• Health and safety are our top priorities. The school began implementing enhanced cleaning protocols in March, has practiced them all summer with ~100 campers and ~30 adults daily, and will continue them throughout the school year.
   
•  Our on-campus protocol is continuously aligned with guidance from:
  • Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 
  • Metro Denver Partnership for Health (includes TriCounty Health), 
  • Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment guidelines,
  • American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and
  • Children’s Hospital Colorado. 
     
• CDPHE Case Definitions
  • CDPHE continues to revise their Guidelines and Case Definitions. We review them regularly with our Medical Advisory Group.
  • The current iteration modifies their criteria for quarantining a cohort, which will would better help us to keep learners safely on campus. 
     
• Please see this table with a summary of all recommendations, as of July 20 - and is a snapshot representation of that moment in time. As you can imagine, we’re not in a position to update this continuously, but we do want to share with you the level of detail of our tracking across resources. 
   
• On Campus Protocols are centered around:
   
  • Handwashing/sanitizing
    • Dedicated time for students to wash hands before transitioning from their classroom to another space.
    • Each building and classroom entrance is equipped with a hand sanitizer dispenser.
    • Hand sanitizer policy:
      • We are following CDPHE hand sanitizer guidelines for schools. 
      • All classrooms and hallways have a wall-mounted hand sanitizer
      • K1-K3 students are discouraged from bringing their own, as it must be stored and managed by the teacher.
      • G1 - G8 students are permitted to carry hand sanitizer in their backpacks as well.
         
  • Required Masks 
    • Masks will be worn at all times by everyone on campus; exceptions are breaks for eating, napping, and when playing outside at least 6’ apart.
    • Please see our revised mask policies for employees and students alike.
       
  • Social distancing 
    • Social distancing is encouraged as much as possible, while balancing much-needed social interaction for children, as research now suggests that this is most important for teachers and other adults. 
    • Classrooms, common spaces, hallways, and stairwells have been reconfigured to maximize distance between people.
      • Stairways and hallways are unidirectional or divided where possible.
      • Desks are spaced 3’ - 6’ apart.
    • Cohort mixing and shared space usage is minimized.

1. We value the health of all ISDenver members; we will consistently wear our mask properly, practice proper hand hygiene and maintain a safe distance from each other.
    
2. We value our influence on the student body; we will serve as role models at all times. 
    
3. We value our work; we commit to attend & participate in virtual meetings and trainings to support our teaching and learning. 
    
4. We value our community; we will show compassion and understanding when someone needs to heal at home. 
    
5. We value our community; we will consider how “outside of school” activities can impact the health and wellbeing of our school. 
    

• We look forward to your family embracing the following essential agreements and adopting them into your daily practice. 
   
• Essential agreements are common tools in the IB that produce not stated “rules” but rather the values that we collectively agree we must live by. 
   
• They do not read as “I will wear my mask,” but rather, focus on what we value, and how we will achieve our goals by living out that value. 
   
• Knowing that our health and safety goals are to minimize virus exposure, minimize cohort transitions, minimize the number of teachers in contact with a given cohort (and vice versa), and facilitate contact tracing, we assessed which among our values most resonated with the goals. 

To avoid confusion, we are introducing new terminology to refer to the three different learning formats:

• Optional Livestream Learning refers to the format for those students who opt to begin the school year learning from home (while campus is open). This format is detailed in the section below.
  • If your child is home with an extended illness (absence of 5 or more days), parents should contact the appropriate principal to determine if livestream learning is appropriate. 
     
• Virtual Learning refers to the format that will be implemented by the school should entire classes, grades, divisions, or school need to move to virtual learning for an extended period of time. This format will build upon the virtual format that was deployed in Spring 2020. 
  • NOTE: Should all or part of our campus close to on-campus learning due to governor's orders, our plan is to keep all students younger than 6 years old on campus and continue with the curriculum and learning that is in place.
    • Should the school move to a full or hybrid virtual learning, more detailed schedules and information will be provided - please see the Virtual Learning  section below for an outline of this model.
       
• In-person Learning refers to the fully on-campus format that is typically expected in a routine school year. 

ISDenver's COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee members have specific medical specialties relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or are involved in establishing/monitoring COVID-19 procedures for their department or organization.

The members of the Medical Advisory Committee include: 

• Wendy Bamberg, MD - Public Health Consultant, Infectious Diseases Physician
• Jennifer Guggenheim, MD - Obstetrician Gynecologist, Coordinator for Women’s Health Group Employee COVID-19 Guidance
• James Kaferly, MD; Pediatrician
• Jeff Sankoff, MD - Emergency Medicine/Critical Care, member of the Subject Matter Experts Group advising the Governor’s Emergency Epidemic Response Committee (GEERC)
• Kristina Tocce MD, MPH - Gynecology 
• Adam Trosterman, MD - Internal Medicine

Members of the Medical Advisory Committee have been involved in the reopening plans at various levels including reviewing cohort isolation strategies and overall goals of reopening, advising internal and externally facing reopening policies and procedures, and conducting site visits, responding to questions from faculty/staff.

• Please do not contact these experts directly - they are volunteering their time and are acting as individuals, not on behalf of their institutions. Please continue to direct all questions to info@isdenver.org.

Masks are required for everyone who is on campus. 

• 2-ply masks (or greater) will be worn at all times by everyone on campus; exceptions are breaks for eating, napping, and when playing outside at least 6’ apart.
  • Neck gaiters are permitted as a mask for students on campus; they must be at least two layers as well.
     
• Please see our detailed mask policies for employees and students alike.
  • We will be providing one mask each for all of our learners; they are of course welcome to use their own masks as long as they comply with our policies.
  • KN95 masks will now be provided to all faculty for at least ten weeks by the CDPHE.
     
• Masks must also be properly cared for and cleaned.
•  
• Please review our full policy on how to clean your masks and face shields here.

Enhanced cleaning practices and policies include:

• Nightly sanitizing of all indoor spaces using electro-static spray (fogging)
• Hard surface and high touch point cleaning scheduled throughout each day
• Additional hand sanitizer stations installed across campus
• Barrier installations in the cafeteria service lines
• Additional sanitizing equipment available in classrooms, bathrooms, at copy machines, and more.
• Fresh air emphasized
  • Building air intake settings increased to 100% outdoor air for heating and cooling
  • Requiring that windows be opened as much as possible. 
  • Encouraging teachers to bring classes outdoors as much as possible.
  • Reviewing HVAC system modifications including bipolar ionization that mitigate against COVID-19 and other viruses. 
• Enhanced playground cleaning per CDC guidelines
• Removal of trash can lids (no touching required to access bin)
• Drinking fountains closed off; only bottle filling stations available
• Added outdoor, frost-proof bottle filling stations (and a bottle filler in Peacekeeper)
• Increased signage to help remind and facilitate required mask usage, hand washing protocols, and social distancing practices.
• Limiting campus activity
  • Daily health screenings for students (parent certified), faculty, and staff prior to entering campus
  • Parents not allowed on campus. 
  • Outside care providers not allowed on campus (ie, external club vendors)
• Anyone exhibiting coronavirus symptoms will follow a set and enforced response process; adjusted sick leave for faculty to encourage them to stay home. 

• We have moved to total self screening, using a mobile app connected to our Portal. Parents must complete their child(ren)'s screening before arrival to campus. Staff will verify the screening at drop-off.
   
• Faculty and staff are required to self screen each morning in the app as well. This inclues a symptom checklist and a temperature. If any staff or faculty member has a temperature greater than 100F and/or two or more symptoms, they are to stay home and be evaluated by a doctor.
  ​​​​​
• Children may 1) be more likely to be asymptomatic, and 2) be less likely to present with a fever even when testing positive for COVID-19. Given this information, and in consultation with our Medical Advisory Committee, we are not conducting routine temperature checks at drop-off. 
   
• This will be subject to change based on recommendations from CDPHE and the CDC.

Absence Policies

It is vitally important we know who is absent due to illness vs. non-illness reasons, as it allows us closely monitor potential illness spreading, and follow CDPHE guidelines to keep our community as safe as possible. 

We now ask that you please DO NOT send your child(ren) to campus if:

• ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD has cold / flu symptoms,
• ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD is getting tested or are awaiting test results for COVID due to either symptoms or exposure,
• ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD has tested positive.
• We appreciate that information is moving fast, so we have compiled this chart to help clarify our protocols.
   
• When over 10% of a cohort is absent due to illness-related reasons, a cohort quarantine may be required by Denver Public Health and / or CDPHE.
• If your student will be absent due to personal / non-illness related reasons, send one email to their teacher and CC info@isdenver.org.

How to Report an Absence
 

• In the Parent Portal select the button "Report Attendance" under the My Children header on the main page.
• Create an attendance request for absences, tardies, early dismissals, and multi day absences.
• Choose a reason for your child(ren)
• Add any additional notes.
• Your information will be submitted to our Welcome Team and the Nurse's office!
• Watch this video to see how to report an absence.

Please e-mail nurses@isdenver.org and/or info@isdenver.org if you have any additional questions!

• We appreciate that information is moving fast, so we have compiled this chart to help clarify our protocols.

• To best protect our community, we are amending our procedure so that faculty and parents will hear from us more quickly in the event of a cohort quarantine:

  • Cohort families and faculty will hear immediately via text so that they can begin quarantine ASAP
  • A cohort-specific email will be sent within several hours with further explanation on quarantining, virtual learning dates, and more.
  • Entire school community will be notified of any additional positive case on campus
     
• The cohort and, if neccesary, division, will be closed either immediately or at the end of the school day, depending on recommendations from the CDPHE.
• Families and staff will not be provided with the person’s personal information.
  • We expect all families and staff to respect the privacy of all other individuals. Please do not seek out information.

We completely understand how difficult it is to decide when it is best to send your child to school in these uncertain times. Please understand that livestream learning is designed for families who want to make a decision about their child’s learning method for an extended period of time. Our teachers are truly amazing; and they also need time to plan, to know in advance how many students will be in their classroom and how many will be online. Without giving teachers ample notice, or by switching in and out of livestream learning, learning would be compromised for everyone. Please help us support our teachers by requesting livestream learning for the intended purpose of extended learning by following the following procedures. 

All student absences (including illness and quarantine):

• adhere to Health Department guidelines and remain home until well or cleared by the right authority to return to school
• continue to complete the daily health screening each day. 

Student illness:

• Day 1-5
  • access independent coursework via Google Classroom/ManageBac
    • Parents will determine the health of their child and decide if the work will be completed.  
    • This is optional work for students--but required to be provided by teachers.
    • No livestream learning will be offered during the first 5 days of illness
• Day 6 and beyond
  • access livestream learning as appropriate determined by principal

Individual Student Quarantine:

• Day 1-2
  • Access independent coursework via Google Classroom/ManageBac
• Day 3 and beyond
  • Access livestream learning 

Cohort Quarantine:

• Day 1
  • Access independent coursework via Google Classroom/ManageBac
  • Some middle school classes may be able to begin livestream on Day 1-2. The MS Livestream Learning Coordinator will communicate what classes are available to begin livestream in this timeframe. 
• Day 2 and beyond
  • Teachers will determine the daily learning schedule, but will adhere to the on-campus schedule as much as possible.
  • All course work and activities will be delivered through Google Classroom/ManageBac.

If a teacher is ill:

• If a teacher is too ill to deliver classroom instruction either via livestream learning or virtual a substitute teacher will be provided.  
• This will occur on the next full day of instruction as determined above.
• All course work and activities will be delivered through Google Classroom/ManageBac.

Student absences due to personal reasons & travel:

• Livestream learning is not available for student absences other than illness and quarantine. Students may access independent work via Google Classroom during absences for travel and other personal reasons. 

• If your child is feeling ill (cough, fever, gastrointestinal distress, etc) please keep them home until symptoms resolve. Do not medicate your child with fever reducing medication (ibuprofen or acetaminophen) before coming to school.
   
• If your child becomes ill during the school day they will be brought to the nursing office. The nurse on duty will evaluate them. If they are showing symptoms of COVID-19, they will be taken to our isolation room. A staff member will wait with them while the nurse on duty calls you to pick up your student.
   
  • Meets clinical criteria - The person must have one of the following and no alternative likely diagnosis.
    • At least two of the following symptoms: fever (measured or subjective), chills, rigors, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, OR
    • At least one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, sudden loss of taste or smell OR
    • Severe respiratory illness with at least one of the following:
      • Clinical or radiographic evidence of pneumonia, or
      • Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
         
• We have one isolation room with two beds that are six feet apart. We also have chairs set outside.
  • With our new screening tool upon arrival, we hope to curb the number of children that would need to use  the isolation room during the day, and will do our best to accommodate any/all children using the room.
     
• When you arrive to pick up your child, you will need to call us. Parents will not be permitted on campus. Your child will be brought to you.
  • We will recommend you call your doctor and be seen if possible. Please follow their recommendations for return to school; your doctor will determine if a COVID test is recommended or required.
     
• At a minimum, we will need your child to stay home for at least 24 hours. They can return to campus:
  • After their symptoms resolve without medication, and 
  • with a doctor’s note and/or negative COVID test. 
     

• We refer all probable cases to the Colorado Department of Health and follow their recommendations.

• We do not have rapid response COVID tests on hand on campus, as it is outside the scope of practice for school nurses in Colorado.

• Classroom guidelines and communications

  • Parents will be notified if a child or teacher in their child’s cohort is sent home with ONE level one symptom (new or persistent / unexplained cough, fever over 100, chills, shortness of breath / difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell) OR TWO level two symptoms: Sore throat (pharyngitis), runny nose (rhinorrhea), muscle aches (myalgias), headache, fatigue, abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhea.

    • If a student or staff member is sent home due to a sudden loss of taste or smell, the entire cohort must quarantine for two weeks and shift to virtual learning. 

  • We will then monitor that cohort closely for four calendar days. 

  • We follow CDPHE guidelines in determining how to respond to each unique illness and potential cohort quarantine (updated 10/6).

    • Quarantine policy update per updated CDPHE guidance: If a student or staff member is sent home due to a sudden loss of taste or smell, the entire cohort must quarantine for two weeks and shift to virtual learning. 

    • If, after 4 days of monitoring, a student or staff member who was sent home with one major or two minor symptoms does NOT meet the criteria to return to campus, then the entire cohort must go into a ten day quarantine and shift to a virtual learning platform.

    • As we have always done, we regularly send kids home who present illness symptoms mid-day. 

    • Please remember, not all symptoms are COVID-related, and this year, we are exercising an abundance of caution. 

• COVID testing results and guidelines

  • Point-of-Contact (POC) or Rapid Testing results: 

    • Positive POC or rapid test results are treated the same as positive PCR results, and should not be followed by confirmatory RT-PCR.

    • Negative POC or rapid tests must be confirmed with a RT-PCR test before returning to school.

Please see our policy on Reporting a Probable or Positive case of COVID-19 and our Cohort/Classroom and School Closure Policy and Procedures here.

• We have increased all building air intakes to 100% outdoor air for heating and cooling, and requiring that windows be opened as much as possible, including in the Dragon’s Den (our communal dining space/commercial kitchen). 
   
• While the efficacy of ventilation scrubbing systems has not yet been proven, we are proactively researching options, including bipolar ionization and other virus mitigating systems.
  • Update 10/6: We are preparing to significantly improve the air quality of our indoor spaces in order to more proactively combat COVID-19 and other viruses, making our air cleaner and healthier for now and the future, by installing Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization.
    • How it works: 
      • This patented technology produces a high concentration of positive and negative ions, delivering them to the space via the ventilation system.
      • Within the air stream, ions attach to particles, where they combine, become larger and are more easily filtered from the air.
      • When ions come in contact with pathogens, they disrupt the pathogens’ surface proteins, rendering them inactive.
    • This ionization will be installed in all campus buildings, attached to the central HVAC unit(s) in every building. All of campus, including the Welcome Center, will be covered.
    • Installation will be complete by the end of fall break. No disruption of HVAC is necessary during this install.
    • Learn more here!
       
• We encourage teachers to bring their learners outdoors, and are looking into the costs and durability of erecting additional tents for outdoor teaching and learning. We are will still assessing the necessary equipment and cleaning protocols. 
   
• All classrooms on the ISDenver campus that are used this year have at least one source of outside air, with the exception of the Lower School mini gym.
   

• The Colorado Free University (CFU) building, which will be used by some of our students during the day, utilizes swamp coolers and radiant heat. Swamp coolers, by definition, use 100% fresh air intake.

  • Additionally, CFU windows will be open to continually move air through each room we use. 

This is a different and challenging year - no doubt about it. We’ve prepared in ways we can foresee, and we will absolutely learn daily from our teaching this fall. We know there will be growing pains, we know there will be success, and we know that we will continually improve. In addition to the following details specific to in-service, we are encouraging our faculty to pursue additional PD supporting teaching in a time of pandemic and trauma. 

Our teachers in-service training for them has evolved:

• We greatly increased time for training focused on health and safety, social emotional, and tech best practices of blended learning environments.
• Non-essential trainings were rescheduled later in the fall to provide increased in-service time for our faculty and staff to learn, digest, ask questions, and implement these practices. Our goal is to ensure all faculty and staff are fully comfortable. 
• Training took place virtually and outdoors on campus

Training included:

• Daily health and safety training.
• Sharing not only what faculty learned while teaching virtually last spring, but also sharing with each other the collective wisdom gained in summer workshop trainings.
• Counselors presented age-appropriate best practice guidance.
• Targeted instruction on using technology to support livestream learning. (iPad will connect directly to Zoom & their projector, leaving the teacher able to use the computer to control how they’re teaching both in person and livestream). 

• Even during pick-up and drop-off, parents will not be allowed inside the campus for any reason, no matter the grade level.
  • Staff will bring children to the Welcome Center for off-hours pick-ups and escort children to their classrooms for late arrivals. 

Students are grouped into cohorts, with the goal of protecting teachers and students alike by:

• Minimizing the movement of students in and though shared spaces
• Minimizing the mixing of cohorts
• Reducing the number of teachers interacting with any given group of students
• Reducing the number of students interacting with each teacher on any given day
• Realigning divisions so that cohorts remain in assigned division buildings
• Facilitate contact tracing for if / when we have a probable illness

In all of this, we recognize that risk is the new norm, and we are doing our best to mitigate risk whenever possible. To best protect our students and faculty, and to facilitate contact tracing if and when needed, we encourage families to only carpool and/or do study / play dates within their cohort. In order to support this, we are not currently working with the service that facilitates proximity-based carpooling.

• ECE (K1 - K3)
  • Students  remain with their homeroom cohort in the Kimak building for all classes.
  • Homeroom cohorts are limited to 16-20 students.
  • Outside learning is encouraged as much as possible.
  • Students may transition to another Kimak classroom for specials. Classes held in shared spaces are disinfected between use.
  • The ECE schedule already incorporates large blocks of learning so transitions between teachers are minimized.
  • Cohorts interact with fewer than 4 teachers per day and all teachers interacting with ECE classes will be specific to ECE.
  • Lunch is served to all ECE students in their classrooms.
  • Cohorts remain together for recess and recess is staggered with rotating play places for each cohort through the week.

• Lower School (G1 - G5)
  • Students remain with their cohort in the Lower School building for all classes.
    • Homeroom cohorts are limited to 20 students for on-campus learning.
    • Outside learning is encouraged as much as possible. 
    • Specials (art, music, P.E.) take place in the gymnasium and mini-gym, in the cohort's classroom, or outside.
    • Classes held in shared spaces are disinfected between use.
    • Schedules for G1-G5 are blocked to minimize transitions between teachers.
    • Cohorts interact with fewer than 4 teachers per day and all teachers interacting with Lower School classes will be specific to Lower School.
    • Lower School students and teachers are the only people eating in the Dragon's Den.
      • Lunch times for G1-G5 will be staggered and cohorts will remain together for lunch.
  • Cohorts remain together for recess and recess will be staggered with rotating play places for each cohort through the week.

• Middle School (G6 - G8)
  • Students remain with their homeroom cohort in the Middle School building, Peacekeeper, and space in Colorado Free University for all classes.
  • Homeroom cohorts are limited to 20 students.
  • Outside learning is encouraged as much as possible.
  • Classes held in shared spaces are disinfected between use and teachers  rotate into classrooms (rather than students transitioning between classrooms) as much as possible.
  • Subjects that normally combine students within a grade (Individuals & Societies, Math, and Language Acquisition) are taught together in large shared spaces with homeroom cohorts sitting together and distanced from other cohorts. 
    • If neccesary, these classes may also be taught using virtual technology while the teacher rotates between cohorts. 
  • Schedules for Middle School are blocked to minimize transitions between teachers.
  • Whenever possible, cohorts interact with fewer than 3 teachers per day (in addition to their homeroom teacher). All teachers interacting with Middle School classes are specific to Middle School.
  • Middle School students and teachers eat as directed - in their classrooms or outside, and have an assigned time to enter the cafeteria and pick up their lunch. Cohorts remain together for lunch.
  • Cohorts remain together for recess and recess will be staggered with rotating play places for each cohort through the week.
     
• Colorado Free University (CFU) Building Usage

  • Some of our students spend  time in the Colorado Free University (CFU) building, to better space out cohorts of students.

  • This building is adjacent to our campus (shares the Welcome Center Parking Lot), across from the Middle School entrance gate.

  • Cohorts move to and from this building together.

Our faculty are the lifeblood of ISDenver and are a big part of what makes our community so special. To that end, we support them in a variety of ways as they are on campus, including:

PPE:

• We provide disposable masks (and face shields) for our faculty and staff as needed. 
• KN95 masks will now be provided to all faculty for at least ten weeks by the CDPHE.
• Reusable cloth masks for all to use at their discretion.

Training:

• We have greatly increased time for training focused on health and safety, social emotional, and tech best practices of blended learning environments.
• Non-essential trainings were rescheduled later in the fall to provide increased in-service time for our faculty and staff to learn, digest, ask questions, and implement these practices. Our goal is to ensure all faculty and staff are fully comfortable. 
• Trainings took place virtually and outdoors on campus.
• Our counselors presented age-appropriate best practice guidance.
• Targeted instruction on using technology to support livestream learning.

Cleaning:

• We continue to implement the extensive campus-wide cleaning procedures that were developed for summer camps to keep our campus safe.
• Teachers and cleaning staff have sanitizer bottles available for cleaning at any time for tables, desks, etc.

Sick Time

• Like everyone in our community, we want our faculty members to stay home when they are not feeling well. To that end, the school added 6 sick days to our policy for the school year. 
  • Teachers are also protected by COVID-19-specific Federal and State laws.

Lunch

We’ve modified how we offer service to best keep everyone safe (distance, cohorts, not overcrowding tables nor the room itself) and maximize time spent eating, while getting nearly 700 kids and more than 100 staff a great lunch every day.

• K1 - K3: Delivered to and plated in each classroom (eat in classrooms)
  • ISDenver staff plates items from the K1-G3 menu. Plates will include Main Ingredient, fresh fruit, salad, and a sun butter and jelly sandwich. Sage also provides a snack around 2pm.
     
• G1 - G3 : Pre-plated trays (eat with class in Dragon’s Den)
  • Sage staff plates items from K1-G3 menu. Plates will include main ingredient, fresh fruit, and salad; sun butter and jelly sandwiches available.
     
• G4 - G5: Select in person (eat with class in Dragon’s Den)
  • Selection includes entire G4-G8 menu (main ingredient, improvisations, classic cuts, crossroads, and splashes). 
     
• G6-G8: Select in person (choice to eat outside or in classroom) 
  • Selection includes entire G4-G8 menu (main ingredient, improvisations, classic cuts, crossroads, and splashes). 

Food and beverage notes:

• Items are clearly marked for each child in the class who has an allergen, is gluten free, dairy free, or vegan/vegetarian.
• Any child can request more food; teachers will help them try a bit of everything first.
• All G1-G8 learners should bring their already-full water bottles to the cafeteria daily - using personal bottles reduces our transmission risk by minimizing shared touch points. (Water is always available for students using their own reusable bottles, and milk is available upon request to all students daily.)
• Find the daily / weekly / monthly lunch (and K1-K3 snack) menus in the Parent Portal

1. Select Lunch from top menu bar
2. Click View Your Menu
3. Defaults to G4 - G8 menu; 
   1. Toggle “Select a Menu” drop down in upper left for K1 - G3.
   2. K1-K3 Toggle between Lunch and Snack tabs immediately below drop down.

• Snacks:
  • ECE children will have a snack provided in the afternoon. Parents should provide a morning snack for their children. 
  • The school will not be providing snacks in Lower and Middle School; students are welcome to bring their own snacks.

Logistics Notes

• We continue to monitor the flow of the cafeteria and make adjustments for safety and efficiency. 
• Everyone wears a mask at all times except when they are actively eating. When children are finished eating, they raise their mask to clear their plate, wash their hands, or talk with classmates. 
• Children will not be handling shared serving utensils; all food requests will be across a full height plexiglass shield, and only the gloved, masked Sage
  employee will handle their plate. As with Summer Camp, tables will be spaced, and students eating in the Dragon’s Den will be spaced at each table.
• Our goal is to evolve and expand offerings as health and safety parameters allow over time.
• Windows are kept open in the cafeteria, and air intake is set to 100% fresh air.
• Check out the ISDenver SAGE website (also linked at the top of the Parent Portal) for information on their COVID safety policies, our upcoming menus, and more!
• Classes remain cohorted at post-lunch recess and have specific areas of the outdoor campus to play with their cohort.
• Please contact Seth Winnerman with any Sage feedback or questions. 
   

Recess

• Classes will remain within their cohort during recess. 
  • Recess will be spaced out as much as possible to give children more space to play. 

  • In Lower School, each class will have a bag of play equipment that they can take to recess. The class will take the equipment back to their classroom with them and will disinfect the equipment between recesses. 

  • Our playgrounds will be disinfected between cohort uses throughout the day. They will also be disinfected by our janitorial team on a daily basis. 

  • Students will wash their hands for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap and water, or hand sanitizer, before and after each recess.

• As we excitedly welcome our ISDenver community back to campus, we are aware of and prepared to emphasize our students’ social and emotional well being.

  • We expect that coming back to school will be a big transition, even for our older learners.

  • In preparing for reopening, we want our families to know that our counseling team has been actively learning and training  on how to best serve our community. We will be providing our entire staff with best practices for our faculty as well. 
     
• For our younger learners in ECE and Lower School, we plan to open the first few weeks of learning to emphasize what our “new school day” looks like. This allows plenty of time for questions, for learning, and for gaining a feeling of comfort.
  • We want to help our learners feel safe and also empower them to keep themselves safe.
  • Again, the day will look a bit different than it has in the past for them, including the practice of mask wearing, but we hope to get our learners into a routine as soon as possible.
  • Lower school and ECE learners will similarly begin the year with social emotional lessons that focus on the theme of “Who We Are”. 
  • As we welcome our new ECE-G3 counselor, Nancy Loseke, she will quickly make herself available to our classrooms to help facilitate these discussions.
  • Our other counselor, Annie Barocas, will continue to work with G4-G8, and will help our Lower School learners as they transition as well. 
• For our Middle School learners, we plan to emphasize our advisory time to support them throughout the day.
  • Our new advisories, which are similar to homerooms that you have seen in the past, will be smaller groups that foster safe and comfortable spaces together.
  • Our advisors will all be trained on how to help our learners come to school during a pandemic and will follow specifically designed lesson plans to discuss some of these difficult topics with learners.
    • They will be meeting daily throughout the year, and our first week back will include longer and more frequent dedicated advisory time, to also help welcome our new learners who will be starting at ISDenver in a few weeks. 
       
• We are prepared to be flexible and adjust as needed to best support our learners. Annie and Nancy will be available for individual meetings in person and online and will also be pushing into classrooms.
   
• As usual, we are also here to support our families (not just learners).
   
• Please reach out with any questions you have about your child’s social or emotional well being as we come back to start our school year.

Resuming on-campus instruction requires that our focus be on maintaining the health and safety of our faculty and staff and your children. In order to keep children in their cohorts and avoid mixing those cohorts, our current policies involve:

• Delayed opening of Extended Day School through at least September (before care, after care, study hall, and clubs)
• Delayed opening of Fall Sports through at least September 
• Holding off on offering care on early release and / or professional development days
• • These programs will likely not resume without clear guidance from public officials that mixing cohorts is safe.
• Initially, families should plan to pick children at the end of the school day.
• We continue to evaluate how to incorporate these activities within the guidelines as we know Extended Day School is critical to many of our families.
• Our goal is to open these activities, but we will only do so if and when we can do it safely.
• Field trips will not be planned in the fall.

At this point, no assemblies, festivals and other community activities will be scheduled.  We will continue to assess the evolving situation and fold these events back into the calendar as soon as possible, including a possible evolution to virtual community engagement opportunities. 

• After much consideration and evaluation, we have determined that we unfortunately cannot safely operate a bus service for the first semester of this school year. 
   
• Among numerous key health and safety measures, one unifying design element is our cohort module.
  • Cohorting students (as a class through G5, and as a grade in G6-G8) is not only following all major guidance, but it is also one of the elements that our advisors have singled out as pivotal for safely opening in-person teaching and learning.
  • We must minimize or eliminate cohort mixing whenever possible, which informed our decision to postpone Extended Day School. Similarly, we have now made the difficult decision to postpone offering bus service, too.
  • Simply put, the inherent cohort mixing introduces unjustifiable risk for our community. We’re all in this together, and we want as much in-person school learning as possible.
  • We are making decisions that prioritize the health and safety of our entire community. 

• Come one, come all! This year's back-to-school orientation is for the entire ISDenver community, new and current families alike.
   
• The format is entirely virtual and offered in a modular format. Pick the topics that are relevant to you. And do it all from the comfort of your home at the time that is most convenient to you.

access virtual orientation now!