- Parents cannot bring food for their child during the school day.
- All food items, such as snack, lunch, water bottles, must be with the child when they arrive at school.
- Food items must be brought to the school in a lunch box or tote bag.
- Lunch boxes or tote bags must be able to be cleaned before and after use.
- Materials brought from home, such as lunch boxes and tote bags, must go home with the student at the end of each school day and must be cleaned before sent to school the next day.
- Parents or other family members will not be allowed to eat lunch with their child.
Food and Snacks
- Individually packaged snacks are recommended.
- Disposable plates, cups, and utensils will be used.
- Teachers will ensure areas are sanitized before and after snack and lunch.
Staff Training
- All faculty and staff will be adequately trained in new protocols prior to the opening of school.
- Ongoing training will occur as new information is made available.
- The Director will stay informed and monitor guidance from the CDC, as well as federal and state departments of health and education.
Adjustment to the Academic Calendar
Ascension Leadership Academy’s academic year is scheduled to start, for students, on September 8, 2020. If it becomes necessary to delay the scheduled opening, an alternative calendar will be shared with the school
community. Every effort will be made to provide enough time for proper family planning.
Conditions that could result in adjustment to the current calendar:
- A confirmed case of COVID-19 at the school will result in an immediate shutdown if the exposure has not been limited to one teacher and a small group of students.
- Parents will be notified of the case, any possible exposure, and will be required to pick up their child immediately.
- Current CDC guidelines call for the school to be shut down for 2-5 days to allow for deep cleaning. This guideline applies when the case has not been contained to one classroom and one group of students. When the case is confined to one classroom and one teacher, only those involved will be required to quarantine and the classroom will be sanitized before allowing anyone to return to that classroom.
- This event will immediately transition instruction to online activities continuing at home Online Learning Protocol guidelines will immediately be in place and should be followed by students with parent support. Scheduled classes and activities will follow the students’ academic schedules.
- All students and their parents will commit to maintaining the student’s online instructional program as outlined in the Online Learning Guidelines issued beginning of school.
- A regular schedule will be followed, during home instruction, with teachers’ instructional contact available during the students’ scheduled time for each class.
- After cleaning and sanitizing the classroom and/or campus and meeting all guideline for re-entry, the classroom/school will reopen.