Pathway Families - COVID Letter

Last updated: July 22, 2020

Dear Pathway School Families,

Pathway wants to be transparent with all of the parents in regard to our Re-Opening Guidelines & Processes along with changes we have initiated in the classrooms and types of learning platforms we will be offering for the Fall of ‘20-21 school year. Our utmost concern is to provide as much protection to our students and staff while minimizing cross-contamination of germs to our students and staff.

Pathway will use the CDC “Interim Guidance for Schools and Day Camps” as a guideline for cleaning and disinfecting along with changes in CAL OSHA and ACSI where applicable. Pathway will assume coordination of responsibilities in sanitizing the classrooms/ancillary rooms with St. George Church.

Classroom Schedule: School hours remain the same as last year. Monday-Thursday 8:30-2:45 pm, Fridays and minimum days schedule is 8:30-12:15 pm. Students will remain in their grade level cohorts throughout the day with speciality teachers traveling to those classrooms.

Learning Platforms: We will offer three (3) learning platforms for parents to select: 1) typical in-classroom learning, 2) e-learning via live streaming and delayed recording learning (on a secure network), and 3) hybrid learning of 50% in classroom and 50% e-learning. Tuition will be based on the type of learning platforms selected. Cameras will be in all the lead teachers’ classrooms for learning. We will have more information on these cameras’ operation, who has access and how to secure the access, as well as waiver forms for recording. The use of the cameras and recordings are for educational learning platforms only and not for any print distribution outside of Pathway.

Student Supplies in the Classroom: Each student will have their own supply box and their own crate that will contain their textbooks, binder, supply box, clipboard, and whiteboards. There will not be any sharing of educational materials from one student to another during this phase of COVID re-opening.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): We have been sourcing product(s) to create a safe environment for the students and staff to ensure we have a positive and productive learning environment for our students. Pathway is requiring all students, staff, and parents to wear a mask as entering the school. Pathway is providing face shields for all students and staff to wear. Students and staff will be required to wear either a mask or face shield at all times while in the building.

Social Distancing: Pathway is observing the 6’ distancing in classroom placement of desks, hallways have been marked with tape, outside asphalt has been painted with red footprints to ensure students are properly distanced. Students will, however, be allowed to play on the large play structure (limited to 10 children at a time), and play with balls and equipment that will likely be touched by others. All equipment will be sprayed with disinfectant daily.

Drop-off/Pick-up Protocol: Parents will drop-off outside the playground gate in the back parking lot. As each child gets out of the car their temperature will be checked (less than 99.5 degrees will be required to attend school). All staff will be checked as they arrive in the morning as well. The pick-up process will follow prior years in entering the playground and waiting for the teachers to release the student to their designated approved driver. If you are bringing your child late then you must walk your child into the school office to be temperature checked.

Cleaning/Sanitizing: School will be cleaned daily through the guidelines of St. George. Throughout the day, we will clean the desks, doorknobs, sinks in the bathrooms, and handrails. Each room has wall-mounted Purell disinfecting dispensers to be used at any time needed. We encourage this as they move from one class to another as a habit to re-sanitize their hands.

Health Protocol: Prior to the start of school all students and staff will be COVID tested. Following the CDC guidelines we will require anyone with a fever of 99.5 degrees or a consistent dry cough not to come to school or to leave school if they are temperature tested during the day. They will not be admitted back to school until 72 hours fever free. We realize that there are other symptoms of COVID-19, but these two can be monitored and have a process for at this time. We ask that if your child or staff have any of the other symptoms of COVID that you stay at home until they are symptom free for 48 hours. It is important that we are all overly cautious with respect to our families and others to minimize the spread of any of these symptoms throughout the school.

Pathway has AMENDED the following protocol for reporting and handling identified COVID cases to align with Governor Newsom’s protocol as follows:

If one (1) positive case is reported/identified in a classroom (including the Teacher or Assistant), the entire class will be quarantined for 14 days at home and will shift immediately to eLearning for that period of time. The room will be extensively cleaned by our staff and St George’s professional services. Communication will be sent to all parents of the school as to which classroom has been quarantined.
If two (2)* positive cases in the school have been reported/identified in one or more classrooms, Pathway will shift to eLearning and the school will be closed for 14 days with an extensive cleaning/sanitizing process. The school will identify contact tracing/cohorts, and will notify our local public health department.
Any positive cases that arise will be communicated to the parents of Pathway as to what classroom has been affected while being considerate of confidential information regarding any names.
If a family member of a student at Pathway has symptoms of Covid or has tested positive for COVID, we ask that the student stay home and self-quarantine for 14 days. They will be able to access eLearning through live instruction online or through the recorded option that works with the family’s schedule.
Any student showing symptoms of COVID-19 will be sent home and may return to school 3 days after symptoms resolve if tests are negative.

*2 cases equals 5% of our total student/staff population at Pathway

Lunchtime/Nutrition: Lunch tables have been placed 6’ apart and each table has been marked as an empty space to ensure social distancing. During this Phase of COVID, we will NOT be utilizing the microwave for obvious reasons. Please pack lunches and snacks that do not require the use of the microwave at this time. Thank you in advance for your observance of this change.

Pathway’s intent is to provide a safe environment adhering as closely as possible to CDC recommended Guidelines for safety and sanitizing processes. As we have already seen so many changes over the last few months from federal, state, and local guidelines for school re-opening we will amend where needed. We appreciate your concerns, support, and most importantly your patience as we develop and modify guidelines where applicable.

Please know that providing a good educational experience, building strong social skills, and watching our students advocating for themselves in a Christian based environment is our major goal at Pathway!

If you have any concerns or input please do not hesitate to contact the office at 949-837-1203.

God Bless and again, thank you for your patience!

Lisa Corley
Pathway School Director