Safety Measures
Masks
Masks must be worn properly, covering mouths and noses, by all people in the building unless medically prohibited. Documentation of medical prohibition must be provided to the Executive Director prior to students return to in-person learning. Note: Many High Point Students do not wear masks.
Masks must be washed daily.
If students forget their mask, one will be provided for them.
Health Checks and Protocols
An online health assessment survey will be completed for each student the evening before each school day. Teachers will monitor the surveys for their student group.
Students displaying symptoms of illness, including coughing, sneezing, or fever, will be immediately sent home and must either produce a negative test to return or isolate for 10 days and be fever free for 24 hours.
Students displaying symptoms will wait outside with an administrator for an adult to pick them up.
All adults entering the building must complete a Google survey health check. Non-staff must show a screenshot of the survey to an administrator before leaving the office or entryway.
Exposure
Students in the classroom with a student who is sent home sick: If their classmate tests positive for COVID, all students in the class must quarantine for a minimum of 10 days and may return to school if they are symptom free after 10 days. If their classmate receives a negative COVID test, the whole class may return when test results are received.
Students who are a direct contact with a person with confirmed or suspected COVID are expected to quarantine for 10 days (e.g. a household member has COVID).
If a student in a 4-5 or middle school classroom tests positive for Covid -19, that class will be quarantined for ten days.
Drop-off and Pick-up
Family members are not allowed in the building without permission from administration.
Adults waiting with students must wear masks at all times.
Staggered student entrances will be used in conjunction with windowed drop-off times. Students will enter through the outside entrance nearest to their
classroom.
Windowed student release times will be utilized to minimize crowding. You may meet your student by their entrance door or ask them to walk to the curb at the front of the building. Please maintain a safe distance from others at all times.
Social Distancing
6’ social distancing will be maintained at all times. Floors will be marked with 6’ distances in areas where students are likely to congregate (e.g. Bathrooms, cafeteria, hallways)
Signage will be posted in public areas advising social distancing and masking requirements.
There will be no intermingling of classes in order to keep students in the same groups across school hours.
Cleaning and Sanitizing
All students and staff must sanitize or wash hands upon entrance to and exit from a classroom, with additional times determined by their classroom teacher.
Sanitizer stations will be placed in each classroom.
Student materials will be individual as much as is possible and will be located at or near their desks in order to maximize distancing between students.
Student materials will be individual as much as possible and will be located at or near their desks to maximize distance between students.
Students will keep their personal belongings with them in the classroom rather than using lockers.
Food
Students will be asked to bring their own snack and full water bottle each day. Water bottles should be taken home each night, washed and refilled.
Families will be alerted by their classroom teacher if there is an in-person student with food allergies in their classroom.
Snack will take place outside with students maintaining social distancing. In the case of inclement weather, small groups will be taken to an unused classroom to snack.
Lunches will not take place at school until we are in the “optional hybrid instruction” phase in order to reduce risk of virus transmission. Instead, we will have a half-day in-person schedule for students. When students are able to eat lunch on campus (see cases numbers required for “optional hybrid instruction” on the back-to-school plan), lunch will be staggered to allow students to maintain social distancing with masks off for eating.
Daily Classes & Routine
In-person instruction will occur (for those who chose it) every weekday with staggered start times and a noon dismissal.
Drop-off times at door nearest classroom: All students to arrive between 8:00 and 8:10 am and picked up between 11:55 am and 12:05 pm:
K -1 Will use the door nearest their classrooms. This is the first set of doors along the main drive. Students will enter through the left hand door and be directed in their pod area.
2-3 Students will enter through the door of the circle drive on Holmes Road. Drop off students near the flagpole.
4-5 Students will enter through the main entrance and be directed to their classroom.
MS Students will enter through the first set of doors along the drive. This is the same set of doors used by K/1. Students will enter through the right hand door and be directed up the stairs to their classroom.
Student arrival and departure will be monitored by staff.
K/1 and 2/3 Students will stay with their base class in their base classroom for instruction.
Specials that occur before pick-up (elementary only) will take place in base classrooms with specials teachers streaming video into the home classroom.
Recess will be staggered to allow for students to maintain social distancing with masks. Recess activities will take place in the fields to allow for appropriate distancing.
4-5 and middle school students will circulate between classrooms for the various subjects. Work stations will be sanitized between classes.
4-5 and middle school students will need to bring their Chromebooks to school each day and bring them home for base and specials in the afternoon each day.
Weekly schedules will be shared by base teachers once class numbers have been confirmed.
Assignments and materials will continue to be available through Otus for both in-person and online students.
Teacher Plans by Grade-Level
K-1 will have two in-person teachers, and two online teachers.
Stephanie Yambrick and Elka Francisco will teach in-person.
Students in Stephanie Yambrick’s class who return to in-person will remain in Stephanie’s class.
The other remaining in-person students will be divided between Stephanie Y.’s and Elka F.’s classes to create equal class numbers.
Stephanie Boling and Alexa Korpal will remain online.
Students in Stephanie B.’s or Alexa’s class who remain online will remain in their current classes.
Students from Stephanie Yambrick’s class who choose to remain online will be assigned to Stephanie B’s or Alexa’s class.
2-3 will have two in-person teachers.
Mary Bassett and Salli Kropp will teach in-person.
Students in Mary’s and Salli’s classes who return in-person will remain in their classes.
Students from Jeannie’s class who return in-person will be divided between the two in-person classrooms to create equal class numbers.
Mary and Salli will be supported by a co-teacher.
Jeannie will remain online.
Those students remaining online will be placed in Jeannie’s online class.
4-5 will take a hybrid approach with all teachers teaching in-person and online simultaneously.
Students will keep their base teacher.
Students remaining online will join live instruction on Zoom.
Students attending in-person will be instructed by all three teachers, rotating in their base class as their cohort.
Base class meetings will take place in the afternoons, with all students online.
Middle school will take a hybrid approach with all teachers teaching in-person and online simultaneously.
Students remaining online will join live instruction on zoom.
Students will rotate through their academic classes with their math group as a cohort, having two academic classes per day Monday through Thursday and Fridays will be all four classes (half blocks).
Base classes will only meet as a group in the afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will there be minimum standards for masks? As a public school, we are unable to mandate a particular type of mask. However, we recommend that families adhere to the CDC guidelines, which include 3-layer masks, either cloth or disposable. All masks provided by the school are either purchased, medical grade masks, or masks made utilizing cotton, polyester, and appropriate filter material.
Will there be transportation? No. We are unable to contract transportation services at this time. If you are comfortable, you may be able to coordinate transportation with another family.
Is aftercare available? Not at this time. We are not yet able to get potential aftercare teachers vaccinated. However, Sue Hofbauer is working to explore the possibility of aftercare. We also do not have space as High Point is using the cafeteria as a classroom for some of their students.
Will all classrooms have windows that can open? Currently all classrooms have at least one window that opens. We are planning to provide each classroom with a fan but may not have them in place by April 6.
Will classrooms have air filters? Classrooms do not have air filters. Air filters that filter at a rate and particle size necessary are cost prohibitive.
Will student schedules change? There will be some adjustments to schedules. Details vary by grade level. You will be sent an individualized schedule for your student shortly. Will my student have classes in the afternoon? All students will have PE scheduled online in the afternoon. Middle school and 4-5 students will also have base meetings in the afternoon.
Will we move to full days this year? We are unsure at this time. We are carefully monitoring community spread and case numbers to determine whether/when that would be possible. The board voted in December that full days would be considered when there were fewer than 20 daily cases in the county and test positivity rates are less than 1.5%.
Will Honey Creek ban travel for families? We are a public school. We cannot require families to stop travel or to enact safety measures outside of school. However, we do ask that families not send sick children or children who have been exposed to COVID to school. Sick children will be removed from the building and the parent will be contacted to pick up the child.
What if case rates spike after our return to school? We will take guidance from the Washtenaw County Health Department. We will also examine the age groups in which the spikes are occurring. If the spike is reasonable and primarily in the University of Michigan community, we are likely to continue in-person schooling.
Will there be isolation rooms? Upon guidance from the medical community, we will use the out-of-doors as our isolation room. Administrators will wait with students until parents arrive.
Will virtual instruction be available for the remainder of the year? Yes. ● Will virtual instruction be available next year if student vaccines are not yet available? We are unsure if we are able to provide this option in the fall. The state has not released the paperwork or process for applying to provide online instruction. Additionally, we must have permission from our chartering organization (the WISD) to provide such instruction. We were able to do so this year due to the emergency order. If/when the state releases the paperwork and process we will discuss applying for this option with the WISD.
Can families be offered to have their spot at HCCS held in the fall if they do not feel comfortable returning in person due to lack of vaccinations? Al Waters is investigating the legality of this option and will communicate with the community as he learns more.
How will the school handle students’ social-emotional well-being in this transition? The school social worker and teachers are working together to ensure that structures are in place to support students as they complete the school year. Parents have also created a support group to share strategies and support one another. Additionally, our PTO has worked hard to ensure that as many regular school events as possible were able to take place this year so that students have a sense of normalcy.
My student is staying online. What will that look like? In k-3, class will look the same online as it has so far this year with some small schedule changes and some different classmates. In 4-8, class will look the same online as it has so far this year, but some of their classmates will not be joining via Zoom, but rather will be in person with the teacher.