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Communication/Family and Community Engagement

- Reopening

Communication/Family and Community Engagement
To help inform our reopening plan, the school has sought feedback and input from stakeholders, including administrators, faculty, staff, families, local health department officials, pastor, and parish representatives. Engagement efforts included online surveys, virtual forums/meetings, videos, and one-on-one conversations. Families were issued a survey which was completed by over 70% of our school population. Our Emergency Response Team met during the closure to discuss reopening guidance and options. Mrs. Goyer had conversations with our contact at the Rensselaer County Department of Health. Mrs. Goyer created a video for stakeholders outlining the pieces of the plan. A virtual meeting will be held for families next week so they can ask questions about the plan. In addition,
- A page on our website has been created specifically for COVID-19 information for the 2020-2021 school year.
- Copies of this plan will be made available to all stakeholders.
- Videos will be created to send to families to explain new procedures for the upcoming school year. These will be sent throughout our SwiftReach communication system.
The school remains committed to communicating all elements of this reopening plan to students, parents and guardians, staff and visitors. The plan is available to all stakeholders via the school website at https://sacredheartschooltroy.com/ and will be updated throughout the school year, as necessary, to respond to local circumstances. The link to the plan appears on the website homepage and we have a page dedicated to COVID-19 as its own tab on our webpage. Every effort has been made to ensure that the plan is accessible to all stakeholders.

As part of its planning for the reopening of school and the new academic year, the school has developed a plan for communicating all necessary information to school staff, students, parents/guardians, visitors and education partners and vendors. The school will use its existing communication channels – including SwiftReach, church bulletin, and our website,as well as appropriate signage and training opportunities to support the dissemination of consistent messaging regarding new protocols and procedures, expectations, requirements and options related to school operations throughout the pandemic.
The school is committed to establishing and maintaining regular channels of communication and has reviewed and determined which methods have proven to be the most effective in communications with our school community. The school will rely on SwiftReach as our primary communication tool to communicate news, requirements and updates related to reopening and in-person instruction, including social distancing requirements, proper wearing of face coverings and proper hand and respiratory hygiene. Information will also be on our COVID-19 page on our website. The information that we will share will be based on state guidance and input from our Emergency Response Team.

In support of remote learning, the school will make computer devices available to students and teachers where appropriate. We are currently looking into purchasing Chromebooks for all students in grades PreK-2. Each student in grades 3-6 already receives a Chromebook. Troy City School District has provided Chromebooks for their UPK program here at Sacred Heart. The school will provide students and their families with multiple ways to contact teachers during remote learning, including email, Google classroom, and class Facebook pages (if applicable). Parents/guardians may also call the school at 518-274-3655 to leave a message for a teacher during school hours.

The school will use existing internal and external communications channels to notify staff, students and families/caregivers about in-person, remote and hybrid school schedules with as much advance notice as possible. Sacred Heart will use the SwiftReach system as their primary source of communication. Schedules will be sent by the end of August, at the very latest, as we are still working on details of these schedules.

The school is committed to ensuring that all of its students and their families are taught and re-taught new expectations related to all public health policies and protocols. As part of this continuous training, the school will assess the best approach to communicating the information for each student’s age group and will provide frequent opportunities for students to review these policies and protocols. This targeted education will help ensure that all students and their families know what is expected of them as they successfully return to the school setting. These trainings will cover:
- Hand hygiene-Each class will have a supply of hand sanitizer in their classroom for students and staff to use throughout the day. Throughout the day, students will have hygiene breaks for bathroom and hand washing use. Students will wash hands before and after lunch. Faculty and staff will be discussing protocols with students during September orientation days and throughout the month of September. Flyers will be sent home to help parents/guardians talk to their child/children about good hand hygiene practices.
- Proper face covering procedures (how to wear and remove) -Students will be asked to bring their own face coverings to and from school each day. Teachers will have a supply of masks in their rooms if necessary. Faculty and staff will be showing students how to put on and remove their masks properly during September orientation days and throughout the month of September. Students will be provided a breakaway lanyard to attach their masks to when not in use. Flyers will be sent home to help parents/guardians talk to their students about wearing a mask.
- Social distancing-Classrooms will be marked with painters’ tape to indicate areas where students’ desks will be, where teachers will be able to stand, and directional ways if necessary. Hallways and stairwells will be marked with signs and arrows showing where students should stand to maintain social distancing. Faculty and staff will be showing students how to maintain social distancing. Schedules will be set up during September orientation days and throughout the month of September for classes to be able to navigate the hallways and practice social distancing. Videos will be sent home to families showing new procedures so parents/guardians can talk to their child about procedures.
- Respiratory hygiene-Faculty and staff will work with students to make sure that they are sneezing/coughing into their elbow to reduce the amount of spread of germs. Students will be trained during September orientation days and throughout the month of September to grab hand sanitizer or to wash their hands if they sneeze, cough, or blow their noses. Students may also use the restroom to wash their hands as well. Flyers will be sent home to families encouraging them to practice these respiratory hygiene skills with their child/children.
- Identifying symptoms-Faculty and staff will go through training provided by our school nurse, CSO, and/or Rensselaer County Department of Health. Parents should call the main office at 518-274-3655 or email Mrs. MacLasco at jmaclasco.shs@gmail.com if their child is sick. Temperature checks will be conducted at school each day. Families will be required to fill out a self-assessment survey for their child/children every day. We are exploring a secure online platform for families to complete these self-assessment checklists. If your child is sick, please keep them home.
The school will create and deploy signage throughout the school building to address public health protections surrounding COVID-19. Signage will address protocols and recommendations in the following areas:
- Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Acceptable face coverings and requirements related to their wear
- Hand washing
- Adherence to social distancing instructions
- Symptoms/prevention of COVID-19
In addition to signage, the school will encourage all students, faculty, staff and visitors through verbal and written communication to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and DOH guidance regarding the use of PPE through additional means such as SwiftReach, church bulletin, and our website.
The school is committed to creating a learning environment that protects student and staff health, safety, and privacy. Our school will operate under a standard procedure for addressing situations in which an individual has tested positive for COVID-19 or appears symptomatic. These procedures are outlined in the Health & Safety section of our reopening plan.
In the event that a student or staff member is sick or symptomatic, notification to exposed individuals will occur pursuant to the state’s contact tracing protocols as implemented by the local health department. The school will not notify the wider community unless specifically directed to do so by local health officials. Sacred Heart will share with all stakeholders its protocols and safety measures regarding containment through SwiftReach, church bulletin, and our website if deemed necessary by local health officials.

School Closures
The school is preparing for situations in which the school building needs to close due to a significant number of students or staff testing positive for COVID-19 or a considerable regional increase in COVID-19 cases.
- Guidance from the Rensselaer County Department of Health would be sought for whether the building would need to close. (updated 9/17/20)
- Distance learning will happen while school building is closed and will continue throughout the closure.
The school may choose to modify operations prior to closing to help mitigate a rise in cases. The school will consult itsschool nurse and theRensselaer County Department of Healthwhen making such decisions. Mrs. Goyer will communicate with the superintendent or his designee regularly and, if needed, will consider closing school if absentee rates impact the ability of the school to operate safely. If Sacred Heart needed to close, the following procedures would take place:
- Teachers will create an emergency kit list for themselves and the students to be ready at a moment’s notice.
- Teachers in grades K-6 will train students during the month of September on how to access Google Classroom so that they can be better prepared to learn online.
- Tutorials would be created for families to better understand how to access Google Classroom and to be able to help their child/children use the program at home.
- Faculty/Staff, parents/guardians, and students would be notified as soon as the decision is made to close school.
- Classes would be distant learning and faculty/staff would be working from home until the closure is lifted by the Rensselaer County Department of Health or Governor Cuomo (in the event of a region wide or statewide shut down).
- While distance learning during a school closure, students would follow their quarantine schedule, which will be released to families in October 10/3. (10/5/20)
- Mrs. Goyer and Mrs. MacLasco would come to the building 2 days a week to check on mail, phone calls, etc.
- Our website would be updated with the latest information on a closure
- The entire building would be closed with no access except for office staff, building/maintenance, and cleaners. office staff, building/maintenance, and cleaners.