September 17, 2020
Dear Cypress Village Families Attending Traditional Kindergarten Model,
As you know, the Governor’s order has been lifted and we will begin in-person instruction on Thursday September 24th. We are very excited to welcome our students to campus. Please understand that every effort will be made to keep our students safe and to follow the social distancing guidelines designed for schools.
With that in mind, even though your child will be attending our traditional Kindergarten instructional model, school will look very different from past years. Students assigned to their classroom Kindergarten A.M. Cohort will begin school at 8:00 A.M. and be dismissed at 10:30 A.M. each day. Students assigned to their classroom Kindergarten P.M. Cohort will begin school at 11:00 A.M. and be dismissed at 1:30 P.M. each day. Both classes' daily schedule also includes a half hour of class work to be completed at home. Please see the more detailed daily schedule available on our school’s website.
To the extent feasible, Cypress Village will follow these recommendations and best practices during the Covid pandemic:
Arrival and Dismissal
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Students must wear a mask on campus unless there is a medically allowed exemption.
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When arriving at school, parents/guardians must walk their child directly to their classroom’s outside door. Once the child is inside, the parent/guardian is expected to leave campus.
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Parents should limit their time on campus during arrival and dismissal. When on campus, parents must wear a mask/shield, may not enter the school building unless it is in the office for an appointment, and must practice social distancing.
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At dismissal time, parents/guardians must pick up their child from outside the classroom door. Students will be dismissed directly to their parents/guardians by their child’s teacher from school through their outside classroom door.
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When dropping off and picking up their child from school, parents/guardians may not be on campus until 5 minutes before school begins and dismisses.
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Students and parents may not congregate, play, or hang out on campus before school begins or after students are dismissed. Everyone is expected to leave campus immediately following dismissal. This includes waiting for a sibling in another grade.
School Day Operation
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Students will remain with their classroom cohort throughout the day and will not be with other classroom cohorts at any time.
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In addition to the teacher, each class has an instructional assistant that supports learning and assists with social distancing.
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Students will have their own individual desk in their classroom. Students will not share desks.
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Desk shields will be provided for each student’s desk.
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Teaching specialists like music, PE, and art will often be taught in the home classroom. When a specialist teaches in another area, proper cleaning and disinfecting will occur between classes.
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When students must travel from one part of campus to another, social distancing guidelines will be followed.
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Frequent hand washing and disinfecting will occur throughout the day.
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Cypress Village will limit sharing of supplies between students to the extent possible and encourage students to take home personal items for cleaning daily.
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Students are encouraged to bring refillable water bottles. Drinking fountains will be closed.
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In order to reduce contact with others, parent volunteers will not be utilized this year.
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Students who have already checked out Chromebooks from IUSD will bring the device to and from school each day they are on campus (unless they no longer need it at home). Students who have not checked out a Chromebook will have a dedicated device available in their classroom for them.
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Classroom cohorts will be able to check out library books via a mobile library that will be brought to the class. Proper cleaning and disinfecting will occur between classes. Returned books will be quarantined for at least 6 days before being available for checkout again, per district guidelines. Specific book requests can be made by using a library provided google form.
Recess and Lunch
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Students will eat snacks in their classroom at their desk.
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The play structures will be closed for play due to the difficulty associated with cleaning and sanitizing them thoroughly between recess play times.
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Individual classroom play equipment will be cleaned daily, and only used by classroom cohort.
Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting
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Custodial staff has been trained in COVID-19 cleaning and disinfecting procedures.
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Cleaning protocols are in place for Cypress Village to deep clean, sanitize and disinfect.
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Scheduled cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces (e.g., playground equipment, door handles, sink handles, drinking fountains, light switches, bathroom surfaces, tables, student desks, chairs) within the school and on school buses will occur at least daily or between use as much as possible.
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The cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting products used meet EPA disinfection criteria. Staff members using cleaning products have been trained on proper use.
Additionally, around any elementary school, there are a few challenges present. Of greatest concern is the automobile traffic around the school and the related congestion at arrival and dismissal times. For this reason, in collaboration with the Irvine Police Department and the City of Irvine, very specific procedures have been created and exist for dropping students off, picking them up, and parking. Your cooperation and flexibility is requested with these established guidelines. As a reminder, the loading and unloading zones are for dropping off and picking up students. At no time should a driver leave his or her car unattended and parked in the loading zones. The Irvine Police will be patrolling this area and violators will be cited. In addition, in order to increase the number of access points to the school and promote social distancing, we have opened both parking lots for student drop-off/pick-up.
Once again, I want to assure you that the staff and I are committed to providing each student with a safe and orderly learning environment and a rigorous, challenging, and developmentally appropriate curriculum during this unique and unusual school year. We are honored to have the opportunity to work with your child and very excited to teach them in person. As always, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 936-8900 or email me at JenniferLambert@iusd.org.
S.T.O.R.M. ON!
Jennifer Lambert
Principal