tys "a la covid"
04/24/2021tys "a la covid"
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Disclaimer: This article was written during the 2020-2021 academic year at The York School, during the peak season of the coronavirus in Toronto. Thus students and parents should keep in mind that the information below may not apply to The York School’s 2021-2022 academic year’s COVID-19 measures, however please rest assured that the school will clearly communicate all guidelines before the school year commences.
Thank you and enjoy!
How does the school ensure that the school is a safe environment for students?
Students are required to wear masks; which can only be taken off to eat, or to drink water.
During lunch, students are recommended to eat in the first 10-20 min to avoid keeping masks off for the entire lunch period
Before arriving at school, students from k - grade 12 should have filled out their OPN health check-in (instructions at the end of the article). OPN is a questionnaire that ensures all students are well enough to be entering the school, by asking whether they’ve felt any covid-related symptoms, has been around anyone who has contracted covid or traveled in the last 14 days etc…
The main entrance doors have motion sensors that open the doors for students, so they don’t have to touch the handle bar.
There is a hand sanitation stand in front of the main door for students to use upon arrival and in every classroom
There is a “one way” traffic rule during times of high hallway traffic, indicated by arrows on the floor.
Class sizes are limited to under 15 people. This is preferred by the majority of students as they get more one-on-one time with their teacher and are able to connect more with peers.
Students are asked to wipe their desk and chair arm rests with disinfectant wipes, and apply hand sanitizer on their hands at the beginning and end of every class.
There is also a mandatory social distance of 6 feet between desks and between students.
In the senior school - levels of the school will be dedicated to grades - for example, grade 11 & 12 share floors 1 and 2, grades 9 and 10 share floors 3 and 4.
Grade 9-12 has been divided into 2 cohorts eg: when cohort 1 is in school, cohort 2 is doing virtual learning, vice versa.
Middle school classes however are fixed with only teachers moving between classes.
What is the protocol when there is covid-19 case in school?
If students experience symptoms of covid-19, they need to follow a couple of steps
If a case is identified, all possible contacts, such as teachers or students, are notified and told to do a 14 day quarantine at home, students can also get tested if they wish to do so
According to PHT, siblings of contacts must isolate as well
If there is a severe outbreak, the school follows guidelines in accordance to Toronto Public Health
It's not all bad!
Teachers are doing a fantastic job in keeping the students engaged and entertained in class, whether in person or online, such as using quizizz, quizlet, breakout rooms on google meets, and socially distanced games.
The PHT is very pleased with how our school has dealt with covid-19
Coming from a student, we don’t feel a significant difference in our school social lives.
Isabel Tien’s personal experience with the covid-protocol.
Although York has many precautions in place, there have unfortunately been some cases of COVID in the school. My family has personally experienced the COVID protocol as a classmate tested positive and York handled it very well. Any classes with a positive case are shut down for 2 weeks even if the rest of the class tests negative. My other brother and I were still allowed to come to school because we were “a contact of a contact”. After 2 weeks of online learning, the classes were opened up and everything went back to COVID normal.
COVID has been a difficult time but York is taking it on as a community!
How to use OPN!
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