Westfield Washington Schools has announced its plan to open schools on the regularly scheduled start date of Thursday, Aug. 13.
The district will offer in-person, in-school instruction Monday through Friday for students who are able to return to school. They will also provide a virtual e-Learning option for students unable to return to school in person. Late start Wednesday will remain in place for teacher professional development.
As part of the announcement, a statement issued by the school district said, “We are confident our plan meets our mission of maintaining a safe & healthy environment, provide the highest quality of learning experience possible, and stay connected – not isolated and provides the safest possible environment for our students and staff.”
Masks will be required for students and staff, when social distancing is not possible. Masks will be required on buses, while entering and exiting the school building, while picking up food in the cafeteria line, and during passing periods. Masks will also be required for classrooms and/or classroom activities when students might not be able to social distance.
Parents will be expected to screen their children before sending them to school each day. If your child is presenting symptoms of COVID-19 or other illness, please contact your healthcare provider and do not send him/her to school. You will need to call the school to report the absence and the reason for the absence.
WWS stated the district must restrict all school visitors to promote health and safety. Virtual meetings will be scheduled for all necessary meetings with staff and teachers.
Students may have assigned seats in the cafeteria and will be spaced as far apart as possible. Masks will be required while picking up food in the cafeteria line. All students will be asked to wash hands prior to entering the cafeteria. All water fountains will be turned off and water bottle filling stations will be used to provide students with access to water. All students will be allowed to bring their own water bottles to school each day.
Face masks will be required for everyone who enters the health clinic. Students will be evaluated for symptoms of illness. If symptoms are present the student will be removed to a predetermined isolation area until picked up from school. The district requests parents to identify someone to have as a backup for picking students up from school in case parents are not available.
A virtual learning option is available for students who are medically vulnerable or live with someone who is medically vulnerable.
Virtual learning will be facilitated by a digital learning platform supported by a WWS teacher. Families will be asked to commit to this virtual learning experience for an established period of time (trimester for elementary schools and WHS and nine weeks for WIS and WMS). To manage staffing and scheduling, students must commit to in-person or online learning and will not be permitted to move back and forth during this commitment. A staff member will be assigned to work with students in the virtual setting, but it may not be the same teacher students would have in the face-to-face environment. Families choosing this option will be asked to complete a virtual learning agreement.
The district has established a link that should be used by all students/parents by July 15 to better aid WWS in preparation of students returning to school. Click here to access the English version. Click here for the Spanish version.