Campus Re-Entry Plan

Please refer to the Community Guidance document above for essential Operational details. 

Guiding Principles

• Masks at all times indoors and outdoors (unless on a distanced break)
• Practice social distancing i.e. six feet of space
• “Wash in, wash out” as part of our culture and habits
• Display solidarity and practice grace

Summit School plans to open school on campus with daily attendance by all healthy staff and students.

As with each new school year, teachers will be establishing classroom norms and routines. Our teachers do this each year with each new group. While this year's circumstances are different, the way teachers do this is the same. When given clear expectations, children adapt and learn quickly. Children have a strong sense of community and of caring for others and respond well to these new routines.

Social Interactions Outside of the School Day

While our community typically celebrates and encourages the tight relationships between students outside of school, we must acknowledge that large group playdates, sleepovers, and large birthday parties bring risk to our community at this time.   

While Summit is unable to mandate that our families will not have indoor gatherings of children in our homes, we would gently ask that our community question the necessity of gatherings of children inside the home for prolonged periods of time.     

We will encourage their friendships and social emotional development while they are on campus and we hope this relieves the pressure families may be feeling to have get-togethers at home.

Our restraint as a community may help us succeed in continuing in person learning. Please partner with your children to teach them that sacrifice and restraint are vital to the Summit community learning and health.  

Some of our children may have social and emotional health issues that compel a parent to have a playdate outside of school. We ask that our community show positive regard and grace for these families.

Carpooling

Carpooling among multiple families has been a common practice at Summit. During this time of COVID, we ask that families question the necessity of multi-family carpools.

When multi-family carpools are necessary, face masks must be worn by all for the duration of the time in the car.

On Campus

Campus modifications are in place for physical distancing. A mild form of distancing might see no large indoor gatherings on campus, such as lunch, presentations, and assemblies. It might also assume a limit on large community events, even if they are held outdoors because social distancing would be too difficult to enforce.

Our combination of a large campus, small class sizes, agility, and creativity enable us to accommodate our entire student body while maintaining the required physical distance.

We are opening campus to staff, faculty and students in the safest manner possible. The reality is that we cannot eliminate risk but rather mitigate it. Thus we are all in a position to be vigilant and calm.

At the same time, we recognize that we may also be required by an executive order from the governor or a directive from public health officials to spend time off campus, or simultaneously off and on campus — with some students at home due to illness or family situations and others on campus. We are both committed and positioned to provide the maximum learning for children in the richest possible environment in all of these scenarios.

Caring Environment for All

We are in the midst of a global pandemic and our mission to provide a caring environment is paramount.

Our campus re-entry plan is focused on risk mitigation. The reality of our COVID-19 world is that our daily activities have risk of exposure to a virus. We are taking every step possible to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus while on campus. We cannot eliminate risk.

Summit is taking guidance from national organizations and government agencies. We are following the CDC, NCDHHS, and American Academy of Pediatrics closely. And guidance continues to change. We also have local medical advisors as well as a highly-regarded epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert with whom we are consulting.

As an independent school, we take guidance from our state government, our public health officials and from our peer schools—translating that, when and where we can, into what is best for Summit. It is informed by NCDHHS Guidelines and approved by our medical director and several additional medical advisors in our community

Summit families will be asked to sign this document electronically via Magnus prior to the first day of school. 

 

COVID Community Commitment

Summit School is committed to balancing the need to provide a safe school environment with students' developmental needs to socialize and engage in a love of learning. Summit School is committed to implementing health and safety precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our school community while prioritizing the safety of our teachers, as well.

And we need your help.

Because we are such a close-knit community, we can’t do it without your support. To that end, we are asking Summit School families to voluntarily enter into a Covid community commitment so we are all working as a team to keep our community healthy. We have the great fortune of being a responsive, dedicated, and caring community of families and teachers. By following these precautions together, we can decrease the chance of transmission.

Summit School In-School Safety Measures

Summit School’s goal is to minimize outside exposure and have early identification procedures in place so the quality of the learning experience remains intact for your child while limiting opportunity for transmission to our community.

In addition, out of great respect for each teacher and their personal assumption of risk, we commit to the following precautionary measures:

• Close monitoring of symptoms at home and at school
• Daily temperature check at home
• Daily health screening via Magnus
• Social distancing
• Hygiene routines
• Teaching hygiene techniques
• Sanitation routines
• Teaching hand washing techniques
• Nightly cleaning
• Face shields that appropriately cover the nose and mouth and prevent the spread of fluids
• Face masks that appropriately cover the nose and mouth and prevent the spread of fluids
• Safety gloves when appropriate
• Non-essential visitors not permitted
• No off-campus field trips
• After school clubs led by current staff, no outside vendors allowed
• School-wide gatherings replaced by Zooms or small groups

Family At Home Safety Measures

I acknowledge and understand that participation in school activities or programs at Summit School during the COVID-19 pandemic presents certain risks beyond Summit School’s control, and which may exist regardless of whether Summit School controls or attempts to control such risks and even if Summit School exercises the utmost care in trying to prevent anyone from getting injured or sick.

To show my support and help the school community reduce the chance of transmission, my family and I commit to the following precautionary measures to the very best of our ability:

In Public Spaces, including work, all members of my household commit to the following:

• Increased social distancing
• Minimizing close contact conversations to less than 10-15 minutes
• Face masks worn according to local mandates and guidelines
• Monitoring for symptoms, or self-quarantine if the chance of exposure, after international travel or domestic travel to an area experiencing widespread community transmission.
• Hand sanitation after contact with high touch surfaces
• Hand washing during or after public activities
• At home, all members of my household commit to the following:
• Monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 such as: mild, cold-like symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, and cough, vomiting and diarrhea, temperature, loss of taste/smell, shortness of breath
• Teach proper hand washing techniques to child
• Model hand washing habits
• Promote awareness, help child identify, when hand washing might be necessary
• Reporting to the school when there is a confirmed case in our family
• Disclosure and self-quarantine when known direct contact with a confirmed case has occurred

 

Acknowledgment of Risk & Personal Responsibility

I acknowledge that I have freely chosen to enroll my child at Summit School for the 2020-21 school year. I understand that Summit School has taken all reasonable precautions to protect parents, students, and staff from exposure to COVID-19.

Those measures include but are not limited to, appropriate screening of families and staff, requirement of at home temperature measurement and periodic in-school temperature assessment, face shields, masks, increased social distancing, and enforcement of proper hygiene and sanitization.

I am permitting my child to participate in school activities and programs at Summit School with this understanding and hereby knowingly and voluntarily assume all risks of injury, illness, death or damage related to COVID-19 which may arise as a result of my child’s voluntary participation and attendance of Summit School. I understand Summit School has no insurance that will pay or reimburse me for illness or injury expenses incurred as a result of my child participating in any programs while at school. Therefore, I accept full responsibility for all medical expenses for any injuries or exposure my family might receive by reason of my child's attendance.

I further acknowledge that my child's attendance may expose my family to COVID-19 in spite of the above measures, and I assume any such risk, thus releasing Summit School and all its agents from liability. I may discontinue my child’s on-campus attendance at the end of the first, second and third quarters [in keeping with the school’s use of “toggling]” in light of the risks I am assuming hereunder while acknowledging that this attendance in no way impacts or releases me from my contractual enrollment agreement.

I also agree that by attending Summit School, my family will fully comply with all such measures out of respect for the safety and health of the teachers and larger school community.

Daily Operations

• Masks are required to be worn by students, faculty, and staff. Mealtime and supervised "mask breaks" are the only exceptions. At all other times, such as entering and exiting the building and when a student is not in play, masks are expected to be worn.
• Parents and/or guardians must drop off and pick up students outside of the school buildings; drop off and pick up times may be more staggered than usual. Teachers and assistants will be available to help students enter and exit.
• If a parent has to pick up a child early, the parent must call the school and the child will be brought to them at the designated door.
• In cases where parents must enter the building for a medical emergency, required meeting with a division director, or other reason deemed appropriate, parents must use marked entrances and exits to the building and limit time in the building and may be subject to a temperature check and screening questions.
• Homework, projects and other forgotten items will not be accepted during the school day.
• When physical distance can be monitored and supervised by a sufficient number of adults, students may be offered "mask breaks" outdoors.
• Because of the level of physical exertion and inability to monitor and control physical distance between children, recess will require the wearing of a mask.

Addressing COVID Symptoms

In order to maximize the safety of our on-campus attendance, we are asking all families to be vigilant for symptoms. When children are home sick with symptoms, they should be at home to recover and this will be considered a regular sick day absence. Make up work will be handled as in the past.

If you keep your child at home for any of the five listed COVID symptoms (fever greater than 100^oF, chills, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, new cough, new loss of taste or smell), you should:

• seek the advice of your pediatrician
• provide a return to school note after the consultation (can be telemedicine or in person visit).

 

If your child is sent home from school for any of the five listed COVID symptoms (fever greater than 100^oF, chills, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, new cough, new loss of taste or smell), you should:

• seek the advice of your pediatrician
• provide a return to school note after the consultation (can be telemedicine or in person visit).

 

If you as a parent determine that your child has new or concerning symptoms that you believe may be COVID related, you should:

• seek the advice of your pediatrician
• provide a return to school note after the consultation (can be telemedicine or in person visit).

 

Any time your child receives a COVID test, they are presumed positive. The child may not return to school until the results are received and the results are negative and your pediatrician agrees to the return to school with documentation from the doctor's office. A negative COVID test by itself does not determine your child's return to school.

If your child must quarantine due to a positive exposure, they will be moved into hybrid learning. The child may not return to school until the completion of the quarantine. A negative COVID test or primary care provider’s clearance during quarantine does not allow a return to campus prior to the completion of quarantine.

Siblings

Any time there is a positive test result in a household, then other members of the family will quarantine for 14 days starting from the last known exposure.

When we operationalize re-opening in the fall, we will organize around the following framework to keep our community healthy.

Prevention

• Education about the virus and how to stay healthy
• Program adjustments to maximize individual and community wellness
• Physical and social adjustments to minimize risk of exposure

Detection

• Monitoring regional and local outbreaks to understand community risk
• Ensuring individuals coming to campus are of low risk of spreading illness
• Tracking individual cases and trending illnesses within our community

Response

• Communicating with local health authorities and internal community
• Adjusting operational modes
• Implementing cleaning and disinfecting protocols

Using guidance from trusted health authorities, this group will determine the best policy and operational approaches to keep our community healthy during the COVID-19 outbreak.  Areas to explore could include:

• Providing educational frameworks and approaches to keep the community informed regarding health and wellness best-practices
• Providing guidance on PPE, screening, contact tracing or school closure recommendations
• Developing methods for communication with divisions about on-campus health trends
• Conferring with the Facilities and Operations team
• Conferring with the Dining team and Flik 

Our internal team is receiving support and guidance from doctors, government scientists, and public health professionals with connections to Summit School.

This group will review governmental and health guidelines to develop clear and reasonable operational guidelines and protocols for facilities use. Areas to explore could include:

Campus Use

• Occupancy guidelines/restrictions based on state recommendations
• Expectations for parents, prospective students, and outside visitors

Cleaning/Health

• Cleaning protocols used by Budd Services cleaning teams
• Cleaning protocols for classroom teachers/individuals
• Sourcing and procurement of resources
• Installation of additional handwashing or sanitizing stations

Social Distancing Physical Adaptations

• Recommendations for spacing/barriers to desks and counters – classrooms, offices, and public spaces
• Procedures to reduce touching of doors and/or cleaning of heavily used objects
• Developing appropriate signage/wayfinding instructions

Social Distancing Human Adaptations

• Altering “human traffic” patterns
• Potential restrictions for lockers and other max-contact areas
• Gathering guidelines and/or restrictions for larger groups