The Heron News
Special Edition Oct. 20, 2020
Message from the Principal
Dear HES Community,
Parents and guardians will be receiving an email tomorrow from their child's teacher providing the A/B cohort information. Many factors were considered when assigning cohorts. In an effort to keep families together and accommodate students receiving specialized services, there was no clean alphabetical split across the board. This was a laborious process and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we move forward and prepare to welcome students back into the classroom.
Have a great week and remember....
We Are...Heron Strong
Yours in Health and Hope,
Dr. Jennifer A. Gilman, Principal
HES Return to School Information
Hollywood Elementary School
Safety Practices for Hybrid Learning Models
** EVERYONE MUST WEAR A MASK**
** APPOINTMENTS MUST BE MADE TO COME INTO THE MAIN OFFICE**
Please do not give your child a fever reducer or any medication to mask or relieve the symptoms below and then send them to school. If a child is not feeling well or exhibits any of the following symptoms, please keep them home:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting / Diarrhea
Health Room Visits, Illness and Communicable Diseases
Visitors to the health room will be separated into “well” and “ill” spaces, based on the nurse’s assessment of the student condition.
Parents are responsible for keeping children home when they exhibit symptoms of illness (new onset cough or shortness of breath; or at least 2 of the following: fever of 100.0 or higher, chills, shivering, muscle pain, sore throat, headache, loss of sense of taste or smell, or gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting or diarrhea)
Students who present with the above symptoms during the school day will be sent home. Students should be picked up within 30 minutes of parental contact. A “quick pick up plan” should be developed by the parent(s) in case illness presents during the school day.
Students must be fever free without any fever reducing medications for 24 hours AND have improvement of other symptoms AND may be required to have healthcare provider documentation prior to returning to school.
Parents should work with the school nurse to determine the return to school plan for a student. SMCPS is working closely with the St. Mary’s County Health Department for all matters regarding quarantine, exclusion and return to school for persons with a positive test for COVID-19 and those who had close contact with COVID-like illness.
Masks are required/ Hand Sanitizer will be provided
In accordance with the CDC and the directive for all SMCPS schools, all students must wear a mask in school. This includes 2-layer cloth masks or disposable paper masks. Gaiters and/or bandannas are not acceptable. If a student refuses to wear a mask, after several attempts by HES staff to help them wear their mask, the parent/guardian will be called to pick up the student.
Please ensure your student has a clean mask to use daily. Masks must fit according to CDC guidelines. A disposable mask will be made available if needed.
Hand washing and sanitizing will be required throughout the day. Sanitizing stations will be available in the classroom and throughout the building.
Bus Transportation
In accordance with CDC recommendations, the SMCPS Transportation Department is working with its bus contractors to ensure that there is only one child assigned per seat (same household can sit together).
All students will be required to wear a mask while on the school bus.
Bus routes and times can be found at https://www.smcps.org/dss/transportation/bus-stop-school-locator.
Track the real-time location of your child’s bus through the “Here Comes the Bus” app or at herecomesthebus.com (school code 86563).
Arrival on Buses/ Parent Drop Off (Kiss & Ride)
Bus unloading will be staggered in order to ensure safe distancing of students as they enter the building.
Breakfast students will offload busses first and report to the cafeteria.
Car-rider students will dismiss from the passenger side of the vehicle at staff direction. No passing of vehicles will be permitted.
Students will use their assigned hallways to walk to classrooms.
Once in the classroom, students will be required to wash hands /hand sanitizer.
Late Arrivals Sign-In
Please do your best to be on time! If your student is late arriving to school (8:45am or later), you must accompany your student to the main entrance. A member of our office staff will come out and have you sign in your student and they will be escorted to class by an HES staff member. You will not be permitted into the building.
Classrooms
Student classrooms have been set up to allow for safe distancing between student seating. Markings on the floor will serve as visual cues to students and remind them of their personal space boundaries.
Student belongings (coats, lunches, bookbags, etc.) will be kept next to them for the duration of the school day.
Students will have individual school supply boxes assigned to them as there will be no shared supplies in the classroom.
Cafeteria
Students will be eating (breakfast/lunch) in designated areas. Students will be socially distanced while in line and seated and eating surfaces will be cleaned between each scheduled lunch time.
Staff will be available to assist students during lunch. Students will not be permitted to move freely within designated areas.
All meals will be free for every student until the end of the school year. Meal pick up will also be available for virtual students as well.
Take-Home meals are available for each student and can be requested via communication with each student’s classroom teacher. Requests must be made no later than 9am of the same day.
At this time, we will not be able to accommodate guests for lunch or any drop-offs of birthday/celebratory items.
Playground
Kindergarten through 5th grade will use rotating spaces for outdoor play during their assigned times. This includes the meadow, ball field, black top, and intermediate playground.
Pre-K students will have access to the primary playground area.
Building service workers will disinfect the playground equipment at the end of each day.
Classes will follow routine hand washing after playing outdoors.
Students will wear face coverings on the playground at all times.
Some adjustments to activities may be necessary in order to encourage children to maintain appropriate physical distancing and avoid physical contact.
Other adjustments will be made in cases of inclement weather.
Water Fountains/ Water Bottles
We encourage every student to bring their own water bottle from home each day. Please make sure their name is on the bottle. They are not to share or place on another student's desk.
Water fountains will be open only for the refilling of water bottles.
Restrooms/Common Areas
Visuals for physical distancing will be made available in and around shared bathrooms and sinks.
When possible, entrance doors will be left open to limit the need for students and staff to touch door handles.
Sign-Out Practices: Make an appointment
If you have indicated that your student(s) will be riding the bus during the 2nd Marking Period, we appreciate you adhering to that to keep congestion in the car rider lane at a minimum.
There will be no end-of-day signouts (3:00pm or later). If you need to check your student(s) out early, you will need to contact the main office by 2pm to schedule a time to pick up your student(s). Appointments will be in 5 minute increments and we will do our best to accommodate each family around the time that you would like to sign your student(s) out.
Students will be walked out to you in the breezeway and the individual checking the student out will be asked to present their photo ID and sign the student out.
Dismissal
Students will be dismissed to buses at 3:15 pm. Bus loading will be staggered in order to decrease the number of students exiting the building at any single moment.
Students will exit the building using their assigned hallways and exit out of both sets of double doors of the main entrance.
This year, students are either Car Riders or Bus Riders. Please note: There will be no bus passes provided this year for students. Students must ride their assigned bus home.
Car Rider Pick Up
Cars may not begin lining up for pick up before 3:00pm.
When picking up your student, you MUST have your pick-up tag displayed from your rearview mirror before entering the parking lot. Please follow the directional map on the back of your car tag to follow the flow of traffic.
Classroom teachers will be notified when you arrive and, beginning at 3:10 students will be dismissed to the main hallway to check out with a staff member.
Students will be escorted to their appropriate vehicle.
Vehicles must stay in line. For the safety of our students and staff, there will be no passing of other vehicles.
Cleaning and Disinfecting
Classrooms are fully cleaned once per day after students depart in the afternoon, and fully disinfected each evening.
Frequently touched surfaces (incl. door knobs/push plates, light switches, soap dispenser handles, stairwell handrails, refrigerator handles, sink fixtures, toilet fixtures, bathroom partitions and hardware, water fountains, copier buttons) will be cleaned multiple times per day, based on staff availability and accessibility to areas.
For more information:
SMCPS Department of Transportation
DO choose masks that
DO NOT choose masks that
Caution: Gaiters & Face Shields
Hollywood Elementary School
Dr. Jennifer A. Gilman,
Proud Hollywood Elementary School Principal
Email: jagilman@smcps.org
Website: schools.smcps.org/HES/
Location: 44345 Joy Chapel Road, Hollywood, MD, USA
Phone: (301) 373-4350
Twitter: @hes_smcps