BULLDOG BRIEF
PERSONALIZED. INNOVATIVE. GLOBAL.
School Starts on Monday!
We are looking forward to having our students back in the building on Monday. We are going to do all that we can to provide a high quality and safe learning environment for our students. Thanks for showing patience and grace as we work through what learning looks like during this global pandemic. We appreciate all of your support.
Students start school on Monday, August 24. We will dismiss students who choose to attend on-site at 1:30 p.m. the entire first week of schools so we have some time at the end of the day to assess our mitigation strategies and determine if we need to make any adjustments as needed. We just wanted to give you a few reminders:
- K-8 Students can arrive at 7:55 a.m. and school will start at 8:15 a.m.
- 9-12 students can arrive at 8:20 a.m. and school will start at 8:40 a.m.
- Older students who ride the bus can report to their 1st-period class/mentor prior to 8:20 a.m. if needed.
- We will have an early dismissal all week
- Students will complete a symptom/contact tracing form each morning, but be sure to keep your kids home when they are sick.
- All students need to have masks to wear when physical distancing isn't possible. There WILL be times during the day that we need students to wear masks when physical distancing isn't possible, so all students will be expected to have a mask with them each day. Many students will wear masks more times during the day than they don't.
- We are planning on lunch being sacked individually and eaten in classrooms or outside. Students should not share lunch items. Students are welcome to bring their lunch but be sure their lunches are allergy appropriate (contact your classroom teacher with questions.)
- To limit potential exposure, visitors will not be allowed into the building in most cases unless special arrangements have been made.
- If our on-site plan doesn't work for your family, we will have a quality remote/online option available for families who choose not to attend physically. (contact Mr. Tibbetts or Mr. Lamoureux for more information.)
adam.lamoureux@vmbulldogs.com for Secondary Questions
cody.tibbetts@vmbulldogs.com for Elementary Questions
Again, these plans are fluid and could change rather quickly. We will do our best to follow the guidelines of the Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Dallas County Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Please email me at deron.durflinger@vmbulldogs.com if you have any questions.
School Arrival/Dismissal/Transportation Plans
Transportation Director, David Johnson has contacted families who require bus transportation with more information, but in general, here is what you can expect:
- Seating will be limited to one child (or family) per seat.
- Everyone is required to wear a mask while on the bus.
- We will pick up rural students and drop them off at the school first. Pick up times have been emailed by David Johnson. If you still don't know your pickup time, email David at david.johnson@vmbulldogs.com
- Busses will then pick up Crestview and Daycare students at 8:00 a.m. and drop them off at the school.
- Parents can start dropping kids off at 7:55 a.m. Use the elementary side only for drop off.
- At 3:05 p.m., students who walk home from school will be dismissed.
- At approximately 3:10 p.m., Daycare student bus riders will be dismissed from school and taken to the daycare.
- At approximately, 3:15 p.m. Crestview student bus riders will be dismissed and taken to Crestview
- At approximately, 3:20 p.m. rural student bus riders will be dismissed and taken to their homes
- At 3:30, students who are getting picked up by parents will be dismissed. Mr. Tibbetts will provide more specific information on what pickup and drop off will look like. Parents should not arrive prior to 3:20 p.m. to pick their child up from school. Please know that pick up after school will take longer than previous years. Be patient.
- Any early dismissal will be adjusted to the corresponding times. i.e. 1:05 pm instead of 3:05 pm, etc.
Active COVID-19 Cases Week of August 17
Isolation, Quarantine and Contact Tracing
To determine who has been in close contact with students/staff who contract COVID-19 and as a result who should quarantine, the district will work with the local health departments to do contact tracing. It is really important for those who test positive or who show symptoms and have been exposed to isolate for 10 days and until their symptoms have improved, but it is equally as important for them to accurately inform the district and the health department who they were in close contact (less than 6 feet more than 15 minutes) with two days prior to the positive test or when symptoms start. This district will work with students, teachers, and staff to determine close contacts for students while at school along with the student/parents to determine outside of school close contacts. The process of contact tracing takes a lot of time and is dependent upon the information given by teachers, parents, and those who test positive for COVID-19. The district or health department will contact all close contacts and those individuals are expected to quarantine for 14 days from the last know exposure date. As a reminder, a negative test result for those considered a close contact (less than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes) still requires a 14-day quarantine if the close contact happened within 2 days of the positive COVID-19 individual's test.
For the district to be able to help slow down the spread of COVID-19 and to keep students and staff safe, we will need all individuals asked to isolate or quarantine to do so with fidelity. It is the only way for us to minimize the chances of community spread. With that said, just because someone lives in the same house as an individual who contracts COVID-19 doesn't mean they have been exposed. Exposure is dependent upon close contact and it is very possible for individuals in the same household to maintain distance from each other. As we do our contact tracing, know that we will do our best to ensure all who should quarantine are asked to do so, but we can only act upon the information we have been given. All of this information is confidential to the individuals and families involved, but we will continue to be as transparent as possible when informing the community about COVID-19.
Process for Evaluating Sick Students and Staff
Return to Learn FAQ and IDPH Guidelines
Athletic Website and Schedules
Contact Us
Email: firstname.lastname@vmbulldogs.com
Website: www.vmbulldogs.com
Location: 520 1st Avenue, Van Meter, IA, USA
Phone: (515) 996-2221
Facebook: https://facebook.com/VanMeterSchools/
Twitter: @vanmeterschools