Dear Delphi, Prekindergarten, & Kindergarten Families,
We are writing today to provide you with key information you need to prepare for your child(ren)’s first day of school. Our comprehensive campus reopening plan will not be available until August 14 (at the latest), so we encourage you to review the Reopening Plan Preview for information about campus safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please read this email thoroughly.
There are three action items (indicated in the sections below) you must complete prior to your child’s arrival at school on August 25. You may also want to mark your calendar for important upcoming communication dates:
- Friday, August 7 - Cohort groups released
- Friday, August 14 - Comprehensive campus reopening plan available
- Monday, August 17 - Virtual town hall for all Delphi - Kindergarten families
Warm Regards,
Sharon Corbett
Head of Early Childhood & Lower School
scorbett@aoshouston.org
713-470-5602
Kelley Elliott
Assistant Head of Early Childhood & Lower School
kelliott@aoshouston.org
713-470-5637
First Day of School - Tuesday, August 25
- Carpool and drop-off begins at 7:30 AM. Full details regarding carpool, carpool numbers, and carpool routes will be shared on August 14. In support of this year’s cohort model, we are discouraging families from carpooling with other families if possible. If your circumstances require you to carpool with another family, we encourage the use of masks in the car.
- Classes begin at 8:00 AM. As a reminder, we are not holding late-start Tuesdays for the foreseeable future. Carpool and class will begin at the same time, Monday-Friday.
- Early Dismissal at 11:30 AM. The first day of school will be a half-day so please plan to pick up your child at 11:30 AM.
The first full-day of school will be Wednesday, August 26 with pick-up time at 2:45 PM (or 12:00 PM for Early Birds).
Getting to Know You and Your Child
Relationship-building is the heart of what we do, and learning about each other prior to the start of school helps ease first-day jitters and lays the groundwork for an enriching school year. To facilitate building this relationship, we have planned the following:
- Week of August 14 - Welcome Video
Teachers will share a welcome video with students and families. These videos will introduce teachers and show classroom spaces.
- August 17-21 - Virtual Home Visits
Each year, teachers conduct home visits to meet their new students and learn more about them. This visit also allows the student to meet their new teacher in a space that is familiar to them which makes the transition into the classroom that much easier. This year, Jones Center and Kindergarten teachers will facilitate virtual home visits through individual Zoom calls where students will get to show their teachers around their home and show them some of their favorite things.
- August 17-21 - Jones Center Classroom Visits
Jones Center families are invited to visit their child’s classroom to build comfort and familiarity prior to the first day of school. Parents will receive an email the week before with a Sign Up Genius to schedule a time slot.
ew Safety Measures & Requirements for On-Campus Learning
There has been one notable change and one addition to the safety measures listed in our Reopening Plan Preview. They are detailed below.
Masks:
- We are requiring all students on campus regardless of age to wear masks at all times - indoors and outdoors - except when eating. This change from our reopening preview is based on current research and information from schools around the U.S. and world that have reopened. The information that we have received from these schools indicates that mask-wearing for children 4-years-old and older works well, and the children generally forget they are wearing them. Transparently, we have heard “mixed results” for 3-year-olds with some schools being successful and others not as much. We plan to start with this as a requirement in the interest of being as safe as possible but will keep an eye on our students’ abilities as well as current transmission rates and will alter this policy as necessary. To view our mask guidelines, click here. Please note that we are not currently allowing face shields in place of masks for students, but we are keeping a close eye on the research in this area and may alter this in the future.
- Students must have a way to attach their facemask to themselves. This may be done with a clip, an around-the-neck strap, or by wearing a balaclava/gaiter.
Waiver:
- All families that return to campus are required to complete this waiver for each child. We are, of course, doing everything within our power to make our campus as safe as possible for our students, but there is no way to eliminate the risk associated with COVID-19 as long as the pandemic persists.
Action Item 1: Return a completed waiver by 12:00 PM on Thursday, August 20 in order for your child to return to campus on August 25.
- You may return this waiver via postal mail or drop it off at the school’s front desk. We must receive a signed, printed copy and cannot accept a scanned copy or a digitally completed copy. If using postal mail, please send to:
Annunciation Orthodox School
Attn: Mylie Alaniz
3600 Yoakum Blvd.
Houston, TX 77006
Getting Ready for the First Day of School: Things to Practice
- Buckling and unbuckling car seats & opening and closing car doors
As stated in our Reopening Plan Preview, parents with children who are unable to exit their car unassisted will need to park in the lower school parking lot and walk them to/from the front of the lower school building. Having your young children practice buckling and unbuckling their car seats themselves prior to the start of school will ensure that your child can do this on their own and will allow your family to utilize the carpool line instead of parking and walking them up to school.
- Wearing masks
If your child is not already accustomed to wearing a mask or wearing a mask for an extended period of time, we encourage you to begin practicing now.
- Handwashing
All students will be required to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly. While our teachers will lead lessons in proper hand-washing techniques, developing that routine and habit now will help support this process.
- Limiting social engagements (beginning August 11)
In order to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus, we ask that all families, faculty, and staff limit social engagements outside of family as much as possible beginning Tuesday, August 11 (two weeks before school starts). This includes playdates, social gatherings, and any other unnecessary social contact. On August 14, along with our comprehensive reopening plan, we will ask every community member to sign a community pledge and adhere to a list of community health and safety standards during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alternative to On-Campus Learning: “Hearts and Minds at Home”
Families that do not feel comfortable returning to on-campus instruction for any reason may choose to participate in our “Hearts and Minds at Home” online streaming program. Different from our “Dolphins at a Distance” distance learning program, Hearts and Minds at Home is designed to address the scenario in which most students in a cohort are on campus, but some students are learning from home. Hearts and Minds at Home entails participating in a live, one-way feed during the day via the Zoom online platform. The teacher will switch to a two-way feed when possible to allow for interaction with the child who is learning at home. Students utilizing the Hearts and Minds at Home program will be provided with a school-issued device prior to the start of school.
This approach is new for everyone, including every teacher in our school. Teachers will primarily be responsible for the students in their classrooms, but they will do their best to include students at home and tailor activities as often as possible. Please note that we consider this to be an imperfect solution, but we will tweak and improve our approach each day as our teachers learn new tips and tricks to manage simultaneous instruction for students present in the classroom and students learning from home.
While we consider Dolphins at a Distance to be superior to Hearts and Minds at Home as a virtual learning program, we simply do not have the human resources necessary to run our Dolphins at a Distance program while also conducting on-campus instruction.
Choosing On-Campus Instruction vs. Hearts and Minds at Home Instruction
To help us plan effectively for the beginning of the year, please complete this survey indicating whether you will be participating in on-campus instruction or in the Hearts and Minds at Home program. You will have the opportunity to change your mind after seeing our campus reopening plan on August 14 and participating in our town hall on August 17. You must report a change in your selection by August 18 by emailing Sharon Corbett and your child’s teacher. Families may change from Hearts and Minds at Home to on-campus learning at any point during the school year, but must provide the school with a one-week notice.
Action Item 2: Fill out the survey by Monday, August 3, communicating whether you will participate in on-campus instruction or in the Hearts and Minds at Home program at the start of the school year.
Extended Day
We will offer EDC (before and aftercare) as an essential service to those families who need it and have no other child-care options. We respectfully ask that our families only take advantage of this program this year if it is truly necessary; this will allow us to keep our program small and as safe as possible. EDC will follow similar safety protocols to our school-day protocols and the makeup of cohorts will depend on how many families sign up. In order for us to properly prepare, we ask that each family complete this survey and indicate whether or not you require this service by Monday, August 3.
Action Item 3: Complete the interest survey indicating yes or no to requiring EDC services by Monday, August 3.
