Dear Mountain Shadows Community,
We remain committed to promoting health and wellness in the Montessori tradition as we face the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We invite every Mountain Shadows family to support our individual classroom cohorts with the following Shared Affirmations for a Healthy Community agreement. These affirmations of our off-campus actions are meant to keep health-related anxiety at bay, and role model how to be a part of a community of peers. I hope that every valued member of our community will engage in sharing the message, We will be ready to be together in the community as caring friends on campus and away from campus. We are all in this together!
Our family is making a pledge to reduce our exposure with these affirmations:
- If our unvaccinated children should need to travel by air, we require a 5-day quarantine and an updated negative Covid 19 test before returning to school.
- If any of our contacts or family members exhibit symptoms of Covid-19, the family will remain home until test results return negative.
- For a positive Covid test in our family, we will all quarantine for the 5-10 days recommended time by the CDC and wear a mask after returning until 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms.
We are continuing to follow local health guidelines for our campus Covid Response protocols. We will continue to share our plans and resources as they evolve.
All the best,
The MSMS Staff
Protocols of Note
DAILY SCHEDULE
At this time, the plan is to keep drop-off and pick-up times the same for the half-day students (8 am to 12 pm) and full-day students (8 am to 3 PM).
BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
Before-school hours are 7:15 PM – 8:00 AM, while After School hours are 3 PM to 5:30 PM. Depending on staffing, this schedule may also include a shift in the times for early drop-off in the morning.
DROP-OFF/PICK-UP
At the beginning of school, parents will be asked to get their children out of the car and bring them to their classroom check-in station.
| DROP-OFF/PARKING LOCATIONS |
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YCC Parents should park in the regular drop-off circle. They will bring their child to a designated YCC check-in station in the circle. KORAL’S PRIMARY CLASS Parents will park in the southern section of the parking lot and bring their children to the designated check-in area. The final location of the check-in station will be marked near Koral’s entrance gate to her classroom. Students will enter directly into their coatroom area. KATIE’S PRIMARY CLASS Parents will park in the northern section of the parking lot and bring their children to the designated check-in area for the classroom just outside the fenced outdoor environment. LOWER ELEMENTARY Parents should park and enter through the main school entrance. Parents should accompany their child(ren) to the front door of the school, which will be hosted by Admin Staff/Teacher.
Pick-up will be in the same location, by class, as drop-off. |
SIGN-IN/SIGN-OUT
We will be using a touch-free sign-in and sign-out procedure so that parents will not need to touch anything during the arrival or dismissal processes. Children will be signed in and out using the visual identification of the parent or caregiver. Please understand if clarification needs to be made due to masks. We are currently using paper for both sign-in and health check-in with the staff member completing the sign-in process. It is working well and we plan to continue with this process.
LATE DROP OFF
Parents arriving after usual check-in will need to call the front office at 303.530.5353. Parents arriving late from the Lower Elementary may ring the bell as the front door is their designated entrance. An Administrator will acknowledge their arrival and contact the classroom to have a staff member meet them at the check-in location as we are limiting access to the building to essential adults only. Parents of students in Primary or YCC may escort their students to their normal drop-off location.
HEALTH CHECKS @ DROP OFF
Every morning, children will have their temperatures taken before they are checked in. If their temperature is above 99.4 degrees they will not be able to attend school and you will need to take them with you at that time. This is a conservative temperature level but helps support the health and well-being of our students and staff. In the event of a borderline temperature, the staff member will wait a moment and retake the child’s temperature. The staff will continue the protocol of taking a child’s temperature during the day if there are symptoms.
Every morning you will also be asked a series of questions provided by the Boulder County Health Department regarding your family’s health and exposure to other people as it relates to the COVID-19 virus. If you answer yes to any of the exposure questions, your child will not be allowed to attend school until we are able to speak to the Boulder County Health Department about whether/when your child is allowed to return.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation in adhering to these guidelines. We do not want to keep your child from attending, but we must follow these limitations and guidelines.
HANDWASHING
Children of all ages are taught the correct and complete process of effective hand washing. This includes wetting, soaping, and scrubbing their hands for at least 20 seconds. This is also regularly revisited and modeled. All children will wash their hands upon arriving at school and regularly throughout the day. These will include, but not be limited to, before and after recess, before and after lunch, after using the bathroom, etc.
SUPPLIES
Students will be asked by their classroom teachers to provide their own supplies, which will be kept separate from the other students.
ILLNESS
In the case of the illness of a child, the student will be isolated with an attending staff member until the child can be picked up. Each class will have a unique isolation area for its classroom group. We ask parents to be sure we have accurate and attentive contact to call in the event of illness as the child will need to be picked up within 30 minutes if at all possible, but definitely within an hour or less. For example, if one parent is going to be inaccessible for a specific day, please notify the classroom teacher and the front office via email with as much advance notice as possible to provide an additional phone contact prior. In the event that parents cannot be reached by phone, emergency contacts will be called. The child will need to remain out of school until they are 24-48 hours symptom-free (depending upon the symptoms) unless the child has COVID-19 symptoms. In this case, MSMS would work individually with that family and Boulder County Health Department to determine an appropriate re-entry date into the classroom.
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
Per the Boulder County Health Department and CDC, current COVID-19 symptoms include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, the new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea.
SCHOOL NOTIFICATION OF COVID-19
As previously stated, families will be notified if their child has come into contact with a classmate or staff member on campus who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
STAFF HEALTH CHECK-IN
All staff will participate in the daily Health Screening upon arrival. They will have their temperature taken and answer the same Health Screening questions as the students.
LUNCH/SNACK
Parents will need to provide all food for their children.
Half-day children: morning snack
Full-day children (including Elementary): morning snack and lunch
Extended Hours children: morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack
PIZZA FRIDAYS: Each Friday for Primary and Elementary
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Childcare guidelines ask us to try to keep 3 feet between children when feasible. The large square footage size of our classrooms makes this requirement relatively easy to accommodate. Children will be taught the grace and courtesy of social distancing, but it is also acknowledged that they are children and will, at times, be closer together inadvertently. When this occurs, they will be gently and respectfully asked to give each other additional room. The same is true for adults. We will try to keep a safe distance from the child, but not to the exclusion of the child’s safety or social/emotional well-being.
FACE MASKS
MSMS has adopted a mask optional policy, however, this is subject to change as we follow the COVID-19 surges and/or trends.
NAP
Students will nap in spaces offering maximum distance. YCC and Primary will confirm their napping spaces by the start of school to match distancing requirements while maintaining consistency for the children. Primary classroom groups will remain separate during naptime. Weather permitting, we will open windows during naptime to increase ventilation of the nap areas.
VISITORS
At this time, we are not allowing visitors into the school. Parents will be asked to wait outside the school for drop-off, pick-up, and in the case of other situations.
FRESH AIR
Studies have shown that fresh air helps reduce the spread of the virus, therefore each class will look for additional time to spend outside in their outside environment or in other areas of the campus. Groups will not be mixed during outside times. Every effort will be made to allow for fresh air circulation within the classroom by opening windows when possible. Classroom windows will be opened first thing each morning to allow fresh air into the room.
CLASSROOM GUIDELINES
Classroom teachers will be sharing additional information directly with parents about supplies, schedules, and other expectations before school starts.
ONGOING COMMUNICATION
All guidelines are subject to change based on the changing guidelines of the State of Colorado, the Boulder County Health Department, the Colorado Office of Early Childhood, and our school nurse. We will remain flexible during this time and do our best to provide as much notice as possible to parents and caregivers. Please do not hesitate to ask questions or share ways we can improve our processes and protocols as we continue to work together to provide students with a safe and joyful learning environment while trying to limit the risk of spreading the virus.
Please note that Mountain Shadows operates under a childcare license for children ages 1-12 years. This allows us to operate independently of the BVSD or other elementary school closure mandates.