Return to Face to Face Instruction
What to Expect & How We Can Help Keep Hightower Healthy
A message from the Principal
Hello Parents,
We have only a few days remaining before the much anticipated day of Face to Face learning is here. There is anxiety and anticipation about what to expect. This SMORES contains lots of information that you will need to be familiar with. Every effort is being made to inform you regarding what to expect during this continuously changing time. It is imperative that you read all of the information so that you can have some of your many questions answered. Teachers are working tirelessly to provide safe conditions and prepare for the return of our Hightower Tigers. We have missed our students and can't wait to see them. The building is not the same without them!!
PLANO ISD RETURN TO SCHOOL PLAN
Hightower has utilized the state and district guidelines to create a plan of action specific to our campus. The ultimate success of this plan will depend on both the campus staff and our Hightower families. Please review the plan and consider your role in helping prepare your child for success as they return to the classroom. In addition to the Return To School plan, your teacher will send you a letter with more important information for the transition to Face to Face school.
DAILY SCREENING PROTOCOL FOR STUDENTS, STAFF, & VISITORS
BEFORE ARRIVING TO THE CAMPUS
- Families must screen their students for COVID-19 symptoms daily using the questions below. Parents should also take their child’s temperature daily.
DO NOT send a child to Hightower if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19
- All student, staff, and visitors will screen for COVID-19 symptoms daily using the questions below.
WHAT DOES YOUR CHILD BRING DAILY?
1. Face Mask
2. Water Bottle
3. Individual Hand Sanitizer
4. Charged Chromebook
5. Chromebook Charger
6. Backpack with Materials
7. Packed Lunch if you are not buying lunch.
8. Dry Snack
9. On the 1st day of School please bring your school supplies.
10. On the 1st day of school, please place your child’s teacher’s name on their shirt so we can direct them to the right teacher.
What to expect at school:
- Kids will have assigned seats for safety purposes.
- Kids will be given a face shield, which will be left at school each day. (this is for K-2 students)
- We will not be using lockers until further notice. Each F2F teacher has developed their own system for backpacks that works best for their rooms.
FACE MASKS
What can work as a face covering?
Masks include non-medical and medical grade disposable face masks and cloth face coverings.
Mask must fully cover face and nose.
Masks with exhalation valves or vents will NOT be allowed in order to help prevent the person wearing the mask from spreading COVID-19 to others
PISD student handbook does not allow bandanas as part of the dress code policy.
Face Covering Protocols
All Students will be provided a lanyard that will stay at school for their mask.
PreK-2nd grade will be provided a face shield to be work in the classroom if they do not want to wear their mask. Face Shields will stay at school and will be cleaned at the end of every day.
Masks will be required of all grade levels in the hallways or common areas.
3-5 will wear a mask in all school locations.
Protocols for Campus Visitors
Visitors are not permitted at this time.
Volunteers are not allowed to visit campuses at this time (including mentors, college representatives, guest speakers, etc.).
Virtual tools will be used to conduct meetings such as PTA meetings, ARDs, LPAC, etc.
All individuals entering the building will be required to wear face coverings.
Any Individuals permitted to proceed beyond the reception area must follow all safety and campus protocols.
ARRIVAL
Please expect longer wait time as we implement new arrival/dismissal routines that require students to enter the building during arrival. We ask for patience and grace so that we can implement and refine the arrival and dismissal systems to ensure students are dismissed to parents or authorized guardians while maintaining social distancing.
Building opens at 7:00. Your child will be considered tardy if they arrive after 7:40 starting 9/21.
We will have staff assisting with car pool, but they will not be allowed to open doors.
- All students must exit their car by themselves with a mask on.
- There is no Safety Patrol.
- The gym doors opens at 7:00am, and students will enter through the gym doors on the right side of the carpool line if they arrive before 7:20am.
- Breakfast will be served beginning at 7:10am
- Gym doors will close at 7:25 am.
- Students will be able to enter the school through their designated grade entrances at 7:25 am.
If a student is arriving between 7:25 and 7:40, they are to go to the designated entrances:
Kinder: Kinder Centers Room Door
1st Grade: North Playground Door
2nd Grade: 2nd Grade Door
3rd Grade: Exterior Library Door
- 4th Grade: Front Door
- 5th Grade: Gym Door by flagpole
- While we encourage all families to utilize the carpool, we understand we have some walkers. Do not park and walk child, please use the carpool line.
REMINDERS
- Teachers are not able to touch/help open anything to limit contact and transference between surfaces.
- We will not able to open lunches/snacks/water bottles.
- We will not be able to tie shoes or help button pants/jackets.
- If your child can't tie their shoes on their own, please have them wear Velcro or something they can buckle themselves.
If walking your student to school, please give hugs/goodbyes near the gym area or near the crosswalk. Please do not approach the entrance doors to the office. Please do not proceed past the cones.
Assigned staff will help students to their grade level doors where another staff member will greet them.
Bike Rack
- Students will use every other space in the bike rack to keep distance when arriving at school.
It is recommended that students keep social distance and use a face covering.
Classroom Protocols
All classrooms are outfitted with:
Visual reminders of distancing requirements
- Hand sanitizer/soap
- Tissues
- Trash can
Access to disinfectant to sanitize working surfaces.
Snacks
Students may bring personal classroom snacks as long as they are not shared. Classes will designate a specific time of the day for snacks and will ensure students wash/sanitize hands prior to eating.
Classroom Design
Teachers will set up classrooms so that student desks (or seats at a table if tables are used) will be spread out to socially distance as much as possible, or plexiglass dividers will be in place.
Teachers will limit student movement within the classroom such as turning in assignments, materials being passed out, etc.
- Technology should be utilized when students are involved in collaborative work.
- Teachers will create assigned seating arrangements to promote social distancing
- Teachers will create systems to limit the sharing of items such as school supplies so that not more than one student is using an item.
SPECIALS CLASSES: MUSIC, PE, ART, LIBRARY
Student will stay with their homeroom class and will travel to Art, Music, PE, and the Library for their schedule specials time.
Music
Students will be required to wear a mask or other facial covering at all times in the music classroom.
Appropriate social distancing measures will be followed where possible.
Individual manipulative packets will be provided to minimize the sharing of materials.
Musical instruments, mallets and other equipment will be sanitized and wiped down after each use.
PE
Whenever possible, physical education classes will be held outside to allow for maximum physical distance between students.
Any activities bringing students into close physical contact, or requiring multiple students to touch or handle the same equipment will be avoided.
PE equipment will be disinfected and wiped down after each use.
Visual markers will be on the gym floor as reminders of social distancing rules.
Students should avoid touching their face at all times, but especially while playing games.
Sanitizing areas and access to handwashing will be provided.
If enrolled in a PE class, students should bring tennis shoes to participate in class activities.
Art
Students will be required to wear masks in the art classroom.
Appropriate social distancing measures will be followed.
Individual art supply kits will be provided to avoid sharing equipment, tools and materials as much as possible.
Students should complete cleaning protocols and sanitize their areas in between use.
Art materials will be sanitized and wiped down after each use.
Library
Visual reminders will be added and furniture rearranged to help students maintain social distancing while in the library.
Students and staff will wash/sanitize hands upon entering and after visiting the library.
High-touch surfaces (e.g., table tops, chairs, door handles, etc.) will be disinfected regularly.
Occupancy will be limited.
Hallways
Students and staff must wear face coverings in the halls
Staggered releases from each class will be organized to limit the number of students in the hallway during transitions.
Students will stay to the far right of the hall when walking
Visual markers / floor decals have been placed to help students maintain physical distances and adhere to established campus traffic flow in hallways.
Traffic patterns will be established throughout the campus that separates individuals to the greatest extent possible.
LUNCH
- For those who are buying lunch, there will be 1 vegetarian option and 1 meat option that have been pre-selected and prepared in advance.
- For those who are bringing their lunch, please only send items that can be opened by your own child. Teachers and other students are not allowed to help. If the child cannot open their lunch, they will be sent through the lunch line to buy a lunch.
- At this time, no visitors are allowed on campus for lunch.
RECESS
- Students will wear masks during outdoor activity unless maintaining 6 feet of social distancing.
Students will wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before recess and when returning inside the building.
Games will be recommended to promote social distancing
School Dismissal
- Students will go to their designated dismissal spots with teacher assistance.
- A teacher will escort each dismissal group to their dismissal areas and stay until all kids are gone.
- Students must enter car by themselves. There is no Safety Patrol.
- Walker parents will stand in line 6 feet apart by your child’s designated pick up area.
- Teachers will call for one student at a time.
- Families and students will immediately exit the campus upon picking up their child.
- Playgrounds on campus will be closed.
- Please be courteous to staff who are required to remind you of this policy.
REPORTING A COVID CASE OR SYMPTOMS
The Student Reporting- COVID-19/Symptoms/Exposure form should be used to report when a student has been diagnosed with COVID-19, is having symptoms that may be COVID-19, or if they have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Once the report is received, your school nurse will contact you with additional information.Parents are required to notify the campus when their student will be absent because the student is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19..
ON CAMPUS SCREENING & PROTOCOLS
- Students will have their temperature checked every morning while in their classroom with a touchless thermometer.
Teachers will monitor students and refer them to the nurse if symptoms are present. Any student visiting the campus clinic will have their temperature checked.
Isolation Protocols
For students displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or are feeling feverish, the school nurse will provide a clinical assessment in an isolation space separate from the area used to see students who are not displaying symptoms of COVID-19.
- Students who are ill will be separated from their peers and should be picked up within 30 minutes from the time the campus has contacted the parent/guardian.
Other students will be removed from the classroom and taken to an alternate location on campus (go on a walk outside, move to a different classroom, etc) so that the classroom surfaces can be cleaned.
Lab Confirmed Cases of COVID - 19
If an individual who has been in a school is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19, the school must notify its local health department, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, including confidentiality requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Schools must close off areas that are heavily used by the individual with the lab-confirmed case (student, teacher, or staff) until those areas have been cleaned and sanitized.
District communication will be provided to the individuals who came into close contact with a student or staff member with a confirmed positive COVID-19 test result. Additional communication will be shared with the entire campus community.
Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 will be permitted to return to school when:
They are 24 hours fever-free without using fever-reducing medication; and
Improved symptoms (cough, difficulty breathing, etc.); and
10 days have passed since symptoms began.
If a student or staff member has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school prior to meeting the above criteria, they must obtain a medical professional’s note clearing them for return based on an alternative diagnosis or receive a negative covid-19 (PCR or antigen test).