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Campus Experience: Lower School

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.
  • Siblings may be dropped off together at any of the applicable entrances.
  • Contactless drop-off, with parents remaining in their cars, will be emphasized. A staff member will be at each access point taking temperatures.
  • Once students have entered the building, they will proceed directly to their classrooms.

Drop-off and Pick-up During the School Day

If a student needs to leave early or arrive late, such as for a doctor’s appointment, the student will enter and exit through the front main entrance. If a student needs to leave during the day, the parent should park in one of the parking spaces in front of the main office, stay in the car, and call Ms. Drake, 214-826-2931. The student will be escorted to the car. Upon returning to school, the student should enter through the main entrance and check in with Ms. Drake.     

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. Ordering information will be sent out in August. Students may also bring lunch from home.  Microwaves will not be available during this phase. Please do not have food delivered to campus, as we are not allowing visitors in the building during this phase.

Lower School lunch and recess times are as follows:

  • Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade – 11:05 a.m. – noon
  • Third grade and fourth grade – 11:35 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Afternoon Carpool Procedures

  • All Lower School families will be assigned a carpool tag.
  • Lower School students will be called directly from the classroom 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. Parents will need to join the Middle School carpool line after 3:25 p.m.

After-school Care for Lower School Students

After-school Care will be available for Lower School students from 3:45 – 5:30 p.m. Students will be housed in the cafeteria with periodic breaks outside. The environment will be controlled to maintain appropriate physical distancing.

Academic Day

Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade

Cohorts, Classrooms, and Schedules

Students in kindergarten, first, and second grades will begin their day in the classroom with their homeroom teacher and will remain with that student group, or cohort, throughout the day.

Students will remain in the classroom for all academic classes as well as specialty classes including art, Spanish, and computer. In order to reduce the possibility of exposure to germs, specialty teachers will come to the students’ homeroom classroom instead of the students changing classrooms. Students will be physically distanced in the classroom, either by the desks being three to six feet apart or by plastic barriers being placed between seats at round or square tables.

For music class, students will go to the auditorium where they can maintain physical distancing for singing. Physical education will be held either outside or in the gym with the students physically distanced.

Specialty classes are scheduled on a blue day/green day rotation. For example, one group may have music on blue days and art on green days while another group may have PE on blue days and computer class on green days. Each cohort will have two to three specialty classes per day.

Lunch and Recess

During lunch, students will eat in the cafeteria with their cohort so as not to mix with many other students. The cafeteria tables will have plexiglass barriers between students at each table. Cafeteria tables and plexiglass dividers will be cleaned between each group of students.

Recess will be held outside. Teachers will monitor students and encourage physical distancing while outside.  

Restroom Breaks and Cleaning Procedures

Restroom breaks will be given to a maximum of three students at a time. No more than three students will be allowed in a restroom at one time. Restrooms will be cleaned throughout the day.  

Students will be asked to use hand sanitizer each time they leave or enter a classroom. Student desks will be cleaned periodically throughout the day as well as by the janitorial service in the evenings.  

Supplies and Manipulatives

Students will have their own set of supplies such as markers, pencils, scissors, glue, etc. Any manipulatives will be cleaned between uses. We recommend that families also have a set of supplies at home, so that if distance learning is needed, appropriate supplies are available.

 

Google Classroom and Digital Resources

All students will have a Google Classroom login for accessing instruction and assignments online. Parents will be given access as well. Teachers will use these accounts at school to reinforce skills in navigating Google Classroom and other digital resources and to make sure that students are able to access, complete, and turn in assignments online.

Every student must bring their own headphones each day.

Wonderful Wednesdays and any other assemblies will be virtual rather than in-person, either as pre-recorded videos or as live Zoom sessions. Students will view the assembly on the screens in their classrooms. Field trips will be virtual or postponed.

Face Masks and Water Bottles

Each student must wear a mask or face shield every day. Face coverings will be required when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Each student should also bring a water bottle each day as the water fountains will not be in use.

Third Grade and Fourth Grade

Cohorts, Classrooms, and Schedules

Students in third and fourth grades will be grouped by homeroom, or cohort, and will remain with those students each day. These grade levels will continue to be departmentalized with Ms. Curtis teaching ELA and Social Studies and Ms. Rasheed teaching Math and Science for third grade, and Ms. McCoskey teaching ELA and Science and Dr. Haynes teaching Math and Social Studies for fourth grade.

The students will follow a blue day/green day rotation. Students will be in their homeroom classroom on blue days and in the other grade level classroom on green days. For example, students in Dr. Haynes’s homeroom will be in his classroom on blue days and in Ms. McCoskey’s classroom on green days.

Students will remain in the same classroom for all academic classes as well as specialty classes including art, Spanish, and computer. In order to reduce the possibility of exposure to germs, the specialty teachers will come to the students’ classroom instead of the students changing classrooms. Desks will be arranged three to six feet apart or divided by plastic barriers to allow for physical distancing in the classroom.

For music class, students will go to the auditorium where they can maintain physical distancing for singing. Physical education will be held either outside or in the gym with the students physically distanced.

Specialty classes are also scheduled on a blue day/green day rotation. For example, one group may have music on blue days and art on green days while another group may have PE on blue days and computer class on green days. Each cohort will have two to three specialty classes per day.

Lunch and Recess

During lunch, students will eat in the cafeteria with their cohort so as not to mix with many other students. The cafeteria tables will have plexiglass barriers between students at each table. Cafeteria tables and plexiglass dividers will be cleaned between each group of students.

Recess will be held outside. Teachers will monitor students and encourage physical distancing while outside.  

Restroom Breaks and Cleaning Procedures

Restroom breaks will be given to a maximum of three students at a time. No more than three students will be allowed in a restroom at one time. Restrooms will be cleaned throughout the day.  

Students will be asked to use hand sanitizer each time they leave or enter a classroom. Student desks will be cleaned periodically throughout the day as well as by the janitorial service in the evenings.  

Supplies and Manipulatives

Students will have their own set of supplies such as markers, pencils, scissors, glue, etc. Any manipulatives will be cleaned between uses. We recommend that families also have a set of supplies at home, so that if distance learning is needed, appropriate supplies are available.

 

Backpacks

Students will take academic materials home each day. We recommend that students have two backpacks, one for blue day classes and one for green day classes. For third grade, that would mean one backpack for ELA and Social Studies and another for Math and Science. For fourth grade, that would be a backpack for ELA and Science and one for Math and Social Studies. Students would then bring the appropriate backpack for the classes they have that day. This is not required, just an organizational suggestion.

Google Classroom and Digital Resources

All students will have a Google Classroom login for accessing instruction and assignments online. Parents will be given access as well. Teachers will use these accounts at school to reinforce skills in navigating Google Classroom and other digital resources and to make sure that students are able to access, complete, and turn in assignments online.

Every student must bring their own headphones each day.

Wonderful Wednesdays and any other assemblies will be virtual rather than in-person,  either as pre-recorded videos or as live Zoom sessions. Students will view the assembly on the screens in their classrooms. Field trips will be virtual or postponed.

Face Masks and Water Bottles

Each student must wear a mask or face shield every day. Face coverings must be worn at all times while on campus unless eating lunch. Each student should also bring a water bottle every day as the water fountains will not be in use.

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