Dear West Valley STEM Community,
As the 2020-2021 school year nears, I know many of you have questions about school reopening, COVID-19 mitigation efforts, instruction, and school cleaning plans. On top of this, we need to take into consideration the health and safety of our amazing students and our dynamite teachers and staff members. This year above any other will require all of us to work together towards providing the best education for our students. The current pandemic situation is continuously evolving and as information changes, so do our plans.
We are excited to welcome all students to attend classes in person or via distance learning here at West Valley Elementary School. We want to ensure that each child is assigned a teacher to meet their needs in person or via distance learning. We need all families to register their students during the first week of August to ensure our wonderful teachers stay at West Valley and our students have appropriate class sizes. For the first time ever, ONLINE registration is available for families and their students. If your student has never attended West Valley STEM, you will still need to complete in-person registration. ONLINE registration will be from August 3rd – August 7th, 2020. To access the online registration, you will need to go through your Granite School District Parent Portal Account. (Instructions for creating and/or accessing a Parent Portal Account are included with this letter.) In-person registration will be on Monday, August 3rd and Thursday, August 6th from 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM. If you would like help with your online registration you are welcome to come during the in-person registration times. During the registration process, each family will have the option for their student(s) to decide whether they will attend class in person or through distance learning for Quarter 1 of the school year. Each quarter you will have the opportunity to decide whether your student will be attending in person, or via distance learning. We have a staff of amazing educators here at West Valley, and without our students registered here, our staff numbers will not be able to remain at their current levels.
West Valley is very excited to announce that we plan to welcome all our 1-6 students back to school on August 24 on a regular schedule with Kindergarten students starting on August 27. We recognize that COVID-19 is still with us, so we have plans to serve all our students safely both at school and at home.
Parents, we understand that some of you will be reluctant to send your child back to school on a regular schedule with so many unknowns. Be assured that we are prepared to help provide your child(ren) with a high-quality education whether you choose to send them back to school or keep them home and continue with distance-learning as we did in Quarter 4 of last year. ALL our students need to be part of a classroom community that will foster their growth and achievement and the amazing teachers at West Valley can do that in a classroom and digitally.
Some important points for you to be aware of:
- Masks for students are required in all K-12 schools per the Governor’s order during the school day. We will provide one face covering per child.
- We will facilitate social distancing to the extent possible within our school building.
- We will clean surfaces and commonly touched areas regularly throughout the day.
- We will follow recommendations from the Salt Lake County Department of Health.
- All school employees will wear face coverings.
- Visitors within the school will be limited to only necessary functions.
- Handwashing and Hygiene will be taught and reinforced.
These are not all the safety points we are working on, but they are a start. Our plan will be flexible and fluid and will constantly be evolving as we learn how to hold school during this unprecedented time. We will, of course, communicate to you to the best extent possible throughout the school year. You are our partner and we cannot do this important work without your support.
Lastly, please know how we appreciate each of you. We miss our students and cannot wait to see every one of them in August. A school is not a school without the students, parents, and teachers. It has been very lonely here without you all.
Below is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that will hopefully help you to make the best decisions as to whether your child attends in person or through distance learning. Please keep in mind that the current COVID-19 pandemic is a fluid and flexible situation in which we are constantly getting new information from both our health department and state government.
FAQ’s
- What happens when a child tests positive for Covid-19? Or a teacher?
Granite has a protocol in place where specific people are notified with the contact information of the individual whether it be a student or employee including contact tracing. These people are in direct contact with the Health Department. We then follow what the Health Department recommends. We will work with our school nurse team, department of health, and district communications office to inform families of possible exposure if needed as well as what implications positive tests have on students/ staff. This might include closing a classroom, a grade level, part of the school, or the whole school for the duration given by the Health Department. A message without the specific contact information is shared with our school community. We are forced to keep the message generic in nature due to HIPAA violations and confidentiality. We do what we can to notify our school community.
- How will lunch run?
Our plan is to assign seats with social distancing in place the best we can. Students will be social distanced, recommend mask wearing when not eating, also sanitize before and after eating.
We will eat outside when applicable as well as use all of the gym space based on our lunch schedule.
- What accommodations will take place in the art room, playground, hallway, library?
Procedures will be in place, taught, reviewed, and reinforced for social distancing as much as possible. Additionally, students are asked to wear masks during all transitions. Additional cleaning several times a day will occur as well as deep cleaning a few times weekly. Art will be in each classroom, playground- no use of structures, assigned play areas by grade level, doors propped as needed to minimize fomite contact. Library use of online resources- librarian visit classes with book recommendations, sanitize before and after.
- What medical symptoms will warrant removal of a child from the classroom during the day? And where will that child be while waiting for parents?
We will have designated isolation room for student who exhibit a fever or symptoms of COVID. We are relying on our nursing staff for guidelines as to how to best determine if a student is sick and should be put in the sick room or the isolation room. These guidelines should be coming soon. If a child is reporting symptoms, they will wait in the health room. We can adapt this space as an isolation room if needed. Parents will be notified for pick-up.
- What will the attendance policy be?
On a regular schedule, attendance will be taken in the same way as it has been in the past. Students on in classroom learning and distance learning may be noted in different ways. If we need to change from a regular schedule, attendance tracking may change at that time. Our attendance policy will recognize the various needs of our patrons from distance learning to in person learning. We will need to account for each child each day.
- Will kids at home have the same assignments/schedule as kids in the room?
Teachers will attempt to keep learning the same no matter what the setting. We do know that these two settings will have a different look at times though.
- Will any outside groups come into schools for enrichment activities like animal demonstrations, music performances, etc?
Due to limiting exposure, outside groups will be extremely limited.
- Will any school-wide assemblies be held?
If large group assemblies are needed, students will be social distancing and wearing masks as the Health Department recommends. There are many ways to minimize the need for large group assemblies such as webcast, recorded presentations, etc.
- What field trips would you approve for Q1 or Q2?
Very few, if any, field trips will occur to start the year. Field trips may be added depending on recommendations from theHealth Department.
- How will you approach kids (and parents) who choose to not wear masks?
All employees will be required to wear masks/shields. Recently Governor Herbert has mandated masks for students and employees in all K-12 schools. This is a case by case conversation. We will have extra masks available to use as needed. Granite is giving every student a mask in hopes that families will see the importance.
- What volunteers do you see as essential in our school?
Volunteers will be limited due to minimizing exposure. If a volunteer is deemed essential, this would be a regular scheduled (daily)work for possible approval. Ideas such as a reading group (following precautions such as health department guidelines symptom screening, 15 min time of contact, use of masks, social distancing.
- What cleaning procedures will happen at the school, and how often? What about the kindergarten rooms with different groups each day?
Cleaning of student areas will occur a few times a day. Common touch surfaces in classrooms, restrooms, and other areas of the school will be deep cleaned a few times a week. Students will be taught proper hygiene procedures, time will be provided for hand washing, sanitizing hands anytime leaving/ entering rooms.
- How will desks be spaced? How far apart can kids actually be in the classroom?
We are social distancing students the best that we can in all areas of the school, including in the classroom. We are looking at minimizing extra furniture or moving it in different ways in classrooms to allow students to move desks apart and socially distance themselves from others.
- Will the cloth towel dispensers in the bathrooms be replaced with paper towels?
The current plan is to switch the cloth dispensers to paper towels.
- Under what circumstances would the whole school move to either half-time phase or total distance learning? Can a single school move phases, or a single network, or does the whole district have to move at once?
We will follow the guidance of the Health Department in all cases. As stated above, any of the described scenarios may occur.
Please remember that the current situation is fluid and flexible. As information and guidance is updated our plans will adapt. We look forward to providing the best educational program for all students and families.
Sincerely,
Jeffery Walton
West Valley Stem