COVID-19 | ccsniagara

Updated: August 19, 2021

Calvary Christian School’s

Safe Re-Opening Plan

Calvary Christian School has a responsibility to do our utmost to keep individuals safe, especially the vulnerable.

We also have the responsibility to adhere to the safety protocols that are required by the Ministry of Education, Public Health, and our insurance company. Every safety protocol that is implemented will be based on those responsibilities.

The Reopening Plan is subject to change due to government mandates, public health regulations, and requirements of our insurance company. Calvary Christian School will adapt and implement its safety protocols as new changes are mandated by these regulatory offices. We will also adapt and change as we evaluate how the safety protocols are working in and outside of the school building. We will be keeping the safety protocol but possibly changing the process. We will communicate relevant changes to our school families.

Based on the Ministry of Education and Public Health requirements, the re-opening of Calvary Christian School on September 7, 2021 will have these safety protocols:

Screening
Hand Hygiene
Physical Distancing
Cohorts – minimizing contact
Cleaning
Personal Protective Equipment
Ventilation
COVID-19 Management in Schools

1. Screening

All students, staff, and visitors entering the building are required to daily self-screen using the questionnaire provided to them from the school administration.
Signs will be posted at the entrance of building to remind student, staff, and visitors of screening requirements.
If a parents/guardians or visitors need to enter the building, they must enter at the main entrance of the school where they will be asked by a staff member the following screening questions:
- Do you have any of the following?
  - Fever / chills
  - New cough or a cough that is getting worse
  - Difficulty breathing
  - Shortness of breath (even when sitting or walking regularly)
  - Sore throat, trouble swallowing (not due to allergies)
  - A runny or congested nose (not due to allergies)
  - Unusual headache
  - Unusual level of fatigue
  - Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of appetite
  - Feeling unwell for an unknown reason
- Have you been in close contact with someone who is sick or has had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
- Have you returned from travel outside Canada in the past 14 days?
All staff and students who are experiencing new or worsened symptoms consistent with COVID-19 must not attend school and seek appropriate medical attention as required, which may include getting tested at a COVID-19 testing centre.
Staff and students feeling sick are required to remain at home until they are symptom free for 24 hours and cleared by a doctor. If they are guided by their physician or public health professional to receive a COVID-19 test, the individual and siblings that attend the school must remain at home until test results come in.
If a symptomatic individual tests positive for COVID-19, they should continue to remain in isolation at home and follow the directions of their local public health unit. All members of the household need to stay home until the test results are known.

Any family members that are in close contact with individuals that test positive must also stay home.

2. Hand Hygiene

Students and staff will be trained on how to properly clean hands using soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub.
Sanitizers will be placed near the door of every classroom, as well as the main entrance and exit of the building.
Handwashing signs will be posted at each bathroom sink and sanitizer station.
Staff, students, and visitors are required to clean hands when entering and exiting the building.
Students and staff are asked to wash/sanitize their hands before removing or putting on a mask or before eating.
Students may bring a personal bottle of unscented hand sanitizer for their desk, but it cannot be shared.

3. Physical Distancing

Arrival

There is a staggered arrival of Pre-K - 8 students into the building.
Parents/Guardians of Pre-K through Grade 2 students must accompany their child(ren) to the school entrance.
Signage for spacing (2 meters) will be visible for those lining up to enter the building.
Parents/Guardians are not allowed into the building at arrival times. Grade 1-8 students must wear a mask and will walk to their classroom themselves, and a staff member will meet the Kindergarten students outside and bring them to their classroom. Kindergarten families will wait at the school entrance at the designated school area.

Dismissal

A staggered dismissal of Pre-K - 8 students out of the building will be controlled by staff members.
Pre-K and JK families will wait in the designated area outside the main entrance of the school and their child will be brought to them. (NOTE: it is helpful if you advise the yard duty teacher at the parking lot safety zone that you have arrived, and they will notify the classroom teacher by walkie-talkie.)
Gr. SK-8 parents/guardians must wait in the “Waiting Zone” at the front of the building ensuring they are physically distanced from others.
Grades (cohorts) will wear a mask and have designated places (visible with lines) to stand while waiting for parents/guardians to arrive (Grade SK-8 at side of building) with their teacher supervising.
When the teacher releases students to parents/guardians, students must follow proper flow of traffic prompted by the arrows on the ground.
Parents/Guardians are not allowed into the building until the designated times. Parents/Guardians are not allowed in the student waiting zone.
SK students will be picked up outside in front of the building (in the walking zone area).
Parents/Guardians and students are encouraged not to gather or socialize while dropping off or picking up students.

Staggered Scheduled

Grades 1-4 will arrive between 8:30am-8:40am. Recesses at 10:00am, 12:05pm, and 1:45pm. Dismissal between 3:15pm-3:25pm. We also would want our Grade 1 to 4 students to arrive before 8:40 am to allow time for them to remove their winter wear and not be in hallway when the grades 5 to 8 students arrive.
Grades 5-8 will arrive between 8:40am-8:50am. Recesses at 10:15am, 12:25pm, and 2:00pm. Dismissal between 3:25pm-3:35pm. Grades 5 to 8 students will not be permitted to enter the building before 8:40 am. If they arrive before 8:40 am, they will wait at the dismissal dots in their designated grades. The staff member on yard duty will indicate when the grade 5 to 8 students can enter the building. Especially with cold weather, we would advise that the grade 5 to 8 students are dropped off at 8:40am so they don’t have to wait outside. They should wait in their vehicle if a school family is dropping off a younger sibling.
SK will arrive between 8:30am-8:40am. Recesses at 10:40am and 2:20pm. Dismissal between 3:15pm-3:25pm.
PreK-JK students will arrive between 8:30am-8:50am. Recesses at 10:40am and 2:20pm. Dismissal between 3:15pm-3:35pm.

Staggered Noon Dismissal

Pre K and JK will be picked up between 11:50am-12:10pm
SK-Grade 4 will picked up between 11:50am-12:00pm
Grades 5-8 will be picked up between 12:00pm-12:10pm

Late Arrival or Early Pick Up

For students arriving late, parents/guardians must bring and wait with their child outside of the main school entrance, and parents/guardians must not enter the building.
If students are required to be picked up early (i.e. doctor’s appointment), parents/guardians must call the school office when they have arrived on site. A staff member will bring the student outside to the parent/guardian at the school entrance.

Rainy Day Dismissal

Pre-K and JK will have the same dismissal format as normal.
Parents/Guardians of all students are required to wait outside by the school entrance, ensuring they are physically distant from one another. A staff member will walkie talkie the classroom teacher when the parent/guardian arrives.
Parents/Guardians: Please bring an umbrella or two. We appreciate your patience as the school day ends at different times for different grades (cohorts). Wait times may be longer than past rainy day dismissals.

Hallways and Lobby

As much as possible, communication and payment between school office and school families will be done by phone calls, emails, or electronically. For those requiring entrance to the building, the office and lobby area will be open to parents/guardians and visitors between 9:00am-3:00pm and 3:40pm-4:00pm (the office is closed during high traffic times: 8:00am-9:00am and 3:00pm-3:40pm).
A maximum of 3 people is allowed in the lobby when waiting to speak to the office.

Signs (“Stand Here”) and arrows for proper flow and distancing will be placed throughout the hallways and lobby.
Some grades will be using their classroom fire exits directly from their classroom (Grades 5, 7) to avoid contact in the halls.
Other grades (cohorts) will dismiss in an orderly way to ensure grades are not in close contact.
Masks will be worn in the hallways at all times, including arrival and dismissal times.

Classrooms

Desks will be set up with as much distancing as possible between other students and facing forward
Teachers will have approximately 2 meters of distancing for whole group instruction (i.e. about 2 meters between Smart Board and student desk).
All unnecessary furniture, resources, and any other items will be removed from the classroom to declutter to maximize spacing.
When possible and as weather permits, staff members are encouraged to take students outside for instructional purposes.

Lunch

Students will sit in their seats (masks off when eating) during lunch.
Students are required to bring home all their garbage/recycling/organics from their lunch. Please pack the student’s lunches accordingly or bring a bag (i.e. zip lock bag) for students to store their garbage/recycling/organics that will be brought home.
We will continue to offer the optional lunch program for prepackaged subs and pitas. We will also include pizza day as an option with only pizza being offered based on the Ministry of Education’s guidance this year concerning safe food handling. The distribution of pizza will be done by the school office staff and teachers.

Recess and breaks outdoors

This year the Ministry of Education guidance states that “students are not required to wear masks outside and they do not need to stay within their cohort, but distancing should be encouraged between cohorts as much as possible. Shared materials outdoors is permitted with appropriate hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.”
Scheduled use of the playground structure.
Designated areas to line up at the end of recess, ensuring they are physically distant from other grades.

Bathrooms

Scheduled bathroom breaks for each grade (cohort) will occur 3 times a day.
A maximum of 4 students for each grade (cohort) will be permitted in the same bathroom.
Signage for spacing and proper hand hygiene will be posted.
In the event that students require use of the bathroom outside of their scheduled time, students will knock and wait for the bathroom to be empty of any other students from a different grade (cohort) before entering.
Staff have designated bathrooms with only 1 person allowed to use it at a time.

Signage and Directional Arrows

All staff, students, and visitors are required to adhere to all signage and directional arrows for traffic flow and physical distancing.

Water Fountains

Students are required to bring a reusable water bottle.
Water dispensers will be provided in each classroom.
If classroom water dispenser is empty, students may fill their water bottles using the touchless filling station.
Use of the water fountain mouthpiece is prohibited and will be covered.

Physical Education (Gym)

All students are required to come to school wearing gym uniforms on days where Physical Education is scheduled.
Each grade (cohort) will use designated equipment as much as possible.
We are awaiting clarification on the guidance for certain physical education activities from Public Health.
Outdoor Physical Education will be encouraged, weather permitting.

Large Gatherings and Assemblies

We are awaiting further clarification from Public Health on physical distancing requirements between each cohort for these activities in the building.

Staff Spaces

Optimize physical distancing in all common areas (photocopier, staff meetings, resource room) with signage or barriers (plexiglass).
Maximum number of people allowed in common areas will be posted.

4. Cohorts – Minimize Contact

Special Education

Students will be able to leave their classroom to receive additional supports through our Tutoring program

Rotary Teachers

Specialized teachers (e.g. French teacher) will be able to go into classrooms to provide the full breadth of programming for students.

Visitors

Schools are asked to limit visitors as much as possible including parents/guardians in the school.
Any visitor to the school will be required to self-screen and wear a mask while on the school premises and will be signed into a visitor log at the office.
We would ask parents/guardians to wear a mask outside if 6 ft physical distancing cannot be maintained.
For those requiring entrance to the building, the office and lobby area will be open to visitors between 9:00am-3:00pm and 3:40pm-4:00pm (closed during high traffic times: 8:00-9:00am and 3:00pm-3:40pm). We ask that parents/guardians contact us ahead of time when they are planning to come into the school building as we need to actively screen and record all of our visitors.

Personal Belongings

Personal belongings brought to school are to be minimal.
Personal items being brought to school (e.g. backpack, clothing, water bottles, food) should be labeled and stored separately in cubbies or designated areas.

Field Trips

At this time, field trips are not currently being planned until Public Health guidance is clarified.

Clubs and Sports Teams

At this time we awaiting clarification from Public Health on these activities.

5. Cleaning

Janitorial hours will remain increased.
Cleaning of high touch surfaces will occur more frequently (a minimum of twice a day).
Items that need to be cleaned/disinfected will be put in designated area before being cleaned.
Garbage/recycling in a student’s lunch will be brought home each day.

6. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Students in Grades 1 to 8 are required to wear a non-medical or cloth mask indoors in school, including in hallways and during classes. The Ministry of Education and Public Health have identified that a triple layer mask is best to provide protection.
Students are not required to wear masks outside at this time.
It is recommended that students have an extra mask at school to replace wet and/or dirty masks throughout the day.
Students are required to bring a clean plastic (Tupperware) container about the size of a sandwich container each day to school to store the mask in. Please label the container. The container must go home daily to be cleaned and returned.
Students will be trained on proper use of the mask by their teachers (i.e. properly wearing, taking it off and on).
As identified from the Ontario Government’s Guide to Re-Opening Ontario’s Schools: (https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-reopening-schools), students with sensory or breathing difficulties may be exempted. A mask exemption form must be submitted to the school office by the parent/guardian. A link to our mask exemption form can be found on our school website (https://www.calvarychristianschoolniagara.com/start-of-year-information). Please indicate at the bottom of this form if your child requires to be exempt from wearing a mask, based on the Ontario Face Coverings and Face Masks document as it reads:

"have a medical condition that inhibits your ability to wear a face covering
are unable to put on or remove your face covering without help from someone else
are receiving accommodations according to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 or the Human Rights Code”

All school-based staff will be required to wear medical masks. Staff are not required to wear their medical masks outside. PPE will be provided by the school for all staff.
An isolation room (Board Room) will be used by any student or staff member that has any COVID-19 related symptoms while at school. Parents/guardians will be informed immediately, and the child will be required to be picked up. Proper personal protective equipment will be available for those who are ill and those in contact with them.

7. Ventilation

Heating and air conditioning units are serviced in August and are operating efficiently.
Fans will be set to “on” throughout the entire school day (8am-4pm) to maximize air flow in the building.
The heating and air conditioning unit in the portable is serviced in August and is operating efficiently.

8. COVID-19 School Management

Staff will be required to record seating charts for their classroom.
If any students are showing signs of COVID -19 symptoms, they will be brought to the isolation room while they wait for their parent/guardian to pick them up.
Parents/Guardians must pick up their ill child as soon as possible.
Students or staff members may withdraw from school if a family or household member has a confirmed case of COVID-19 but information will not be posted in these instances.
In the interest of privacy, information provided to school communities will not identify the student or staff member that has received a positive COVID-19 test.
If public health advises that a class, cohort or a school should be closed for a period of time, parents/guardians, students and staff will be notified immediately.
We will continue to advise school families if we become aware of a positive COVID infection in their child(ren)’s class/cohort. Based on this information, families will be able to make their own risk assessment concerning their child(ren)’s attendance at school.

CALVARY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL