Mt. Carmel Return-to- School Playbook
- Communication
Henry County Schools and Mt. Carmel Elementary is adapting our teaching, learning, and operations to welcome our employees and students back to a safe and encouraging learning environment. This Playbook is designed to highlight many of the ways we are modifying our practices to keep our staff and students as safe as possible while providing them the opportunity to learn. Whether families choose to attend school in person or through remote learning, we will ensure that all students have access to a high-quality learning experience. We fully expect to maintain the same rigorous learning level, regardless of a family’s attendance option choice. Henry County Schools expects exceptional learning outcomes, even as we meet the challenges of our current situation.
2. Safety precautions
Signage has been posted in highly visible locations to promote everyday protective measures and describe how to stop the spread of germs.
Floor markers for distancing have been placed in hallways.
Hand sanitizing stations have been installed and filled in high traffic intersections within the school building.
The SSC team has met with administration to discuss cleaning protocols and cleaning schedules.
All staff members have received a face shield, hand sanitizer, and cleaning wipes.
Regular checks will be conducted to determine if additional cleaning supplies are needed.
We have face masks available for visitors, teachers, or students who forget their face mask. Teachers will have masks available for students to use in case one breaks or is forgotten.
Signs have been posted on all exterior doors that read “Face masks are required to help keep our students and staff safe."
3. Front Office
Only one parent per family is allowed in the building. Only 4 adults are allowed in the office waiting area at a time.
Reminder signs are posted on entrance doors to the school and office.
The district has installed a Plexiglass shield in the front office.
Communication procedures have been established for teachers to follow when sending students to the front office, clinic, and counseling office.
4. MCE PLAN
MCE PLAN:
Any student not feeling well or exhibiting any COVID-19-like symptoms will be referred to the school nurse/clinic in alignment with school-based protocols. Please note, that if a student is not feeling well, another student will NOT be asked to walk alongside them to the clinic as their buddy. If a teacher or school-based staff member notes a concern, the teacher will call the school clinic aide. The school clinic aide will come to the classroom to assess and escort the student to the clinic, if needed, to limit any potential exposure to others.
An area for students who are sick and a well-clinic has been established to address the needs of students with medical needs and one for fever or COVID symptoms.
Visitors will not be allowed to go beyond the front office.
Office procedures will be communicated to the school community on a regular basis via recorded message. In order to limit exposure for all students and staff, we are limiting campus visits by any nonessential visitors, community organizations, businesses, municipal partners, and speakers. Essential visitors are defined as those with business critical to the operation of the district (e.g. contractors, deliveries, members of the Department of Health, etc.). At this time, all volunteer/mentoring opportunities will be conducted virtually, unless directed by the school principal. All individuals entering a school or district building must follow the protocols outlined.
5. Arrival/Dismissal Traffic flow
Within the cafeteria there will be yellow dots on the floor to identify where to stand to ensure social distancing.
Students will walk on the right side of the hallways, utilizing the yellow dots on the floor to responsibly distance.
7:05 Morning Bus Arrival: For bus arrival logistics, one bus will unload at a time on each side of the bus ramp, no more than 2 buses at a time. Upon entry to the building, breakfast traffic will flow through the left door, while students not eating breakfast will go through the right hand door. Responsible distancing will be monitored and enforced. Signage will be posted. Supervision by staff will ensure responsible distancing as students proceed to designated areas.
7:05-7:45 Morning Bus & Car Arrival: Car riders begin at 7:15 am. All staff will be expected to be on duty at 7:15, with some staff on duty at 7:00, ready to receive students in classrooms. Students will report directly to homeroom. Movement will be managed by staff using the school movement logistics map. No one dropping off car riders should exit their vehicle during morning arrival.
7:05-7:40 Breakfast: To control for various movement logistics, the cafeteria staff & those on duty, will deliver breakfast options to K-2 classrooms. A barcode form will be provided. SSC employees will collect trash. All 3-5 students will go through the line and take their breakfast to class.
2:15 Bus/Daycare Dismissal: Students who ride the bus will go out with two of the teachers on the grade level. When they go out to the bus lane, teachers who escort bus riders out will remain to support loading buses. Students who are car riders will remain in classrooms until their number is posted on the Google sheet. Once their number is posted they will go outside to the car rider lane and will have a car rider tag. For dismissal movement logistics, teachers will walk students to the bus ramp. Students will use their bus cards to indicate which bus they ride as well as if they got on the bus. Responsible distancing will be monitored & enforced. Signage will be posted. Supervision by staff will ensure responsible distancing as students proceed to exit the bus loop. Face coverings are required. Students waiting for a later bus should report to the cafeteria to wait.
2:25 Car Dismissal: All staff will be on duty during this time. Teachers will monitor their individual classrooms, while support personnel that do not have students will assist in either the bus lane or in the car rider lane. Using Google docs, we will project car numbers in classrooms, ensuring that students are reporting to the car lane. There will be staff in critical locations to assist in guiding students to the correct place. Once car rider dismissal is completed, students in ASEP will report to their locations. They will not all report to the cafeteria as in years past. They will report to assigned locations based on grades level.
6. restrooms/hand washing & Water fountain use
Restroom protocols have been developed to ensure a limited number of individuals are in the restroom at one time. Grade levels have scheduled times for restroom use. As students go to the restroom, students will enter four at a time and teachers will ensure students exit with washed hands.
Hand washing, bathroom, and sanitizing breaks will be consistently communicated to students.
Hand sanitizer stations are available at the ends of each hallway.
K-2nd grade classrooms have soap dispensers and all other classrooms have hand sanitizer available.
Signage has been posted at all water fountains outlining limited water fountain use for drinking and suggested use for refilling water bottles only. Students will not be able to drink from the water fountains.
7. Cafeteria
A cafeteria plan has been developed to ensure guidelines for maintaining groups of less than 100 students.
Breakfast: K-2nd grades will have breakfast delivered to their classrooms. Lunch will be eaten in the cafeteria.
3rd-5th grade students will eat both breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria. Students will sit so they are not directly next to or across from another student.
Student breakfast and lunch selections will be made the prior day.
Designated teachers will be available in the building ready to receive students at 7:05 am.
Students eating in the cafeteria will have assigned seats and only sit in marked seats.
8. Classroom space
Students will not share materials during class, and all student belongings will remain at students' desks.
Classroom seating will be assigned and consistent each day.
There will be no shared seating areas in classrooms.
Responsible distancing will be implemented once face-to-face learning begins.
The use of shared classroom supplies, electronic devices, toys, books, games, learning aids and manipulatives is not allowed.
The following expectations for cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and shared materials between users includes:
Classroom supplies will not be shared.
Students will have their own materials and these materials will remain with the students.
There will no longer be community crayons, markers, etc. in classrooms.
Students’ personal items will remain in their backpacks.
Manipulatives will be bagged individually for students to maintain at their desk. All support teachers (EIP, ESE, and Gifted), will have access to their own space in the classroom and will bring their personal items with them as needed.
9. LARGE SPACES
MCE will ensure guidelines are followed for keeping groups smaller than 50 from gathering in large spaces such as the Gym, Media Center, Playgrounds and/or Outside Open Spaces.
Chorus, Art, and PE will not exceed 35 students per class.
Playground space will be divided to allow grade levels to have recess and distance appropriately while in the outdoor space.
10. Response protocols
All staff members are aware of the protocols for exposed, suspected, and confirmed COVID cases.
Review the Playbook Part II on the district website.
District flowchart can be found HERE
11. Attendance expectations & protocols
Students are expected to be in the building or online before 7:45 am. Students who are late will be counted tardy. Students who arrive to school late will need to sign in through the front office. During the morning car rider drop-off, front office personnel will be available at the entrance of the building to assist with student sign-ins without the need for parents to enter the front office.
The attendance policy found in the student handbook will be followed.
12. Student Learning models
Hybrid Instructional Model
Our face-to-face students and our remote students will participate in class sessions at the same time. We are referring to this as our "Hybrid Model."
Face-To-Face Instruction (Hybrid)
Face-to-face instruction and assessments take place in person in the brick and mortar school.
Google Classroom and Google Meets will continue to enhance instruction and student learning.
In the event of future school closures, all instruction and assessments would transition to online without interruption.
Remote Instruction (Hybrid)
Students will join remotely for online instruction and are considered an extension of the actual face-to-face classroom. The teacher engages both face-to-face students and remote students.
Instruction and assessments are administered online.
Active participation in Google Meets and Google Classroom are essential to students' learning experiences.
Expectations for learning do not change based on the online vs. remote model of instruction.
In the event of future school closures, all instruction and assessments would continue online without interruption for all students.
13. Grading expectations
Teachers will enter grades into Infinite Campus (IC) weekly.
Students who have a grade below a 75 will be contacted. A plan for resubmissions and catching up will be communicated to parents and students.
When 9-week grading periods end, it is very difficult to go back to material in the grade book. Therefore, students must ensure assignments are submitted prior to the close of the 9-week period. Do not wait until the last minute, and please monitor grades using Infinite Campus.
14. CAre team
CARE Team Goal: The mission of the HCS Care Team is to promote ambitious connectivity and a pervasive, positive, and inclusive learning environment that promotes the social and emotional well-being of students and staff.
In collaboration with the district Care Team, the school level Care Team will build, implement, monitor, support, and deliver professional development around school needs on cultural responsiveness, social emotional wellness, and student contact with a caring adult. This includes, but is not limited to:
Implementing Social Emotional lessons through Second Step, our Social Emotional Learning Curriculum
Aligning community resources to meet the needs of students and families
Implementing Professional Development for staff
Monitoring student/staff engagement through attendance and school level activities
Implementing school-level mentors
Conducting weekly student check-ins as needed
Ensuring personalized phone calls
15. sources
*Please continue to look for updates as new information is made available.