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Immaculate Conception Ready for 2020-21 School Year
The faculty and staff at Immaculate Conception School are eagerly awaiting the start of the new school year — although it admittedly will be a much different start than was expected.
The opening date is Aug. 17, with the goal of making it as normal a “face-to-face” setting as possible in the face of the COVID-19 environment.
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“That’s the plan,” says Nicole Schafer, Assistant Principal. “We feel it is in the best interest of the children socially and emotionally to have them here.”
“We have a task force in place that consists of many constituents,” says Marcia Brucks, Principal. “They are of different backgrounds and we will be adjusting our plan along the way.”
Mrs. Brucks’ team of Miss Schafer, Michelle Koch, and herself have developed three different scenarios for the school day, and they have pulled together all the guidelines toward following the latest when it becomes available.
The staff already has addressed social distancing by placing all the desks in all the classrooms six feet apart, making sure the number enrolled for that class will fit. The teachers’ desk may be removed, but the thinking is that the teachers are on their feet for most of the day.
Masks will be required, according to the age levels of the students.
The plan is to have three drop-off posts in the morning, with staff at each post. Students’ temperatures will be taken before each leaves the vehicle. If a student has a fever, they will not be permitted to exit the vehicle. Students testing normally will go directly to their classrooms, instead of the gym.
There will be no hot lunches served, and students will be asked to bring packed lunches from home.
“A lot of parents may feel more at ease if they can pack lunches from home,” Miss Schafer says. “They will eat at their desks. Under the current circumstances, we chose to not offer a hot lunch for the safety of the students. We’ll re-evaluate this for the second semester.”
Students will see some slight changes in the curriculum. There will be more interactive material brought into the classroom, in case students must return to home-based learning. School staff also have been receiving training on the different learning platforms for interactive teaching. Teachers also will be equipped with microphones and headsets in the event that they will have to teach from home.
Teachers will also work with their students to use platforms — especially Google Classroom — in the event that school must return to at-home.
“The students and parents were great,” Mrs. Brucks says of the past semester’s experience. “We couldn’t have done it without the families. And they all had access to the Internet. We were able to get Chromebooks and iPads to those who needed them.
The staff has been outstanding. The teachers have worked so hard. It was so different for them. We’re coming back. We miss our kids and we want to be back. We’ll have to work differently and work harder. Everyone is aware of that and we are ready.”
