Student Arrival / Dismissal + Campus Visitors

The daily routines of arrival and dismissal are being impacted by our COVID-19 plan - arrival much more so than dismissal. The emphasis on temperature taking and symptom screening (fever, coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, and loss of taste/smell) is a critical foundation of one of our efforts to restrict the virus from entering our buildings and is well worth the minor inconvenience of a slightly slower drop-off line.

The primary drop off for all students begins at 7:40 a.m. No faculty will be on duty prior to 7:40 a.m, and no student may leave their car until their temperature has been verified and recorded by one of the faculty members on duty. If anyone from any division needs to be dropped off between 7:30 a.m. and 7:40 a.m., please pull in front of the Administration Building and school personnel will assist you.

Parents need to wear masks in the drop-off line each morning as a window will need to be rolled down to take temperatures and respond to screening questions. Masks will need to be available at pick up if the parent rolls his or her window down to speak with someone outside the vehicle.

Lower, Middle, and Upper School students (except student drivers) will continue to be dropped off in the morning at their normal places. At each drop-off destination there will be multiple faculty members to conduct the temperature-taking protocol (e.g. take the temperature inside the car, screen for symptoms, require that a mask be put on).  Lower School will utilize the carpool area in front of the main Administration Building. The Middle and Upper School drop-off sites are designated by tents.

The acceptable temperature for attending school, as measured on our infrared thermometers, is 100.0 degrees. If a student records a temperature of 100.0 degrees or less, they are permitted to exit the car wearing a mask and enter their respective building. Lower School students need to wait for a “runner” to escort them to their classrooms. 

If a student's recorded temperature exceeds 100.0, the driver has two options. They can simply take the child home and care for them or visit a doctor OR they can drive to an area adjacent to the Lower School garden (designated by a small tent) where the school nurse will offer a second temperature taking and second symptom screening. At that point, the nurse is fully authorized to decide if a child stays on campus or leaves campus that morning. There is no appeal beyond her if she refuses to allow the child onto the campus. That child may return to campus once he or she has been cleared by a doctor or has received a negative COVID-19 test result.

Although parents are welcome to visit campus, they are:

1. Encouraged to limit visits as much as possible in order to minimize interaction.
2. Encouraged to make appointments whenever possible and are required if meeting with a teacher or Division Director.
3. Required to check in at the two reception areas (Administration Building or Corn Hall) and follow the same screening procedures as students and employees.
4. Required to wear a mask and follow social-distancing procedures at all times.
5. Required to gel in and gel out upon their arrival and departure. Hand sanitizer stations are located in both reception areas.

We will be deliberate in our efforts to limit visitor traffic while students are on campus, but the campus will remain open for essential activity.

We will continue our protocol of having two armed security officers on campus each school day. Security officers will not be required to wear masks while patrolling the campus but will wear masks when interacting with students, families, employees, and campus visitors.