Garfield Re-2 News
July 24, 2020
Video of the July 20, 2020 School Board Meeting is online
Rifle Community Television has the video from the July 20, 2020 School Board meeting online. The video includes the workshop immediately preceding the board meeting.
You can find this meeting and previous meetings on the Garfield Re-2 website at www.garfieldre2.net under Our District/School Board Meetings or directly here. You can also find school board meetings on the RifleNow web page here.
2020 Return to Learning Updates for July 24
Garfield Re-2 will be providing you the most up to date information as we develop, refine, and review our protocols for the 2020-21 return to learning. You can find all of this information on the Garfield Re-2 website as well at www.garfieldre2.net (Bookmark this page). We will send out updates as soon as we have protocols established. Please keep a close eye on your email and the Garfield Re-2 website.
Safety
To provide the safest environment possible for your children and our staff, Garfield Re-2 is using the Colorado Department of Education’s Reopening Schools Health Guidance by Covid-19 Phase document to guide us in refining our safety protocols. Within schools, we are using a layered approach to prevention measures. Prevention does not rely on only one measure. A combination of these measures will help reduce exposures within the school environment. These layered measures include a combination of masks, distancing, cohorting, hand washing, and/or scheduling that reduces the number of students in one location at any only time.
6 foot distancing where possible.
We know 6-foot between-student spacing reduces disease transmission risk and should be preferred. Three-foot distancing still provides substantial benefits and is acceptable in the context of a comprehensive disease control strategy.
Teachers and other adult staff should make the greatest effort to adhere to 6-foot distancing, as their risk and disease transmission potential is higher than students.
Face coverings will be required for ages 11 and above as per Gov. Polis public health order on 7/17/20.
There will be daily screenings for students and staff for fever and other COVID-19 symptoms.
There will be no more than 25 students in a classroom. Larger spaces can have more people while physically distanced at 6-feet.
Group sizes outside will be limited to 175.
Cleaning Protocols
The Garfield Re-2 Facilities and Custodial staff are committed to doing everything in their power to keep your children and our staff safe. Our staff will be using protocols that increase the frequency of disinfecting both classrooms and high touch surfaces.
Custodial staffs will be disinfecting every room, every day;
There will be increased attention to high touch surfaces such as door handles, light switches and handrails;
Bathrooms will be disinfected multiple times a day;
Playgrounds, where applicable, will be disinfected multiple times a day;
Garfield Re-2 has purchased foggers to support the custodial staff and make these processes more efficient.
School Meals - Breakfast and Lunch
Garfield Re-2 will continue to serve breakfast and lunch on-site when schools are open and in the event that we must go to a hybrid or distance learning educational model, Garfield Re-2 will provide take-home meals for our students.
For on-site food service, new health/safety protocols for students and food service staff will include hand washing or sanitizing before and after meals, staff will wear facial coverings in the cafeteria, and social distancing in the serving line and cashier line will be required.
Buffet style stations, including salad bars, will NOT be available in the cafeterias. Students are highly discouraged from sharing food and/or drinks with others.
Breakfast will be served in a paper bag. Breakfast may be served in the classroom after the bell to children wanting to participate. Specific protocols for school breakfast will be provided by the individual schools.
Lunch will be served in a reusable green eco-clam shell. Children will grab a pre-filled container and their milk. All students will be required to physically distance while eating their lunch. Specific protocols for school lunch will be provided by the individual schools. The trash and uneaten food will stay in the container and a cart will be provided for them to deposit the remains after eating.
Every student will be issued a student ID. This year it will be used as a touchless lunch ID that can be scanned when the student receives their lunch. This will eliminate the need for every student to touch a key pad and enter their student ID number.
We encourage all families to deposit funds into their child’s account prior to the first day of school. Our E-funds will be the safest method to pay. No cash will be taken for ala carte items, only “contactless” payments will be accepted. Please reach out to us for more information on E-Funds and contactless payments if you have questions at 970-665-7697.
HELP US KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN
The best way to help keep our schools open is to keep COVID-19 cases in Garfield County as low as possible.
Help us by making the following commitments:
I commit to:
WEAR a mask.
WASH my hands.
WALK, ride or play 6 feet away.
WORK together safely.
IF ILL – stay home
Garfield Re-2 and Rifle High School prepares for LIVE GRADUATION
The Rifle Bears will have their live ceremony on July 25th at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 am in Bear Stadium. The senior class divided up into three different groups to graduate at these times. Each senior will have two tickets to use for their parents to attend. TICKETS ARE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY TO THE CEREMONY.
All ceremonies will be live-streamed. Graduation will be live streamed on the Rifle High School Facebook page, the Garfield Re-2 Facebook page, the Rifle Community Television facebook page, and you can watch it from the comfort of your home using the Rifle TV plus app on your Roku, Apple TV or other streaming device.
Supply Lists are online
The supply lists for all schools that have provided them are now online a www.garfieldre2.net under Parents & Community/Parent Information. You can find them here. As we receive them, we will post them on this page. As a safety precaution this year, all students will need their own supplies. Students will not be allowed to share supplies.
Registration portals are up and running
Whether you are new to Re-2 or returning to learning in 2020, the registration portals are up and running.
Both students new to Garfield Re-2 and students returning to Garfield Re-2 can find their registration links here. It is important that you complete the registration process, so that we have the best contact information for you, and so we can determine how many students want to take advantage of in-person and online classes, and so we can determine our transportation needs.
What is the P-EBT Program?
If your child was eligible for free or reduced-price meals last school year at a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, or if they attended a school where all students eat breakfast and lunch for free, they are eligible to get P-EBT. Immigration status does not matter for P-EBT and P-EBT is not part of the public charge rule. All information submitted is confidential. P-EBT provides your family with funds to help buy food. These funds are available because schools were closed this spring due to the pandemic. You can receive up to $279 per eligible child to stretch your food budget AND continue getting summer meals at the same time!
Learn more about Colorado's P-EBT program here.
Contact Shari Edwards at 665-7604 for more information.
The 2020-21 school year starts August 24
At the July 20, 2020 Garfield Re-2 School Board meeting, the Board agreed that Garfield Re-2 will open schools with in-person learning and safety precautions. They also approved to move the start of school back a week to August 24. The extra week will provide our schools and departments time to better develop the specific protocols and processes that will be required to welcome your children back in the safest environment possible.
Our new teachers will still arrive on August 3 to begin their training with Garfield Re-2 School District. All teachers will report on August 10 to begin their professional development back to school professional development.
The additional time will allow individual school staffs to refine the protocols specific to their buildings, and train on District protocols, so that we all can keep your children and our staff as safe as possible.
Garfield Re-2 School District
Email: thamilton@garfieldre2.net
Website: www.garfieldre2.net
Location: 839 Whiteriver Avenue, Rifle, CO, USA
Phone: 970-665-7600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Garfieldre2/
Twitter: @GarfieldRe2