Dear Swift Creek Families,
Yesterday, we welcomed all SCES staff members back to campus. We had a very productive and exciting day preparing for a great new school year. Part of our planning and discussion was, of course, with the safety of our entire community in mind. Now, I want to share with you pertinent aspects of our planning so that you will be aware of what we are doing to keep our students and staff healthy and safe.
Together, we are entering a new phase in our ongoing fight against the pandemic. Students who have missed vital socialization will naturally want to reconnect with classmates. Also, our in-person instruction must be relevant and engaging for students, many of whom have completed much of their previous learning online. At the same time, we are putting protocols in place that follow guidance from the NCDHHS and experts working with WCPSS.
While these guidelines and protocols are subject to change, please take time to review below the steps that we are following to begin the school year.
Sincerely,
Darrell Propst
Health and Safety Procedures at Swift Creek
Classroom
- Teachers are arranging student work spaces in small groups so that students have as much space as possible and are with the same small group throughout the day.
- If there are centers/circle time/carpet time in the classroom, teachers will remind and place students with as much social distance as possible.
- Water breaks: Students must bring their own water bottle from home. While they may fill up their bottle at the fountains, they may not drink directly from them. When a student requests a water break, the teacher will allow the student to take their water bottle to an area of the classroom or a designated space in the school that is unoccupied to drink their water.
- Students will keep personal items separate and in individually labeled cubbies or containers when feasible.
- Access to cubbies/personal storage areas will be staggered to allow as much space as possible between students.
- Students will only be allowed to work in groups when space allows for social distancing.
- We will limit use of classroom materials to small groups and disinfect between uses or provide adequate supplies to assign for individual student use.
- Snack: Students will be provided with a set time to eat snacks in the classroom. Students are required to wash their hands before and after snack. Students will remove masks all at the same time to eat. As soon as students are done eating, masks will be put back on. Students will remain in their assigned seats for the duration of snack time daily.
- Special: Specialists will receive seating charts from the classroom teachers and will assign seating in their spaces that keeps students close to students with whom they sat near in the classroom.
Under Plan A, Swift Creek does not have the physical space or staffing to allow students to stay six feet apart from one another while face coverings are removed for eating. At this time, schools have returned to breakfast and lunch practices and procedures used before the pandemic, including allowing students to socialize while eating.
- Students will wash hands or use sanitizer before eating.
- Serving lines are set up in the traditional way so students can "self-serve" and make their own food/beverage choices.
- Lunch items will be prepackaged by our cafeteria staff, so students will be able to just pick up their container and move down the line.
- The lunch tables have been rearranged to allow maximum space between tables. Students will sit at lunch with the same students they were close to in the classroom.
- When a student is done eating, they will put their mask back on.
- Students should remain fully seated with their legs under their table throughout lunch.
- Students should only interact/communicate with the students sitting directly around them.
- Playground equipment is available for use.
- Students will wash or sanitize their hands before and after recess.
- Hand sanitizer will be available for students to practice hand hygiene during play.
- Grade levels will remain separate from each other on the playground.
- Students will immediately stop bringing shared equipment to school and using shared equipment at recess.
- Masks are not required.
- We have scheduled handwashing times throughout the day.
- Students will use sanitizer as they enter each space (including AM arrival).
- Sanitization stations will be checked and refilled daily.
- Sanitizing high frequency touch points by school custodial services will happen throughout the day.
- It is important that everyone wears a face covering over their nose and mouth at all times when inside the building, except for eating or drinking.
Stay home when sick
All students should have their temperature taken every day at home before coming to school. You may not enter a WCPSS facility if you are:
- Diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 10 days
- Exposed to COVID-19 within the last 14 days and not fully vaccinated
- Instructed to quarantine
- Sick or experiencing any of these symptoms of illness
- 100.4° fever or higher
- Sore throat
- New cough
- New shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- New loss of taste or smell
- Diarrhea or vomiting
- New severe headache
The building will be cleaned and disinfected throughout the day and every evening. Disinfecting supplies will be provided to each classroom.
Well-maintained HVAC systems are also important in reducing risks associated with COVID-19. Our school’s HVAC systems have been designed in accordance with the NC mechanical code and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommendations. In response to the pandemic, we’ve upgraded to MERV 13 air filters, an important risk-reduction strategy for COVID-19.
Visitors
Only essential visitors will be allowed on campus in an effort to protect the health and safety of our students and staff. Visitors will be required to strictly follow all health measures, including wearing face coverings indoors and physical distancing as much as possible. Parents will not be allowed to visit their child’s class or have lunch with them. School volunteers will
Reminder about Meet the Family Night
- Students whose last names begin with A-K may come into the building with a parent from 5:00-5:45.
- Students whose last names begin with L-Z may come into the building with a parent from 5:45-6:30.
- The purpose of this visit is solely to see where the classroom is located and say hello to the teacher. Any information that you feel is pertinent for the teacher should be shared electronically.
- Many of our information tables will be in large, open common areas or outside.
- We look forward to seeing you there!