Altara’s Back to School Plan

Accommodating Individual Circumstances:

• Altara Elementary will be working closely with school and district nurse to finalize health care plans with families
• Notifying teachers and support personnel of needs identified in all health care plans
• Working closely with school and district nurse to finalize 504 plans with families
• Notifying teachers and support personnel of needs identified in all 504 plans

Alternate Learning Arrangements:

Altara Elementary will coordinate with Instructional Supports Department and families to support those choosing online learning or district supported, parent guided instruction

Communication/Trainings:

• Utilizing training provided by district, teachers and support staff will be trained on reopening plans
• Creation of school specific plans with SCCs and BLTs and notifying SPD of plan
• Training students of the overall plan will be done by teachers
• Answering questions and concerns will be the duty of the principal

• Altara Elementary will communicate with staff, students, and families on best practices for at home preventative care through newsletters and school website
• Support and distribute District Communications

Hygiene and Safety:

• Following up with custodial staff on schedules and cleaning rotations
• Ask custodian to submit a schedule of required cleaning to principal
• Addressing concerns regarding cleaning as they arise with custodian and Kevin Kelson
• Faculty and staff wear face coverings (e.g., masks or shields) when physical distancing is not feasible
• Hand sanitizer, soap and water will be readily available.  Only District purchased and approved sanitizing and disinfecting agents will be used.
• Hallway water fountains will only be used to fill up water bottles.  Students should not drink directly from them.  
• Hand sanitizer and specified wipes in the teacher workroom.
• State and district recommendations are supported by the school
• Altara Elementary High-Risk areas such as restrooms and sick rooms will be disinfected daily or at the time of an incident.
• Students will be encouraged to bring their own water bottles or will be given water bottles. 
• Cleaner and paper towels will be provided for all classrooms to sanitize
• Frequent hand washing will be encouraged.  As part of opening training, teachers will educate students on proper hand washing.  Students will be asked to wash hands before school, before lunch, after using the restroom, and before and after recess.
• Altara Elementary will identify entry and exit doors with signs
• Outside doors, except the main entrance, will remain locked throughout the day
• Inside doors will be propped open to reduce touch and increase air circulation
• Classroom doors will be propped open to reduce touch, but will remain locked for easy closures and safety in the event of an emergency or lockdown.
• Water jugs will be provided for teachers in portables.  
• Only necessary items will be in the sickroom.  Copiers and laminator will be moved to mitigate risks. 
• Computers will be available at entry and exit points for signing in and signing out
• Hand sanitizer will be available near computers
• Visible signage to encourage physical distancing as patrons enter and exit the building
• All visitors entering the building will be required to wear a mask.  If they do not have a mask, one will be provided.
• As the school year begins, students will practice physical distancing as taught by their teachers and parents.  When it is time to line up to come in:

• • Students will line up with their classes following socially distancing guidelines while wearing face coverings.
  • Classes will be distanced as far apart as feasible.
  • Grade levels will stagger entry and exit from  the building 

 Transportation:

• Teachers and administration will educate students on the importance of face coverings while riding the preschool bus
• Administration will work with transportation to establish effective seating charts for the preschool bus
• Reteaching of bus safety and etiquette will continue

Transitions:

• Identifying direction of hallways
• Training students on directions of the hallways.
• Applying appropriate signage and/or floor marking to direct traffic
• Modifying transition schedule to minimize the number of students in the hallways at one time
• Addressing congestion in entry doors by modifying schedule and allowing only one class to enter at a time
• Students and staff will be required to wear masks during transitions, including drop-off and pick-up times
• State and district recommendations are supported by the school.
• Schools, with district support, will work with their teachers, staff, SCC, and other parent stakeholders to address these recommendations and requirements as each school and classroom is unique
• Altara Elementary will apply appropriate signage on walls to keep the flow of traffic in hallways consistent
• Grades will stagger times for leaving the classroom for lunch, recess, brain boosters, etc.
• Grades will admit one class at a time when coming in for school or from recess.
• Visible signage to encourage physical distancing as students line up to enter the building, either before school or coming from recess. 
• Blacktop will be marked to encourage distancing.
• Inside doors will be propped open to reduce touch.
• Student arrival and dismissal times will be staggered.
• Students should not play on playgrounds before or after school
• Mark area for students to stand for pick-up

Classrooms:

• Administrators will provide training to educate educational staff on the action plan
• Employees will receive additional training on COVID-19 during the Critical Policy Training
• Teachers training students on the importance of mitigating risk in classrooms
• Working closely with Responsive Services and SPD to solve unique situations that arise
• Any individualized instruction, assessment (CBM, KEEP, ALS Language Screener, Special Education services, etc.) or other areas where physical distancing is not possible and one-on-one is required, reasonable accommodations such as face shields will be utilized
• State and district recommendations are supported by the school
• As mandated by the governor, all Altara Elementary students will wear face coverings unless ADA accommodations need to be made.
• Assigned seats in every class
• Students will be seated facing forward
• Maximize space between seating and desks leaving as much room as possible.  6 feet may not be feasible in some classrooms.
  • Remove any furniture that might inhibit maximum seating space
• Utilize desks, tables, and/or rugs to allow for maximum spacing between students.
• Teachers will wear a face covering
• Students and teachers will be given ”mask breaks” throughout the day to be determined by each teacher as to when these are needed and how long they will last.
• Students will have individual school supplies and will not share supplies.

Restrooms:

• Provide education and display signage on proper hand hygiene
• Collect and monitor cleaning schedule
• State and district recommendations are supported by the school
• Altara Elementary teachers will have students log out and in for bathroom use to help with contact tracing.
• Students will wash hands after restroom use 
• Students will be encouraged to use hand sanitizer after restroom use.

Lunch Room:

• Educating students on the lines and signage directing flow
• Wearing face coverings to lunch and removing to eat
• Removing all self-service bars
• Physical distancing where feasible
• Using hand sanitizer as students enter the lunchroom
• State and district recommendations are supported by the school
• Entry to breakfast will be through the west cafeteria doors.  Doors will be marked for entry and exit.  
• Students will only be allowed to sit in designated spots.
• At lunch, Altara Elementary will have students sit in assigned seats and will assign tables by class.
• Students will be distanced as much as is feasible at lunch tables.
• Lunch times will be monitored by the custodian, cafeteria support staff, cafeteria aide, and administration to ensure the flow of students coming in and out of the cafeteria.
• Students will not be allowed to congregate in the cafeteria
• No sharing food

After School Programs and Brain Boosters:

• School Choir will be suspended
• After school programs have been suspended at this point.
• Before school orchestra will take place with social distancing and instruments will not be shared.
• Brain Boosters can be held with students and teachers wearing masks, assigned seating, no-contact games, physical distancing as much as possible
• We are looking at ways to check out books
• PE Boosters will be held outside when possible and in the gym with inclement weather.
• For classes with more than four teachers, brain boosters will be divided into tribes.  These tribes will always be together.  Each Brain Booster teacher will have a specific plan in place for meeting student needs, safe physical distancing, and cleaning.

Recess and Lunch Recess:

• The school will adhere to all state, county, and district guidelines and recommendations for playground use
• Altara Elementary will schedule recess to minimize the number of students on the playground at the same time
• Altara Elementary will work with Playworks to establish touch free games and activities
• Assigning specific areas of the playground to grade levels or classes
• Rotating areas of the playground on different days
• Utilize Junior Coaches to clean items such as tetherballs 
• For the time being, there will be no basketball or football at recess

Tier II Supports:

• Plexiglass will be provided in the Tier 2 classroom.  Manipulatives will be cleaned after use.
• Groups leaving for intervention or extension will be kept together by class as much as possible.

Special Education Services:

• Altara Elementary special education students will wear face coverings unless health plans or individual plans indicate otherwise
• All service providers will have assigned seating
• Students will be facing forward
• Students will be spaced as far apart of feasible
• Furniture that might inhibit maximum seating space will be removed
• Teacher will wear a face covering at all times.
• Plexiglass will be provided, if requested, for teachers who are in closer contact to students.
• Service providers will socially distance students as far apart as feasible.

Large Gatherings, Assembly, Back to School, etc.:

• We will only hold large group gatherings if we are able to provide contact tracing while also maintaining health and safety principle requirements established by the local health department
• As of right now, Altara Elementary will not be holding the following large group gatherings: Kindergarten Orientation, Back to School Night, Welcome Back Red Carpet, Assemblies, Watch Dog Dad events, Student of the Week,  and field trips. We will do our best to provide virtual options for many of these events.
• For Back to School Night, the principal, PTA president, and teachers will make short videos to introduce themselves and their classrooms welcoming students to class and school.  These videos may be in the form of Flipgrid so that students may meet other class members and introduce themselves to their teacher.
• Kindergarten teachers have prepared a virtual orientation and PowerPoint that will be shared with kindergarten parents.
• Students of the Week will still be recognized and will receive a certificate and pin.
• Newscasts will be shown in classrooms
• PTA has been exploring possibilities for fundraising outside of our regular jog-a-thon.