Coronavirus (COVID-19) Back to School Update – July 11, 2020

Happy Aloha Saturday Saint Mark Parents!

I hope and pray that you all are doing well in these continually uncertain times.

We have purposely refrained from cluttering your inboxes this summer as we were hoping to give our families some time to relax and enjoy this unique summer. However, as we move ever closer to the first day of school, it’s time to resume active communications.  I am writing to let you know that we are continuing to work on our comprehensive Re-Opening of Campus plan which we hope to have out to our families late next week.  In the meantime, the following are some quick highlights.

TEACHERS REPORT
All faculty and staff are to report for the first meeting on Thursday, July 23.  This will give us several full days to meet/train for our reopening.

STUDENTS RETURN TO CAMPUS
We are planning to reopen the campus to all K-8 students on Wednesday, July 29 and all ELC students on Friday, July 31.  The plan is to have students on campus five days a week. We are offering Before and Aftercare to a very limited number of students.

PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES
We will be implementing the following five overarching preventive strategies to help decrease the possibility of the COVID-19 transmission on the Saint Mark campus (more details forthcoming in the full plan):

1. Daily Health Screening (At Home and Upon Arrival) – Families will be expected to carefully monitor their children for signs of illness and keep their children home if they show any symptoms.  Upon arrival at school, all students, faculty and staff will be administered a temperature check with a no-touch thermometer upon arrival at school. Anyone presenting with a temperature of 100.4° Fahrenheit or higher will be immediately sent home.
2. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – All individuals including faculty, staff, students and school visitors will be required to wear face covering that covers the mouth and nose while on campus (both inside and outside the classroom).  This requirement will be enforced with the understanding that it is not always practical or realistic, particularly among younger children, that a mask be worn.  Parents are to send their child(ren) to school with a properly fitting mask that can be worn the entire day.  The school will have masks available for those students who lose, damage or otherwise need a mask.  Additionally, the school will be providing face shields to all faculty, staff and students.  Masks and shields worn together offer an added level of protection by covering the mouth, nose and eyes.
3. Hand Hygiene and Sanitation – All students, faculty and staff will follow a regular schedule of hand washing and use of hand sanitizer throughout the day.  Additionally, Saint Mark will be implementing enhanced daily cleaning/sanitation practices throughout the campus.
4. Physical Distancing – Saint Mark will be controlling and directing movement on campus to prevent students from congregating and to reduce the mixing of students from different cohorts. And when students are in the classrooms, their desks and other furniture will be arranged to leave as much space as possible between them.  Students will be encouraged to try and maintain a two arms’ length distance between one another and staff members in meeting spaces, hallways, and exterior grounds whenever possible.
5. Cohorting, Contact Tracing & Quarantine – Students will be consistently kept together in smaller groups throughout the school day called cohorts.  At Saint Mark the cohorts will typically consist of the individual classes. Keeping the students in cohorts and minimizing the mixing/interaction between classes will reduce the risk of widespread virus transmission and allow for easier contact tracing in the event of an infection.   Furthermore, cohorting allows for individual cohorts rather than the entire school to quarantine and shift to distance learning in the event of an infection.  If a student or employee has a COVID-19 infection, school officials will support the Hawaii Department of Health’s efforts for contact tracing and enforcing quarantining of those infected and their contacts. Provisions will be made to support continuity of learning from home during quarantine periods.

PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS
All members of the Saint Mark School community have a shared responsibility to prevent the spread of illness when they are aware or suspect that they have contracted a communicable disease.  As such, we will be asking/requiring our school families to support us in our efforts to stay safe. More details to come.

DAILY SCHEDULES/CLASS OFFERINGS/DROP-OFF & PICK-UP
There will be changes to the daily schedule for all of our students; however, I’m not currently anticipating dramatic changes from years past.  Most of the changes (e.g., changing special classes, no congregating, separate recessing, staggered pick-up times) are a result of our need to keep the students in cohorts.  More details to come.

In conclusion, please rest assured that we are working hard in collaboration with many thoughtful school leaders to put forth a back-to-campus plan that prioritizes health & safety, educational excellence, practicality, and flexibility.  We understand that while there is no perfect map to guide us in these uncharted times, we are confident that by applying sound guidelines from organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) we can confidently re-open our campus to students knowing that our decisions are data driven and in the best interest of our school `ohana.  Thank you for your time and support!

Mahalo, Stay Safe and Enjoy your Weekend,

David Gaudi
Head of School