We are so excited to have students start in the building this week! Students in Cohort B will attend on Thursday and Friday of this week. Students in Cohort A will start on Monday and Tuesday in person next week.
We will be sharing a lot of information this week about logistics. Today, please review our arrival and dismissal procedures. We will share bus transportation information as soon as we have it. We need to change a few things this year to make sure we keep everyone safe. Thank you for helping us with this!
Important arrival changes:
- Arrival will now be from 8:30 to 8:40am. Students should not enter the playground area prior to 8:30am.
- Students must wear a mask when they arrive on school grounds, by car, bike, or on foot.
- Students will not be playing on the playground when they arrive but will line up directly at their assigned entrances.
- Students in kindergarten will line up by the blue door to the cafeteria ramp, while students in 1G, 2A, and 2B will line up on the hardtop. All other classrooms will line up at their exterior classroom doors. Teachers will share their door numbers with students and we will have plenty of staff to direct students on the playground until they feel comfortable finding their assigned entrances.
Information for students arriving and leaving by car:
Arrival by car
Arrival this fall will not look terribly different than in the past, aside from the 15 minute time change and need for social distancing. Cars should still enter only in the lower driveway (closest to Woodland Mead; please do NOT enter the front bus loop) and pull up on the left parallel to the grassy area of the playground to let students out of the car. Please pull all the way forward and do not let your child out until a staff member indicates that it is safe to do so. Please have your child ready with his/her belongings to exit the car once you arrive at school. Parents and caregivers must stay in their cars if dropping off, do not park the car and exit.
Dismissal by car
For dismissal, students will be socially distanced and lined up by grade levels along the grassy area next to the sidewalk. If you arrive in a car, please stay in your car and line up in a single queue. Do not park your car and get out during this year’s dismissal time. There will only be one live pickup line this year to start. Please use the laminated sheet distributed over the past two weeks with your child’s last name, displaying it on your driver’s side visor. If you do not yet have one of these sheets, please make your own sign to display. We are going to try to line students up by the grade level of the youngest sibling (if a 1st grader and 3rd grader are siblings being picked up, both will be in the 1st-grade line). Please remind your oldest child(ren) that they will be joining their youngest sibling in the pickup line of the youngest grade level. Again, all parents and caregivers must stay in the car during this time to ensure quick dismissal.
Information for students arriving and leaving on foot or bicycle:
Arrival on foot or bike
If walking or riding with your child from the North (Woodland Meade side), we ask that you say goodbye to them below the rocks and bike rack area of the playground. If you are walking from the South (1A side of Asbury Street), please walk your child to the Cutler School sign area to say goodbye, we will assist them as they cross the driveway and proceed to the playground. We are attempting to limit the number of people on the playground area in the morning for supervision and social distancing purposes. Please do not allow younger siblings to play on the equipment during this time.
Dismissal on foot or bike
These same two areas (rocks/bike rack and Cutler sign) are where we will reunite you with your child at the end of the day as well. Please keep yourself socially distanced, wear a mask on school grounds, and wait in these two areas. Students will walk to meet you once they are dismissed. We will have a staff member receiving them in both of these areas who will make sure they identify you as they always have (“I see my mom” or “I see my grandfather”) before we let them go to you.
What to send to school with your child this week:
- Face mask (and a spare if possible)
- Completed work (depending on classroom) and other materials requested by the classroom teacher
- Snack
- Water bottle
- Lunch (or plan to order school lunch)
- Towel (to sit on to eat outside) Students will be under the tents for lunch as much as possible. Their own towels will be helpful to allow them to picnic and remain in one safe spot.
- Layers of clothing and appropriate footwear…we will be outside as much as possible!
Daily Home Symptoms Checklist:
Each morning prior to participating in in-person learning, parents will conduct a daily symptoms check to prevent illness and transmission spread in the school. Information on how to log into the Health Care Portal will follow from the school nurses.
Below is the full list of symptoms for which caregivers should monitor their children, and staff should monitor themselves:
❏ Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills (CDC has lowered the temperature from 100.4 to 100.0)
❏ Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)
❏ Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
❏ New loss of taste or smell
❏ Sore throat
❏ Headache when in combination with other symptoms
❏ Muscle aches or body aches
❏ Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
❏ Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
❏ Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms
In addition to the symptoms, if your child has traveled outside Massachusetts to a state that is not considered a low-risk state by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, your child is required to comply with the COVID-19 Travel Order either by:
Remaining in quarantine for 14 days or producing a negative COVID-19 test that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to arriving in Massachusetts.
Other important information from our school nurses
