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COVID-19 FAQs

Published July 10, 2020. Updated July 29, 2020.

Our Early Childhood Education program will hold in-person classes starting on Tuesday, August 25th. Our K-8 program will begin with distance learning until the county numbers are determined to be safe enough for the School to apply for a waiver for in-person learning.

Students will need to wear masks when in the classroom with others. When students can physically distance from others outdoors there may be a relaxing of the rules, depending on the activity. There is some evidence that suggests children under nine may be able to have less strict guidelines, but we are awaiting more data before making a decision to loosen any guidelines.
The school day will be shortened in the LS and MS to around 2 pm (details forthcoming). This will give teachers time to plan and work with students who are isolating at home. It will also give students, teachers and staff a needed break from what will be an intense day of mask wearing and distancing.
All students and adults will be screened before coming to campus. Details to follow.
We will toggle to the online learning program for students who will need to quarantine at home, or are ill for an extended period of time. Students who are out for shorter periods will follow the usual protocols.
Cleaning will be done each night per CDC guidelines and throughout the day while students are on campus.
Durham Bus Company will be running buses but the maximum capacity is 13 students (although with siblings we may be able to accommodate more students). Due to rider capacity being reduced by more than half, bus fees will need to increase significantly. Saklan is charged per trip, and historically has subsidized bus fees. We will continue to subsidize the bus fees, but not be able to finance the entire increase.

Yes, but it will look very different.

Yes, although teachers will need to go into the classrooms as opposed to students visiting the specialist classes.
Students will still have lunch and recess, but they will be done in a fashion that will limit mixing of grade levels and keep the cohorts together.
Yes.
Like all experiential learning opportunities, these present a problem in the age of COVID. Many of our field experiences and productions and other activities have been pushed towards the last few months of the school year in the hope that we may be able to run them.
Our hot lunch provider has always provided pre-packaged meals that are sealed. We intend on still offering that service.
Students who develop symptoms of illness while at school should be separated from others right away, in an isolation room. Any students or staff exhibiting symptoms will  immediately don a face covering (if they are not already wearing one) and wait in an the isolation area until they can be transported home.
Not necessarily. Next steps are determined on a case-by-case basis. CCHS will conduct contact tracing to determine who, if anyone, may have had close contact with the person who tested positive and will provide guidance to the school, including whether a school or class closure is recommended. Whenever a positive case is confirmed on campus, the school should perform a thorough cleaning of areas where the person spent time, especially high-contact surfaces.
A person is considered to have had close contact if they were within six feet of someone who tested positive for COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. During the contact tracing process, CCHS will work with the person who tested positive to determine who, if anyone, had close contact, and will communicate directly with them.
The process for testing children is the same as it is for adults. Community testing is available for both children and adults. Talk to your healthcare provider, or call 1-844-421-0804 to make a fast, convenient appointment at no cost to you at a county testing site.
CCHS recommends a COVID-19 test for anyone who believes they may need one, whether or not they have symptoms. People who have symptoms of illness are encouraged to get tested. Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org/get-tested to learn more about testing in Contra Costa County.
For those who choose online learning, it will not be quite as robust as what we did in the Spring, but neither will it be assignments sent home for a child to complete on their own with teacher support at the end of the day. Students will be able to zoom in on some of the classes live (depending on the actual lesson and how conducive that might be) or they may view a recording of the lesson. All students will have an opportunity to check-in at the end of the day with their teacher.

Yes, it should be relatively easy, with few adjustments. It might look similar to a student joining us from another school mid-year. A few things might need to be addressed, but our focus will be to get the student merged back into the day to day.

Yes, they will be able to transition to online learning if the parents feel that is best for the child. We would encourage families to communicate with the teacher ahead of such a decision in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. There is not a fixed time that a student would need to stay off-campus before returning, but we also would not want students toggling back and forth.

This is dependent on many factors having to do with time, proximity and exposure but there are clear instances where the entire class would need to quarantine. 

Those students will most likely need to quarantine for 10 days. If they develop symptoms during that time, they would need to quarantine longer. Any student that tested positive would not be able to return until they had a physician's approval. (That does not necessarily mean a negative test.) 

The larger grades will be split into two classrooms.

Teachers will rotate into the classrooms.