Important Back To School Updates & Reminders 8/21/2020

Dear parents,

Our teachers have been back at Rockwern now for a week and a half, and they are all working very hard to prepare for the new school year, even with all of its unknowns. What we do know is that no matter what this school year brings, we will love and nurture your children, teach them and expand their minds, strengthen their Jewish identity, and do everything possible to keep them safe and healthy.

I look forward to seeing all of you at our parent meeting on Wednesday, August 26 at 8:30 PM on Zoom (details at the bottom of this email).

In the meantime, I want to share some very important updates and reminders.

NEW HEALTH PROTOCOLS:

Mandatory flu shots: While Rockwern has always strongly encouraged flu shots, this year we will require all students and staff to have flu shots prior to October 30. By that date, please email confirmation from your physician of your child having received a flu vaccination or fax it to Jacie Edelstein, RN, at 513-398-3974.

If your child cannot have a flu vaccine for medical reasons, please have your physician email or fax (513-398-3974) a letter to Jacie Edelstein, RN.

Daily wellness checks: Every morning, parents will be required to perform wellness checks to report symptoms and potential exposures. Next week, we will share further information about arrival, dismissal, and how the wellness checks will be performed. Temperatures will be taken at the doors each morning.

Fever reducing medication: Please do not give your child fever-reducing medication prior to sending them to school.

Keep children with symptoms home: Current COVID-19 symptoms include: fevers, chills, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. This list does not include all possible symptoms and may continue to be updated as we learn more about COVID-19. Rockwern will treat temperatures of 100°F or higher as a fever.

Be ready to pick up your children at school: The reality is that children with symptoms will be sent home this year. Please make sure you or one of your pick-up contacts is always reachable and available to pick up your child with 30 minutes notice if the nurse calls.

Illness Policy: If your child has any symptoms of COVID-19 (with no known exposure), you will need to take your child to their pediatrician. Your child will be cleared to return to school if an alternate cause has been identified and treated, your child has been fever-free for at least 24 hours, and their symptoms have improved. If your physician does not identify a cause for the symptoms, your child will be able to return to school after a negative COVID-19 test and after they have been fever free for 24 hours with symptom improvement. If your child tests positive or is not tested and their symptoms are consistent with COVID-19, they will need to stay home for 10 days after symptom onset and until they have been fever free for 24 hours.

If your child has had a known exposure (i.e. they have been in close contact [within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more cumulatively] with someone who has tested positive and your child was in close contact in the period of 48 hours prior to symptom onset or until 10 days after the positive test), your child should receive a COVID-19 test. If your child tests negative, they will still need to stay home for 14 days from the last exposure to a positive source. If your child tests positive or does not get tested, they will need to isolate for 10 days after symptom onset and until they have been fever free for at least 24 hours.

Please note that our illness policy may change during the school year as the COVID-19 situation evolves.

COVID-19 waiver: All families will need to sign a COVID-19 waiver before the start of the school year. This waiver can be found in ARI; you’ll see a yellow banner when you sign in with forms to complete. It must be signed by September 1.

COVID-19 acknowledgment of responsibilities: All families will need to sign a COVID-19 responsibilities agreement before the start of the school year. This agreement is available in ARI; when you log in, you will see a yellow banner. It must be signed by September 1.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE:

Hand washing: Please familiarize your children with proper hand hygiene. Teach and reinforce hand-washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Coughs and sneezes: Please encourage children to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue; when a tissue is not available, they should use their elbow.

Face coverings: Please teach and reinforce the use of cloth face coverings. Remind your children not to touch their face covering while it is in place.

Social distancing: Please remind your children to maintain distancing of six feet both at school and outside of school. Our medical advisory team strongly recommends that you limit extracurricular activities, large gatherings, and other potential exposure opportunities outside of school in order to help keep your child, your family, and everyone at Rockwern safe. We are taking great precautions at school, and we are relying on our Rockwern families to partner with us in health and safety; please ensure that your actions do not undermine the precautions being taken by Rockwern.

Travel restrictions: Currently, we are not asking families to quarantine after travel within the United States. However, we are asking families who are traveling internationally to contact me prior to travel, as we are requiring quarantines for families returning from Israel and some other countries.

Arrival and dismissal protocols: We know you are eager to hear about arrival and dismissal times and how the process will work. You will receive full details in a separate email next week. Because of the safety precautions we are taking this year, we will need families to be on time to school. We know that unexpected delays sometimes occur in the morning, but we will only be able to allow each student to be tardy three times this year. After three tardies, students will need to stay home on any day when they cannot arrive on time.

Parking lot safety: Please be safe while driving in our parking lot, and please wear a mask at all times when on our property. Our parking lot is an extension of our school, so anyone over age two who is in the car at pick up and drop off time is required to wear a mask.

WHAT YOUR CHILDREN WILL NEED AT SCHOOL:

Face coverings: All children two years old and older should come to school wearing a face covering. Please send two additional face coverings in their backpacks each day, so they will have a total of three. Please note that gaiter-style masks are not acceptable.

Lunch and snack: Please send your child with a healthy morning snack as well as a complete lunch. Lunch needs to be dairy (vegetarian or fish is fine), as we do not allow students or staff to bring meat into the building. You may pack peanut butter. If there is a student with allergies in your child’s class, we will notify you of any class-specific restrictions prior to the start of school.

Lunches should be packed in a lunchbox or bag with ice packs, as there will not be refrigeration available. When possible, please send children with easy to open packages; if they can start practicing opening their lunch containers at home, that will help! Please also send your child with a water bottle each day.

Full day ECEC and kindergarten students should pack two healthy snacks. All other students should pack one healthy snack. Please pack the snacks separately from lunches so students do not have to rummage through their lunchbox to find snack items.

REMINDERS:

Please complete the back to school forms for school health, emergency contact, pick up contacts, information release, ethnicity, and profile updates, which can all be found in ARI. If there is a yellow banner across the top of the home page, that indicates you still have forms to complete. Please finish these forms as soon as possible and no later than September 1.

Send forms to your physician and/or dentist to complete. To access the forms that need to be completed by your physician and/or dentist, log in to ARI, click on the “Resources” tab and then either the “ECEC Parent Orientation Information” or the “K-6 Parent Orientation Information” tile. Your child will not be allowed to attend school until we have received the required medical forms and all required vaccinations are complete.

School supply drop off: If you ordered supplies to be delivered to Rockwern for your child, we will take care of labeling them and bringing them to your child’s classroom. If you purchased supplies, you may drop them off at Rockwern on August 28 or August 31 between 8 AM and 4 PM. Please drop off the supplies in the designated area of our Sturbridge Drive parking lot, and please wear a face covering while in the parking lot. As a reminder, the school supplies needed for K-6 are on ARI under Resources > School Supply Lists and also at this link. For ECEC, please drop off diapers/diaper cream/wipes if needed, a bag with a change of clothes, and sunblock. All supplies must be clearly labeled.

Get ready for Spirit Day Wednesdays. At Rockwern, every Wednesday is Spirit Day, and we encourage students and staff to wear Rockwern gear or our school colors (orange and blue). Spirit wear can be purchased online at rockwernacademy.org/spirit. All spirit gear must be picked up at Rockwern; you can arrange for curbside pick up by calling the office.

ZOOM DETAILS (REDACTED)

Thank you, as always, for your partnership. I am grateful to you, our Rockwern community. I am also so appreciative of our staff of super heroes who are working around the clock to prepare their classrooms, to navigate new procedures and protocols, to learn to teach in new ways with the constraints of this year, and to be ready to switch to an amazing online learning program should we need to. Our staff is incredible, and they will ensure your children have a wonderful year!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Laura Baum
Head of School

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