On-Campus Experience: At A Glance

FACE MASK POLICY

It is Tatnall’s policy that all visitors, faculty, staff, and students in grades kindergarten through 12 will wear a face mask while in any campus building, during arrival and departure, and outside when social distancing is difficult to maintain. Students should be sent to school with a clean mask or face covering daily. Students do not need to wear a mask when playing outside or while participating in PE class when proper social distancing can be maintained. We recommend choosing a face mask/covering with at least two layers of fabric. The face mask/covering should cover the student’s nose and mouth without large gaps. It should have ear loops or ties so the fit can be adjusted if needed. Bandanas and masks with vents are not acceptable. To review the full face mask policy, including recommendations for PK3 and PK4 students and medical exemptions, please click here.

PRE-ARRIVAL SCREENING

Before arriving at school each morning, students, faculty, and staff will be required to complete a Daily Home Screening via the SchoolPass app (more information below). Students must take their temperature before arriving at school and enter the information into the app. Body temperature must be under 100.4° F, per CDC guidelines. Any student who answers any screening question affirmatively is expected to stay home and email the school nurse, Mary Garrett (marygarrett@tatnall.org). Faculty and staff will help the school nurse verify that students completed the questionnaire before they enter the buildings every day.

SCHOOLPASS

SchoolPass is a student safety and communications platform that helps automate student arrival, attendance, and dismissal. The goal is to make the process easier, safer, and faster. SchoolPass provides many products and services; however, Tatnall will be implementing the following SchoolPass features:

MANAGING SCHOOL MOVEMENT & ATTENDANCE, IN THE CLOUD

Daily health prescreenings

Automated arrival and dismissal

© 2020 MHR Technologies, Inc. Proprietary and confidential SchoolPass™ - A registered trademark of MHR Technologies, Inc.

Robust emergency management and communication system

We are still working out some logistics with the SchoolPass app and will supply additional details as soon as possible.

CAMPUS ENHANCEMENTS

In response to the pandemic, and in an effort to promote safety across our campus, we have made several upgrades to ensure the health of our students. We have:

Added plexiglass dividers to common areas, reception areas, science labs, and 1:1 instruction spaces to provide barriers between people.

Spaced desks six feet apart.

Removed extra furniture to allow for social distancing.

Created alternative learning spaces in the Laird Performing Arts Center Lobby, Ederic Library, the wrestling loft, and the first floor of the Middle School to safely accommodate larger classes.

Increased Wi-Fi access and bandwidth on campus and in our surrounding outdoor classrooms.

Replaced traditional water fountains with water-bottle-filling stations.

Created isolation spaces for students or faculty and staff in every building, as well as a second health suite in Beekley.

Ensured easy access to health, safety, and wellness supplies—disposable masks, gloves, gowns, face shields, sanitizers and disinfectants, and no-touch thermometers—across campus.

Added touchless hand-sanitizing stations throughout campus near major entryways.

Added automated paper towel dispensers.

Propped open doors when possible to reduce the number of high-touch areas.

Added branded social distancing signs, directional arrows, and room capacity reminders throughout campus to direct hallway traffic flow and prevent cross-pollination and overcrowding.

NURSING

Tatnall’s school nurse, Mary Garrett, will be working closely with students, families, faculty and staff, and local epidemiologists to keep our community safe and take the appropriate measures in the event a community member feels ill or tests positive for COVID-19. You can email Nurse Garrett (marygarrett@tatnall.org).

Staff Members

In addition to Nurse Garrett, we have hired a second nurse through a nurse staffing agency who will be on campus part-time for at least the first two weeks of school. We will extend the contract with the agency for longer than two weeks if needed. Adding a second nurse ensures that we are well-staffed as we transition back to campus. We have also added a part-time staff member, Caitlin Vandiver ’14, who will help with contact tracing in the event a community member tests positive for COVID-19. Ms. Vandiver has been trained in contact tracing at Johns Hopkins.

Health Spaces

We have created isolation spaces for students or faculty and staff in every building. We’ve also created a second health suite in Beekley.

More Information

All health information will remain confidential. You can find additional details about positive cases, close contacts, contact tracing, and feeling ill at Tatnall in the FAQ section beginning on page 25.

MORNING CARE/EARLY MORNING DROP-OFF

Morning care will look different this school year due to Tatnall’s COVID health and safety protocols. Each division will be communicating with families about their options for early morning drop-off.

EXTENDED DAY

Due to safety protocols, Tatnall is unable to offer the traditional Extended Day experience. If your work schedule prevents you from picking up your child(ren) by the time their division’s car line ends, please send a note to EnrichmentPrograms@tatnall.org, and a member of the Extended Day staff will work with you on possible after-school accommodations that meet current safety guidelines.

LUNCH

The lunch experience will vary by division, but students will primarily eat lunch in a socially distant manner in their classrooms, homeroom, or Advisory—or outside as weather permits. To begin the school year, the Caffé in Beekley will not be open. We will, however, offer the option to pre-purchase boxed lunches in all four divisions. The boxed lunches will be delivered to designated pickup areas in each division. We’ll be sending an email with directions for ordering soon.

CAMPUS VISITORS

Only preregistered visitors will be permitted in campus buildings. All visitors, including parents, must make an appointment before coming into any Tatnall building. Visitors must wear a mask and complete a health questionnaire via the SchoolPass app before their visit.

VAN SERVICE/TRANSPORTATION

We plan to operate the same two van routes as last year—one in southern Delaware and one in New Jersey. Students using the van service will be required to wear masks for the duration of the trip and will be seated one child per row. Vans will be disinfected after each bus run.

STUDENT CIRCULATION

We have placed signage across campus, particularly in hallways and bathrooms, to help with distancing and directional flow. In the Middle and Upper Schools, we’re allowing longer crossover times between periods and staggered dismissals between classes to cut down on the number of students in the hallway at one time. Early Childhood and Lower School students will primarily remain in small groups in their classrooms to prevent excess hallway use.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

To better leverage our outdoor spaces and extensive campus during COVID, we have formalized an Experiential Education Committee, co-chaired by science teachers John Evans and Evan Cantu-Hertzler. The committee has identified opportunities for students to learn outdoors while social distancing. Notably, as part of the experiential learning experience, we will be creating five rustic outdoor classrooms with semi-permanent, all-weather dry-erase boards and stump seating. We will also be constructing a low ropes course to promote outdoor activity and student leadership.

CLEANING PROCEDURES

Tatnall is undertaking enhanced hygiene and safety measures to ensure the well-being of our community members. In addition to our regularly contracted evening cleaning crew, we are adding a second day porter who will be responsible for cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces at least every two hours. In the evening, the cleaning crew will also sanitize, vacuum, mop, and disinfect, paying extra attention to high-touch areas. The cleaning crew will disinfect equipment nightly and take a variety of precautions to prevent cross-contamination.

Additional cleaning and disinfecting measures include:

Battery-powered portable sanitizer sprayers for high-traffic areas, such as bathrooms and reception areas

Ongoing campus disinfecting and cleaning

Additional cleaning staff members and more frequent cleaning of restrooms and high-touch areas

Disinfecting supplies across campus and hand sanitizing stations at all major entrances

On-call cleaning staff members

LARGE COMMUNITY EVENTS

We will evaluate large-scale gatherings on a case-by-base basis in accordance with state and local guidelines. We have not made any decisions about Founder’s Day or Homecoming at this time. We will either cancel larger gatherings or restrict them to allow for proper, outdoor social distancing.

COMMUNICATION

We are committed to maintaining frequent communication throughout the school year. We will continue to use our standard communication channels—email, divisional updates, and social media—to keep you informed and connected. We will also be using the SchoolPass app throughout the 2020-2021 school year.