Latest information containing the
REOPENING PLAN for Portledge School Locust Valley, New York prepared for the NYSDOH
JULY 31, 2020
2020-2021
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
6
GENERAL SU MMARY
11
INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS
15
CAMPUS CLEANING PROTOCOLS
3 ABOUT PORTLEDGE
10 ALL STUDENTS ON CAMPUS FOR LIVE IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION
4 EARLY PREPARATION
11 INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS
5 NEW YORK STATE GUIDANCE
15 CAMPUS CLEANING PROTOCOLS
6 GENERAL SUMMARY
16
7 REDUCED DENSITY SCHEDULE
17 MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING CONSIDERATION AND PLANS
9 FULLY ONLINE SCHEDULE
18 COMMUNICATION PLANS
PROTOCOLS IN THE EVENT OF POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST
ABOUT PORTLEDGE SCHOOL
Portledge School was established in 1965 as an independent school. Now serving approximately 500 students in grades Pre-Nursery through 12, Portledge sits on a 63-acre campus of the former Alice S. Coffin estate, located within the Incorporated Village of Matinecock. The village is located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, and has an address associated with Locust Valley, an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay. Our campus includes seven buildings, five playing fields, five outdoor tennis courts, twelve recently-purchased tents, outdoor seating for over 100 people, generous outdoor spaces, and nature trails. Portledge School takes the health and safety of its students, faculty, and staff very seriously, and our physical space allows us to respond to the current global health crisis with unusually nimble and versatile solutions.
OUR MISSION Portledge School is defined by its mission, as follows: Portledge School offers a competitive college preparatory program in a warm, inclusive community. Students are inspired to realize their individual potential by developing the critical thinking skills and moral courage necessary for lifelong learning in an increasingly complex world. OUR PILLARS Our attention to developing a caring community is intentional and is reinforced by our four pillars of Kindness, Purpose, Honor, and Respect, which serve as a daily character guide for faculty and students. These pillars support the Portledge School Mission, which explicitly references moral courage, inclusion, and the realization of individual potential. Together, these pillars form the core of character development on campus and guide programming both inside and outside the classroom. These fundamental values help students reflect on their inner selves and better relate to others, also influencing how they understand and interact with the larger world. 3
EARLY PREPARATION THE ROLE OF HQ The Return to Campus Task Force (HQ) was established in May 2020. It was created to oversee
ENROLLMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
and coordinate the efforts of various subcommittees (including Campus Safety and Student/Faculty Experience, among others). Each subcommittee and HQ's work, in general, focuses on planning for a safe
SUMMER AND AUXILIARY PROGRAMS
Return to Campus Task Force (HQ)
CAMPUS SAFETY
re-opening (to the greatest extent possible) of the Portledge campus in fall 2020. The HQ Task Force makes all final decisions related to new protocols and procedures recommended by each subcommittee.
STUDENT AND FACULTY EXPERIENCE
WORKFORCEÂ
The key to the success of the planning and of this committee is the ability to swiftly adapt to the complex and rapidly changing landscape that COVID19 has created.
INPUT GATHERING PROCESS The entire community of Portledge School has been extraordinarily engaged and involved in providing input into the planning at various different levels. Surveys have been sent to families, as well as faculty and staff in order to gauge their thoughts and gather their ideas regarding several aspects of the planning. Roundtable discussions with Parent Association Leadership have happened on a regular basis. The Head of School and Chairperson of the Safety Committee have consulted with multiple medical experts who work specifically in areas concerning infectious disease. Consultation has also taken place with personnel at local hospitals and other health care facilities. The Board of Trustees has been updated and informed regularly. Throughout the summer, multiple communications have been sent by the school in various modalities to all members of the school community. The school has consistently provided avenues for feedback to those communications and has incorporated that feedback into the subcommittee planning and processes.
4
NYS GUIDANCE
NEW YORK STATE GUIDANCE FOR PHASED REOPENING New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has shared data-driven guidelines that have helped regions plan for the phased reopening of New York State. The incremental loosening of restrictions in New York has been considered on a regional basis, based on the following criteria: The infection rate is sufficiently low The health care system has the capacity to absorb a potential resurgence in new cases Diagnostic testing capacity is sufficiently high to detect and isolate new cases Robust contact-tracing capacity is in place to help prevent the spread of the virus Each region has reopened in phases, with at least two weeks between each phase. This allows state and local leaders to monitor the effects of the reopening and ensure hospitalization and infection rates are not increasing before moving to the next phase and permitting more economic activity. Schools reopen as part of Phase 4. As of Thursday, July 30, 2020, Long Island remains in Phase 4 of reopening, and, as such, Portledge is planning for school to be open to students for on-campus learning on August 31, 2020. Should the local or regional situation change, Portledge will consult and abide by the recommendations of state and local authorities regarding the availability of campus for onsite activities. 5
II.
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN GENERAL SUMMARY After conducting a community survey, we learned that the vast majority of our families prefer in-person instruction and that approximately 80% could provide transportation if normal bussing were unavailable and/or if the arrival and departure times were staggered.
In support of our students, faculty, and families, and to comply with federal, state, and local recommendations, Portledge School has developed a comprehensive plan for a reopening that is reflective of our mission.
Portledge is asking every stakeholder to help with safety efforts while on campus. In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19, everyone must play their part. As set forth below, Portledge will institute protocols to strengthen the hygiene practices of students and staff, ensure appropriate social distancing, promote vigilance in monitoring and logging symptoms, support local and state government’s contact-tracing programs, and be mindful of individual student and faculty social and emotional, as well as physical, health needs.
These protocols are based on principles of epidemiology and infection control and align with currently known AAP best practices and CDC and NY-State guidelines.
HEAD OF SCHOOL, SIMON OWEN-WILLIAMS 6
II.
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN GUIDING PRINCIPLES Portledge School is planning for three reopening scenarios:
I.
Reduced-Density Schedule A reduced-density schedule that provides full-time, on-campus academic instruction daily for grades N - 5 and a hybrid on-site and remote model for grades 6 - 12. Students in grades N-3 who choose to participate in on-campus instruction will remain in cohorts of no more than fifteen (15) students in a space, allowing for social distancing among students. Contact with students outside of the cohort will be limited. Lower School “Specials” (art, music, drama, science and digital citizenship) will occur according to a “chunk” schedule whereby students will have the same special class for twelve (12) school days on a rotating basis. Physical Education classes will meet in small groups and make use of outdoor space whenever possible following the NY State guidelines. The smaller groups will allow for participants to be 12 feet apart whether the class meets indoors or out. No supplies will be shared. Students in grades 4 and 5 will also remain with a cohort group that limits contact with students outside of the cohort -- to greatest degree possible. For grades 6 to 12 in this reduced-density model, Portledge School is prioritizing in-person instruction in core academic courses. Cohort scheduling will be used to the greatest extent possible. Arrival and dismissal times will be staggered, and increased time will be allotted to allow students to move between classes. In building the schedule, to the greatest extent possible, we are working to incorporate scenarios throughout the school whereby teachers, rather than students, move among classrooms, in addition to, or instead of, students always moving. Portledge is working to prioritize in-person instruction for students in grades 6 and 9, as these are grades in which there is a significant transition into the next division of the school (6th is the first year of Middle School; 9th is the first year of Upper School). Moreover, these school grades represent the initial entrance to Portledge School for many students. Portledge will also try to prioritize in-person instruction for those students with IEPs to the greatest possible degree, recognizing that asynchronous and live-stream models are more challenging for students with attentional issues or learning differences. In the Portledge version of a Hyflex model, some students may opt into a fully online, live-streamed academic experience and not physically attend classes at all. Students must let us know of their intention to start school on campus or via livestream by August 12th. There is a defined process for those students who wish to switch to attending classes in person; this process includes submission of a negative Covid-19 test result as a prerequisite to consideration for re-enrollment in on-campus classes.
7
II.
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN I. Reduced-Density Schedule (continued) Students who are not in an in-person classroom setting because of reduced density in the buildings will be expected to attend their classes via livestream, following their normal daily schedule, unless assigned asynchronous activities by the teachers of their scheduled classes. Physical Education and other classes will be taught outside daily, weather permitting. All students and faculty will take advantage of the more than eighty (80) Adirondack chairs that are spaced at socially distant intervals throughout our large green spaces on campus. Portledge has purchased twelve (12) large tents and rented two (2) modular classrooms to help increase the use of outdoor spaces on campus. Each modular classroom contains its own bathroom and each has two entry/exit points. This summer, Portledge School purchased fifty (50) Owl Cameras in order to be able to livestream every class; Portledge also increased on-campus bandwidth to 1,240 Mbps, ensuring that teachers have the required technology to deliver live instruction to all students, regardless of their physical location. Using videoconferencing programs such as Zoom and Google Meet, teachers will record their live instruction; students can then access these recordings for asynchronous use, as needed. Faculty training on the use of the OWL Cameras will take place on campus during the week of August 24th. All faculty and Divisional Directors (principals) participated in 10-15 hours of training (presented by Independent School Management, Inc.) related to the delivery of excellent instruction in online and hybrid classrooms. To accommodate the new safety protocols, schedule, and other “new norms,” Portledge School will open on August 31st, one week earlier than planned, allowing for every student to attend an Orientation that will include training on the new arrival and departure protocols, temperature checks, safety procedures, hygiene (including hand-washing and respiratory etiquette), symptom tracking, traffic flow, food service, and fire and other safety-drill protocols. The small-group Orientations will also allow for student time with advisory classes and an abbreviated run-through of students’ academic schedules in order to allow for students to meet all of their teachers and learn the new traffic patterns in each building and throughout the campus. Portledge already utilizes a cloud-based Education Management System hosted through Blackbaud (MyPortledge); teachers are required to use this system to post lessons, coursework, and learning resources. MyPortledge is also used to maintain records and data, including attendance, behavioral infractions, academic concerns, report cards, and student/parent resources. It is the location of the student, faculty, and parent directories. It is easily accessed via mobile devices. Functioning as a combination of LMS and SIS, this crucial system will continue to be utilized in support of any of the three scheduling scenarios.
8
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN II.
Fully Online Instruction Portledge faculty will be prepared to adapt immediately into an online environment and will be able to transition to the online model and back to hyflex as frequently as may be required. A fully online schedule that is both developmentally appropriate and rigorous in nature is being developed for each division of the school. Special attention will be paid to screen time, non screenbased homework, physical activity, and activities that support mental health and overall well-being. Professional development requirements for all faculty and administrators during the summer of 2020 included training around use of various online tools that can be leveraged in a fully-remote environment. These tools included the Google Suite for Educators, Screencastify, Flipgrid, SMART Learning Suite Online, and EdPuzzle. All faculty and Divisional Directors (principals) participated in 10-15 hours of training (presented by Independent School Management, Inc.) related to the delivery of instructional excellence in online and hybrid classrooms. Prior to the spring 2020 shift to a remote, online model, Portledge School conducted a technology survey for all students and families, as well as faculty, ensuring that every community member was properly outfitted for online instruction. Students who did not have a device were issued a Portledge School Chromebook, and a variety of other technological supports (including hot spots, external cameras, and monitors) were provided to faculty who needed such support to conduct live classes from home. All Portledge classes in grades 6-12 were conducted live throughout this time, following the normal schedule students had used throughout the first two trimesters (pre-COVID). Lower School students also received instruction in all core academic and specialized classes using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction. Portledge School’s successful experience with this model during Spring 2020 has prepared it to deploy an even more effective fully online program for all students, should this prove necessary. The Lower School used an online instructional delivery program called Showbie. Showbie is a dynamic software package that allows teachers to post asynchronous work and have direct text/voice-note communication with students. All links for live, synchronous instruction are also housed within the Showbie platform. Additional reliance on the already-familiar MyPortledge platform by faculty, students, administrators, and parents is critical to the success of this model.
9
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN III. All students on campus for live in-person instruction In this case, Portledge would revert back (to the greatest extent possible) to our normal schedule and practices while complying with whatever level of social distancing and PPE was recommended by state and local authorities, offering as many of our typical activities as possible in a closerto-“normal� environment. Any student who still wanted to remain at home for live-streamed instruction would be permitted to do so based on recommendations from their teachers and approval from the relevant Divisional Director.
10
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS Portledge will follow these best practices: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have provided the following control and preventive guidance for all individuals, regardless of exposure risk: Frequently wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. When soap and running water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand rub with at least 60% alcohol. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands. Follow appropriate respiratory etiquette, which includes covering for coughs and sneezes. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. In addition, individuals must familiarize themselves with the symptoms of COVID-19, which include the following: Coughing Fever Shortness of breath Difficulty breathing. Early symptoms, such as chills, body aches, sore throat, headache, diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, runny nose, and loss of sense of smell or taste. Individuals who develop a fever and/or symptoms of respiratory illness, such as cough or shortness of breath, diarrhea/vomiting, or a general feeling of being unwell, will be instructed not to report to school and to call their health care providers for guidance. During orientation and on an ongoing basis, students, parents/guardians, faculty, and staff will be reminded of these preventive tools and symptoms via live instruction (especially during advisory sessions), posted signs, and daily and weekly announcements and reminders. Portledge School will institute the following health and safety measures on campus: Pursuant to NYSDOH guidance, students, faculty, and staff will be instructed to avoid physical contact with others. Pursuant to NYSDOH guidance, students, faculty, and staff shall be directed to maintain distances of at least six (6) feet from other individuals, where possible, unless safety or the core activity requires less separation between participating parties. Arrows will be affixed to the ground both inside and outside of buildings in order to display mandatory directions for pedestrian traffic flow. Clear and appropriate signage concerning common symptoms of COVID-19, proper processes for the washing of hands, and proper use of face coverings will be placed throughout all buildings and in various outdoor spaces. Face coverings must be worn at any time and in any place that individuals cannot maintain appropriate social distancing from each other, as outlined below. Acceptable face coverings include but are not limited to cloth-based face coverings (e.g., homemade-sewn, quick-cut, or bandana-style coverings) and surgical masks, as well as gatorstyle face coverings. Additionally, face coverings must cover the nose and mouth in order to be deemed acceptable. 11
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS (continued) Disposable masks and gloves will be readily available in all locations for use by anyone who is on campus at any time. Contactless water coolers will be placed next to existing water fountains (which will be turned off). Students, faculty, and staff may bring and refill individual water bottles via the contactless coolers as needed. Contactless hand-sanitizing stations have been purchased and will be mounted throughout the buildings and consistently provisioned with appropriate quantities of recommended hand sanitizer (i.e., composed of greater than 70% alcohol in content). Clear, fire-code-regulation barriers for use in classrooms and eating spaces have been ordered and will be installed prior to August 31, 2020. A COVID-19 Safety Liaison will be appointed by the school; this information will thereafter be communicated with all community members so that inquiries and concerns can be funneled to them consistently. Eight staff members have been appointed and trained as contact tracers. A second full-time nurse will be hired prior to the beginning of the school year; this nurse will be on campus whenever school is physically in session. During the week of August 24, 2020, all faculty and staff will be trained concerning all safety protocols and appropriate hygiene maintenance (including hand-washing and respiratory etiquette). This training will also cover movement throughout and among the buildings, arrival and departure procedures, and protocols for handling a suspected illness on campus. More immediately, faculty and staff will receive training regarding their roles in Student Orientation Week, which will take place beginning on August 31st. During this week, faculty and staff will also have opportunities to debrief concerning their summer professional development classes and engage with each other concerning issues related to DEI. The aforementioned sessions will take place via Zoom conferencing. All faculty and staff will also be required to attend a two-hour training session on campus to review safety protocols and practices in preparation for the formal beginning of the school year. Prior to arrival, all students (or their parents/guardians), faculty, and staff will be required to complete a short questionnaire via an online app (Ruvna). The daily questionnaire will require responses concerning any present symptoms being experienced by them or by those with whom they live and any recent travel undertaken by them or by other members of their households. Every community member will be prompted to complete the survey each morning prior to arrival via an automated text message. As questionnaires are submitted, the app generates a report that reflects all responses. This report will facilitate immediate follow-up by the COVID-19 Safety Liaison and the nursing staff with community members, as needed. This daily report will also provide records that can be used for subsequent contact tracing. Parents/guardians dropping their children off at school will be required to remain within their vehicles, allowing their children to approach entry points under the supervision of school personnel. All students using bus transportation will be instructed and expected to follow social distancing protocols and to wear face coverings while riding the bus. Windows on the bus should remain open to allow for maximum ventilation unless severe weather conditions prevent this from occurring. 12
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS (continued) Upon arrival, all students, faculty, and staff will have their temperatures taken and recorded. Any student, faculty, or staff member showing symptoms of COVID-19, as identified above, will be asked to leave campus, return home, and contact their physician. Return-to-campus protocols are defined below. As face coverings are “strongly recommended” by the New York Department of Health at all times, except for during meals and during instruction that includes appropriate social distancing for all parties, any individual who is over the age of three (3) will be required to wear a face covering at all times while on campus at Portledge School, with the exception of time during meals and designated mask breaks. Students in LS will eat lunch in their classrooms behind protective barriers. MS and US students will have grab and go options from the Dining Hall and are able to sit in socially distant groups or at tables with protective barriers. LS families will have the ability to order their lunch for the upcoming week on the pursuant Friday; at least six (6) feet of space will be maintained between all individuals partaking of meals while they dine. All students above the age of 2 will be required to wear face coverings at all time unless outdoors AND 6ft from others or when participating in a coordinated mask break behind protective barriers. Students will have periodic and frequent mask breaks; students will maintain social distancing during mask breaks. Class sizes will be limited based on the square footage of the room and will not exceed sixteen (16) people in one classroom (most classes at Portledge include sixteen (16) or fewer students in our normal scheduling process). Desks (and, for younger students, spaces on a carpet), will ideally be arranged to be six (6) feet apart from each other. No fewer than four (4) feet will separate students from each other in these spaces. In instances when at least six (6) feet cannot be maintained between individuals engaged in instruction, appropriate face coverings will be worn at all times, regardless of age of student, as described above. In order to ensure quality air for our community indoors, we will be deploying infrared light technology for each vent/register through the facilities. In addition, all windows and doors will be open to the greatest degree possible for maximum ventilation in all indoor spaces, including classrooms, offices, hallways, etc. While engaged in indoor classroom teaching, instructors will be required to wear appropriate face coverings, as described above. Additionally, each faculty member will have access to protective face shields, which the school will provide to each faculty member, along with disposable masks and gloves, as needed. Outdoor classes will be held whenever possible. Students will always be spaced at least six (6) feet apart from others during such class sessions. Recess for grades N to 5 will occur in cohort groups of 16 students or fewer; each group will have an assigned space with designated recess materials. All meetings of clubs and extracurricular/cocurricular activities will be conducted online via synchronous video conferencing or, when necessary, in environments (primarily outdoor ones) that allow for appropriate social distancing. Participants will also be required to wear appropriate face coverings when such meetings must take place in-person. 13
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS (continued) Restroom use will be monitored by designated Hallway Captains, maintaining a procedure of one in, one out. Students will be encouraged to use the restrooms at designated times throughout the day to avoid congestion during passing times. Faculty, staff, and students will avoid the use of shared materials at all times. An area in the Lower School has been designated and will be properly provisioned to allow for isolation of students who experience flu-like symptoms while at school and need to be seen by the school nurse. This area will have a dedicated external entrance and exit. No individual will ever be permitted in this area without an appropriate face covering. Parents/guardians will be asked to pick up their child if they experience said symptoms, and subsequent return to school must follow established protocol. Any time students are waiting to be seen by a nurse or waiting for pick-up, students will be in a designated area and appropriately distant from others in the area. All students in the area will also be required to wear appropriate face coverings. Parents/guardians picking their children up from school will be required to remain within their vehicles, allowing their children to approach vehicles under the supervision of school personnel. During emergency evacuation and lockdown procedures, including during drills, everyone on campus will be required to wear appropriate face coverings from the beginnings to the ends of these processes. Effort will be expended during these processes to maintain increased distance among participants. Portledge has cancelled all field trips and on-campus guest speakers until further notice. Campus visitors will be severely limited to only those deemed essential in an effort to reduce the number of people on-campus at any one time and to help mitigate the possibility of contamination. Individuals visiting campus for admission-related reasons will be scheduled to do so when there are no current students on campus. Visitors will be required to adhere to appropriate social distancing and wear appropriate face coverings at all times while on campus.Vendors will be required to pre-arrange deliveries to campus, to the greatest degree possible. Vendors’ time on campus will be limited to only what is essential. During on-campus time, vendors will have no contact with students. While on campus, vendors must maintain appropriate social distancing from all other individuals and wear appropriate face coverings. Meetings among adults, including, but not limited to, Parent Association meetings, Back to School Night, conferences, and faculty meetings, will be facilitated via video conferencing technology, such as Zoom or Google Meet, whenever possible. Any meetings among adults that must take place in person will be limited to fewer than ten (10) participants per space (with a standing preference for outdoor, rather than indoor, spaces), and participants must remain at least six (6) feet apart from each other and wear face coverings at all times. 14
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN PROTOCOLS FOR REGULAR CAMPUS CLEANING The School has instituted regular housekeeping practices, which include cleaning and disinfecting frequently used spaces, furniture, and other elements of the school environment. Faculty and staff will regularly do the same in their assigned areas. Cleaning supplies utilized by Custodial Personnel will be sufficient for the purposes of disinfection related to prevention of spread of COVID-19; these appropriate supplies include, but are not limited to, bleach products, disinfecting wipes, and disinfecting cleaning solutions (e.g., hospital-grade Quat-Stat Disinfectant, Genesan Virotab Disinfecting and Sanitizing Tablets, and Vital Oxide Disinfectant Cleaner). Classrooms, hallways, and bathrooms will be cleaned at least once per day. Custodial Personnel performing cleaning will be issued proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as nitrile, latex, or vinyl gloves and gowns, as recommended by the CDC. Any trash collected from bins will be removed at regular intervals throughout the day by someone wearing nitrile, latex, or vinyl gloves. The School will ensure that hand-sanitizer dispensers are always filled. Frequently-touched items (i.e., door pulls and toilet seats) will be disinfected at regular and frequent intervals throughout the day. During periods of the school year when different student groups are reporting to campus on different schedules, deep cleaning processes will be employed by qualified personnel in order to limit crosscontamination between student cohorts. Cleaning and maintenance staff will maintain logs that include the date, time, and scope of cleaning and disinfection, as well as identify cleaning and disinfection frequency for each facility and area type and assign responsibility to appropriate staff for further followup.
15
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN PROTOCOLS IN THE EVENT OF POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST OSHA has indicated that a reliable report that an employee (or student) who has tested positive for COVID-19 does not typically require an employer to perform special cleaning or decontamination of work environments, unless those environments are visibly contaminated with blood or other bodily fluids. Notwithstanding this, the School will clean those areas of the school that a confirmed-positive individual may have had contact with, and it will do so before employees or students can access that space again. If an employee or student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, the employee or student must remain at home until they are symptom-free for 72 hours (3 full days) without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g., cough suppressants). The School will similarly require an employee or student who reports to school with symptoms to return home until they are symptom-free for 72 hours (3 full days).All employees and students in the above-referenced circumstance will also be required to obtain a doctor’s note and a negative COVID-19 test in order to clear them to return to school. An employee or student who tests positive for COVID-19 will be able to continue to work or attend class by making use of their own technology; if they lack the technology to effectively do so, the school will supply that technology. This process will enable individuals in this position to comply with potential self-quarantine requirements, as dictated by their county public health officials, while not experiencing a disconnection from the school community. Employees or students who test positive and are directed to care for themselves at home may return to work when: (1) at least 72 hours (3 full days) have elapsed since their last manifestation of symptoms (without the use of feverreducing or other symptom-altering medicines); and (2) at least seven (7) days have elapsed since their symptoms first manifested. The school will require documentation from a medical provider that the employee or student is cleared to return to campus. Employees or students who test positive and have been hospitalized may return to school when directed to do so by their medical care providers, and the school will require documentation of those directions by medical providers. These standards will be updated to adhere to any guidelines provided by county or state authorities regarding procedures for return to school/work. Employees or students who have come into close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 (co-worker or otherwise) will be able to continue to work or attend class via the provided technology as they comply with self-quarantine requirements as directed by their county public health officials. Close contact is defined as six (6) feet for a prolonged period of time. If the School learns that an employee or student has tested positive, the School’s contact tracers will support trained public health contact tracers in identifying any individuals who may have had close contact with the confirmedpositive individual in the prior fourteen (14) days and support those individuals who have had close contact with the confirmed-positive individual in complying with county public health self-quarantine requirements. In addition, the COVID-19 liaison will work directly with the Nassau County Department of Health to determine if the school should close all buildings, some buildings, or a particular area of a building and for what length of time. In the event of a total or partial school closure, Portledge will communicate with all constituencies before the end of the calendar day of the forced closure regarding procedures for online instruction. It is expected in most instances that online learning at all grade levels will commence the following day following a preannounced and published schedule, and take place until buildings re-open for on-campus activities. 16
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING CONSIDERATIONS AND PLANS Portledge School’s Mental Health, Behavioral, and Emotional Support Services and Programs are robust. There are many resources available, and referrals can be made to address mental-health, behavioral, and emotional needs of students, faculty, and staff. The school-based team will work to identify and support students having difficulty with transitioning back into the school setting, especially given the changed school environment. Training for faculty and staff on how to talk with and support students during and after the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, as well as information on developing coping and resilience skills for students, faculty, and staff will be provided during the week of August 24, 2020. As a matter of course, Portledge School employs a tiered support system based on a Response to Intervention bestpractice approach. In combination with the fact of our small and tightly-knit student community, these Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III approaches allow us to differentiate practices based on student need levels while supporting their emotional and social development and working with them to encourage self-sufficiency. Especially in the face of the unique challenges that this school year will provide, having these established practices in place already will assist us in being able to adapt to new student challenges and needs as they emerge. The presence of three full-time psychologists on staff will enable them to take part in delivery of specific lessons regarding mindfulness and other skills that will enable students to access and address their feelings and needs in a healthy manner. Whether such interactions take the form of on-site meetings or virtual ones, they will continue to be embedded in the general structures of all potential schedules. The school psychologists will also work with parents/guardians through evening meetings to help them cope with and manage the stresses of their and their children’s lives in the COVID-19 era, focusing on topics such as self-care and separation anxiety. The school psychologists will actively seek to work with faculty and staff by identifying those who may have experienced personal struggles with COVID-19 and those who might be feeling particularly vulnerable to its potential impact upon return to school on campus. The psychologists will work with members of the leadership team to provide (either virtually or in-person) consistent check-ins and support for faculty and staff members as they attempt to cope with these and other issues. Additionally, the school-based team will help provide professional development for faculty and staff in identifying signs of trauma and atypical coping mechanisms on the parts of students so that faculty and staff can help in getting students the help they need when those needs are expressed either implicitly or explicitly. Simultaneously, the school psychologists will work with faculty and staff to care for themselves appropriately and avoid the pitfalls of compassion fatigue, a widespread and common issue among educators in the COVID-19 era.
17
PORTLEDGE SCHOOL REOPENING PLAN COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING Portledge has appointed a designated COVID-19 Health and Safety Compliance Liaison who will be responsible for engaging with the nurses, students, parents/guardians, faculty, staff, and administrators to answer questions and address concerns about Portledge's health and safety requirements regarding COVID-19 matters. In addition, the Liaison will monitor the completion of the required daily self-reported symptom check and follow up with any student who has not completed this procedure as quickly as possible each morning. All policies and procedures will be detailed in a dedicated Safety Protocols document distributed to all community members before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year. This comprehensive safety document will live in a dedicated (and publicly accessible) subsection of the Portledge school website (https://www.portledge.org/). The document will also be housed within our internal Parent/Guardian and Employee Resource Boards in the MyPortledge portal. If any changes are made to this document throughout the school year, a dedicated email notification will be sent immediately (before the next school day) to all constituents, identifying the specific change that was made. The revised documents will also be reposted in the previously mentioned areas and will include the date of the latest revision to ensure accuracy. The safety document will be available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. Updated versions of this Reopening Plan, along with the Reopening Plan that must be submitted to the NYSED, will be posted to dedicated portions of both the publicly accessible site and MyPortledge. Faculty and Student/Parent Handbooks will be updated to include links to all policies and procedures that apply specifically to particular schedule settings (i.e., hybrid, fully remote, and fully in-person). These handbooks will be disseminated to all relevant parties prior to the beginning of the school year. Moreover, online faculty meetings will be scheduled prior to the week of August 24 in order to review changes to handbook procedures, including contextspecific safety protocols. Parents/guardians and students will be invited to attend online Town Halls in order to review these same protocols and policies.
18
355 Duck Pond Road
Loucust Valley, NY 11560
www.portledge.org
For more information please contact: Head of School, Simon Owen-Wiliams - sowenwilliams@portledge.org Assistant Head of School, Karen Crowley - kcrowley@portledge.org DIrector of Upper School, Carmine Giovino - cgiovino@portledge.org