Archive In-Person Learning Safety Plan

FISW SAFE PLAN FOR in-person learning

FISW’s Response to COVID-19: Safety Plan for School Year 2020-21

Our COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan allows us to offer in-person learning to our students during this unprecedented time. We continue to find ourselves facing a difficult situation with COVID-19. At FISW, we are confronting this reality by welcoming our students on campus with robust health and safety measures in place. FISW has developed and implemented a Health and Safety Plan for the 2020-21 school year that is in line with public health policy and local, state, and federal guidance and requirements. The plan builds a framework of procedures for the 2020-21 school year to protect the health and safety of our students, our employees, and the greater FISW community. This framework also prepares us to adapt to meet the evolving situation and any new guidelines.

On July 17, we shared with our enrolled families a detailed and comprehensive Health and Safety COVID-19 Addendum to our Parent Handbook. In crafting our plan, the health and well-being of the entire FISW community, including students, faculty, staff, parents are placed above all other considerations. All decisions for our school consider our mission, core values, educational priorities, and the developmental stages of our students.

The Process and Principals of our planning

Our COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan is the result of a multitude of perspectives. It was created with valuable input from a Think Tank of volunteers from across our community – parents, teachers, and staff members.
The health and well-being of all participants, including students, faculty, staff, parents are placed above all other considerations.
All decisions for our school consider our mission, core values, educational priorities, and the developmental stages of our students.
As a community, we honor and respect each other. As such, FISW expects that all members of the community will comply with governing public health policy as ordered by local, state, and federal agencies.

Key Elements of our Plan

Physical Distancing:

All our students (K-5th) and staff maintain physical distancing (6th feet distance). Class capacity determined by physical size of assigned classroom.
Preschool classes are limited to 14 students.

Building Access:

Building access is only available to employees and students
Scattered drop off and pick up schedule through different assigned entrance doors

Cleaning and Sanitation:

A Robust cleaning and sanitizing protocol is in place
A Protexus Electrostatic Spraying System is used to safely and effectively disinfect classrooms
A filtration, purification, and sanitizing system that destroys bacteria and viruses in the air and on surfaces is added to each classroom
Frequent handwashing and sanitizing

Health Screening

Temperature checks for faculty and staff before entering the school
All families need to certify that they meet essential health criteria (no symptoms, no contact with COVID-19 positive individuals)
Families should be community and public health minded: not mixing with groups outside of schools, limiting non-essential travel, informing the school while travelling outside of the area, following all regulations to protect our community

Infection Control

Ill students cannot attend school and must quarantine
Decisions to return to school will follow local and public health authorities

Personal Protective Equipment

All students PS-5th and all adults must wear masks

Remote Learning

Remote learning for students who select not to come back on campus

or students who must quarantine

Remote learning during mandated school closures

Extracurricular Activities and Extended Day

No extracurricular activities
No field trips
No before school care
After school care offered by class to stable cohorts

with 5pm and 6pm daily pick-up options

Timeline for Return to In-Person Learning

We opened in September with Petits (preschool) and Moyens (Pre-K) open for fully in-person learning.
We welcome our Kindergarten classes back on campus on September 21 and our first-grade classes on October 1 for fully in-person learning.
In November, we welcomed grades 2-5 back on campus in a weekly hybrid model. Grades 2 and 5 returned for in-person learning on November 9 and grades 3 and 4 on November 16. These grades alternated weeks of in-person and remote learning to limit the total number of students on campus while providing in-person learning opportunities at all grade levels.
Following the mid-winter break in February, we discontinued the hybrid model and welcomed grades 2-5 back for fully in-person learning.
We continue to offer a remote learning option at all grade levels.

Ongoing Communication

We are so heartened to see the FISW community rally together with incredible kindness, resilience, and generosity of spirit to support each other during these difficult times. As always, the welfare and well-being of our students, faculty and staff are of primary importance, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring a welcoming and safe environment for learning and development. We are happy to be able to welcome our students to campus for in-person learning. We will continue to communicate regularly and openly about our safety plan throughout the school year.