o   Given the requirements of not co-mingling classes and ensuring successful physical distancing, we will be using multiple assigned entrances and exit points to and from the building. Given additional protocols to ensure health and safety for all in our community, arrivals and dismissals will be stagered and take longer than usual at first.

To date, our slow and steady approach to a physical return to campus has proven effective, and we are pleased to be able to welcome all students back to the schoolhouse. As has been the case since the COVID pandemic began, we have closely monitored guidance from national and local authorities, including CDC and OSSE, related to in-person gatherings. Additionally, we are mindful of virus spread both within our own community and in the local area. If circumstances internal or external to the school change at any time, our operational status is subject to change as well.

o   Numerous spaces have been repurposed within the school building to allow for a greater number of classrooms.

• The Library at the very front of the main building is now the Bunny classroom
• Mr. Carroll's Head of School Office has become a Library
• The Ourdoor Classroom will be used for Motor and Music, as weather allows
• The Motor Room has been divided to make smaller spaces for small groups or spacial activites
• The Program Office is now the NCRC Nook, which will be used for isolating any child or adult who may become unwell

o   Several factors have been taken into consideration as we’ve weighed how to reincorporate carpool into our drop-off and pick-up procedures.

• NCRC’s student population of 2-5 year-olds requires varying levels of support when entering and exiting their cars. For those students who require assistance getting out of their car seat and out of the car, at this time, we have determined that teachers enter families’ cars, as has been done in the past, represents too great an exposure risk to our faculty, even if all individuals in the car are wearing masks at the time of drop-off/pick-up.
• Due to our neighborhood agreement, we are also unable to support a carpool line that would require parents to get in and out of their cars at the point of drop-off/pick-up to take the children out of the car seat and out of the car.
• For these two reasons, those children who require support need to be walked up to the schoolhouse at their designated entrance/exit.

o   While our older children may be capable of getting themselves out of their car seats, and then out of the car, they would still need to be met at the curb by a faculty member at drop-off. Given the number of different entrances and exits currently being used to ensure limited commingling, staggered arrival and departure times, and the shift in the number of faculty in each class to enable smaller class sizes, we do not have adequate personnel to man all designated entrances and exits and a carpool lane, while maintaining our ability to execute the daily temperature screening.

o   We will continue to evaluate our drop-off and pick-up procedures to maximize efficiency and continue to discuss best practices with peer schools who serve a similar student population.

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. After reviewing all available guidance on health and safety protocols and procedures, NCRC’s staff and faculty have put in place significant procedures and protocols to ensure the health and safety of the entire community. These include enhanced procedures on numerous fronts:

• Cleaning of all classrooms, with special attention placed on frequently touched surfaces;
• Establishing requirements for the monitoring the health of students, faculty and staff;
• Ensuring access to classrooms through assigned entrances to lessen hallway traffic; and
• Limiting in-classroom presence to only students and their teachers.

Specifically, designated classroom spaces at NCRC, to allow for physical distancing, easier cleaning and to enable contact tracing. Every classroom is deeply cleaned and sanitized throughout the day and at the end of the day, using approved cleaning equipment and products. All teachers and students wear masks and frequently wash and/or sanitize hands. 

o   We are regularly reviewing updated guidelines and guidance, as well as consulting with medical professionals and schools in our local area regarding lessons learned and best practices to ensure our procedures and protocols are as strong as possible to ensure the health and safety of our entire community. That process will remain in place throughout the year, and whenever necessary, we will update our policies as appropriate.

o   Children wash &/or sanitize their hands at a number of key points throughout the day.

• Upon entering the building (there are hand sanitizing stations outside all entrances in addition to inside building entrances, in the event a student misses the station outside)
• Upon entering their classroom
• Before snack or mealtime
• After snack or mealtime
• After using the bathroom (every bathroom on schoolhouse property is equipped with touchless soap dispensers)

o   Each classroom being used for both an AM and a PM class is being thoroughly cleaned and sanitized during the intentionally extended time between classes. All equipment, resources, toys and books will be switched out between the AM and PM groups. Teachers will change all PPE before transitioning to a PM class.

NCRC has always prioritized outside play, but particularly at this time, we are very mindful of maximizing time outdoors for all students. Students will often play outside during inclement conditions, like rain and snow, and should therefore come to school dressed appropriately for these conditions. However, students will not play outdoors if the temperature or wind-chill is low, when there is a “Weather Alert” issued regarding strong/gusty winds or during dangerous storms (lightening, hail, winds).

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. Any indication of illness in any individual will be treated seriously and will be closely monitored, with individuals immediately being isolated within NCRC as quickly as possible in the newly-established 'Nook' - formerly the Program Office, on the Lower Level of the schoolhouse. Any adult or child believed to be ill will be sent home as quickly as possible, with lines of communication between the school and the family maintained to ensure effective contact tracing if COVID-19 is confirmed.

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. When COVID-19 was first identified as a global pandemic in March 2020, the school began to plan for what would be required for a physical reopening of the schoolhouse. At that time, NCRC operations staff began the process of procuring all of the equipment and materials necessary to ensure a safe and clean environment for all children, faculty and staff. While the CDC is currently recommending that facilities have three months of these supplies on hand at any one time, NCRC continues to stock a six month supply of materials including masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and disinfectant, among other things.

o   NCRC’s ventilation system has a MERV-15 rating, consistent with most medical facilities and known to significantly reduce the risk of airborne transmission of any virus.

o   With the exception of rest, snack and lunch, all children are required to wear masks.

o   For the time being, all snacks and/or lunch are brought in from home each day.

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. For that reason, we are not allowing parents, caregivers or siblings into the school building at this time.

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. For that reason, all community-wide events are virtual for the time being. We have scheduled a few opportunities for very small groups to meet outdoors and will be regularly assessing the physical status of community-wide gatherings as the year progresses.

o   We recognize the stress and anxiety that parents are under as a result of this ongoing pandemic. Whether juggling working from home with your children’s needs, or just feeling the weight of the uncertainty brought on by this unprecedented public health crisis, we want to be a support to our parents in any way possible.

In addition to the content developed by our teacher teams, we have made virtual learning platforms including Seesaw and Epic available to all families at no cost. Zoom links have also been established for each class to be accessed when needed. We are also here to provide any parent who needs it with support securing the technology necessary to access both our synchronous and asynchronous distance learning content, when it is needed.

At your child’s in-person meet and greet at the beginning of the year, they should have received a set of physical resources that will be used when Distance Learning programming is needed. Additionally, parents and caregivers receive weekly class plans in advance and should have opportunities to check in with teachers regarding their child’s in-person or Distance Learning.

Finally, NCRC’s Director of Counseling and Family Support, Judith Wides, a member of the Childhood Development Team, is available to all parents for any needs they may have, whether related to their child’s learning experience, a loss they may have suffered, increased anxiety or simply someone to talk to.

o   Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of all students and their families, as well as staff and faculty. At this time, we are avoiding co-mingling of students from different classes. Therefore, these programs are currently not available.

o   NCRC’s Early Beginnings and Play Pals programs have been the foundation of NCRC’s commitment to inclusion for generations. Our talented and dedicated Child Development Team will continue to offer frequent, robust programming to both children and their parents in a variety of formats.

o   NCRC is committed to ensuring that all of our students, staff and faculty are protected and provided for in this uncertain environment. Any immunocompromised community member is being support through individual plans.