Health & Safety Procedures

COVID-19 TESTING

All students and staff are encouraged to get tested for COVID-19 regularly. Priority testing for staff and students is available.

Beginning in October, the DOE will conduct random testing of students and staff in all schools. Chancellor Carranza issued an update for Families: COVID-19 Student Testing on September 29, 2020.

This update pertains to families of blended learning students, not 100% remote students.

Please read the Letter.
See translated copies of the Letter and the Consent Form on the DOE website.
Learn more about COVID testing for students.
Please print and sign the Consent Form, then have your child hand it to their Teacher.

Please know that the Guidance on this testing policy is evolving, and you can check this Frequently Asked Questions page for the latest updates.

DAILY HEALTH SCREENING

DAILY HEALTH SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE

To keep everyone safe and healthy, anyone entering an NYCDOE building- students, staff, parents, and other visitors, must complete a daily health screening prior to entering. The health screening can be done digitally or families can print a copy, complete it, and bring it to school.

Students who do not arrive to school with a completed digital or paper version of the health screening completed will be asked to complete a health screening on-site.

The health screening asks the following questions:

Have you experienced any symptoms of COVID-19, including a fever of 100.0 degrees F or greater, a new cough, new loss of taste or smell or shortness of breath within the past 10 days?

No. Go to the next question.
Yes. No further screening is needed. The employee/student/guest may not enter the building. [The student will be sent home with their parent/guardian or escorted to the Isolation Room for family pick up if no parent/guardian is with them at arrival.]

In the past 10 days, have you gotten a positive result from a COVID-19 test that tested saliva or used a nose or throat swab? (not a blood test)

No. Go to the next question.
Yes. No further screening is needed. The employee/student/guest may not enter the building. [The student will be sent home with their parent/guardian or escorted to the Isolation Room for family pick up if no parent/guardian is with them at arrival.]

To the best of your knowledge, in the past 14 days, have you been in close contact (within 6 feet for at least 10 minutes) with anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 or who has or had symptoms of COVID-19?

No. Go to the next question.
Yes. No further screening is needed. The employee/student/gues may not enter the building. [The student will be sent home with their parent/guardian or escorted to the Isolation Room for family pick up if no parent/guardian is with them at arrival. OR If the student is not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, the student will be escorted to the auditorium until a parent arrives to pick them up.]

Have you traveled internationally or from a state with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 per the New York State Travel Advisory in the past 14 days?

No. The employee/guest may enter the building.
Yes. No further screening is needed. The employee/student/guest may not enter the building.
[The student will be sent home with their parent/guardian or escorted to the Isolation Room for family pick up if no parent/guardian is with them at arrival. OR If the student is not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, the student will be escorted to the auditorium until a parent arrives to pick them up.]

STAYING HEALTHY & SAFE IN SCHOOL

Face Coverings: Anyone entering a DOE building is required to wear a face-covering that covers their mouth and nose. In the event that a student loses or breaks their mask we have child and adult size masks to distribute.

Hand Hygiene: Clean hands help make healthy bodies. Students will use hand sanitizer before entering the classroom and must wash their hands thoroughly after using the restroom. See this video from the CDC with helpful information on hand-washing.

Physical Distancing: Students will remain six feet apart at all times in the courtyard and in the school building. Markets have been placed in the courtyard to help students know where to stand while waiting for their teacher to bring them into the building. Furniture in all classrooms has been arranged to ensure at least six feet of distance between students.

Ventilation: To ensure proper ventilation classroom windows & hallway windows will be open. Classroom doors will also remain open to allow for air circulation. Because the windows will be open we recommend that students dress in layers on the day that they come to school.

Limited Movement Through the Building: Students will remain in their classrooms for the two hours that they attend school on Small Group Instruction days. One-directional signage has been placed to ensure that groups of students do not pass each other as they move through the building.

Bathroom Capacity: No more than two students can be in the restroom at a time,

Health Screening: All students and staff will complete a daily health screening prior to entering the building. Families who selected blended learning will be given a thermometer for use at home. Starting in October 2020, in-person students will be randomly tested for COVID-19 in school. In-person students must fill out a Consent Form.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I FEEL SICK AT HOME?

Anyone who is feeling sick with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 must stay home, and contact the school. Please report your absence and the reason for your absence to Ms. Marcy Duran at mduran22@schools.nyc.gov.

For a complete list of symptoms associated with COVID-19, please visit the CDC website.

Any individual (student or staff member) showing signs of COVID-19 can only return to school when all the following conditions are met:

Received a positive COVID-19 test AND
Isolated for 10 days AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

Received a negative COVID-19 test AND
At least 10 days have passed since symptoms started AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

Never got a COVID-19 test AND
At least 10 days have passed since symptoms started AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I FEEL SICK AT SCHOOL?

Students who develop symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 while at school, will be escorted to our designated isolation room. The area/classroom where the student was showing symptoms will be cleaned as soon possible, and a deep-cleaning of the area/classroom must be performed at the end of the day.

Please see NYS Department of Health Guidance on how to assess a student's or staff member's health status.

When the ill student is placed in the Isolation Room, the building nurse will be contacted and will come to the Isolation Room and assess the student.

Once the student is in the isolation room, school staff calls the student’s guardian for pick up. The student will be released to the guardian once the health assessment is completed.

Students and staff who develop symptoms at school are advised to visit a doctor and get tested for COVID-19, at the closest testing site. Families are asked to keep the school informed of any changes in symptoms or test results

Any individual (student or staff member) showing signs of COVID-19 can only return to school when all the following conditions are met:

Received a positive COVID-19 test AND
Isolated for 10 days AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

Received a negative COVID-19 test AND
At least 10 days have passed since symptoms started AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

Never got a COVID-19 test AND
At least 10 days have passed since symptoms started AND
The individual has been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication and overall symptoms are improving.

LG ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL

Arrival

Students/families enter the central courtyard through the gates on Columbia Street.

You will be welcomed by school staff and directed to a specific courtyard location where you will wait for your teacher. Families, please occupy a single physical distancing marker with your child so there is sufficient space for all.

Parents & Guardians are asked to wait with their child until their health screening is complete. Students who do not pass the health screening will be sent home with a guardian.

Teachers will implement the following safety procedures (checklist) with their small group of students before entering the school building:

Warm welcome and take attendance
Check each student’s daily NYCDOE Health Screening report on phone or paper. Teachers will ask students how they are feeling.
Review how to properly wear a mask (nose and mouth covered with snug fit). Masks are mandatory at all times while on school grounds.
Random temperature check using forehead (no touch) thermometers.
Review proper hand sanitizing / washing expectations.
Review single file line and one-directional traffic expectations in the building.

Dismissal

Students in grades K-5 will be escorted from the school building by their teachers at the end of the day.

Teachers will ensure six feet of physical distancing between students and dismiss to the same courtyard space as where they were picked up in the morning. Guardians should wait on the same physical distance marker they occupied in the morning when picking up their children in the afternoon.

Students in Grades K-5 will be dismissed from the Central Courtyard

Teachers will wait in the central courtyard with their small groups and ensure each of their students is picked up by their parent/guardian.

MG ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL

Arrival

Students/families enter the central courtyard through the pedestrian ramp entrance on Houston Street, next to the school parking lot. You will be welcomed by school staff and directed to a specific courtyard location where you will wait for your teacher. Families, please occupy a single physical distancing marker with your child so there is sufficient space for all.

Students who do not pass the health screening will be sent home with a guardian if one is with them, or escorted into the building until a parent or guardian can pick them up. Students who fail the health screening as a result of symptoms will be brought to the isolation room for a health evaluation prior to a parent or guardian picking them up.

Teachers will implement the following safety procedures (checklist) with their small group of students before entering the school building:

Warm welcome and take attendance
Check each student’s daily NYCDOE Health Screening report on phone or paper. Teachers will ask students how they are feeling.
Review how to properly wear a mask (nose and mouth covered with snug fit). Masks are mandatory at all times while on school grounds.
Random temperature check using forehead (no touch) thermometers
Review proper hand sanitizing / washing expectations
Review single file line and one-directional traffic expectations in the building

Dismissal

Students in grades 6-8 will be escorted from the school building by their teachers at the end of the day.

Students in Grades 6-8 will be dismissed from the Central Courtyard - Teachers will wait in the courtyard with their small groups until all have either been picked up by parents/guardians or have self-dismissed.

UG ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL

Arrival

Students enter into our back courtyard through the gates on Columbia Street (behind the cafeteria). You will be welcomed by school staff and directed to a specific courtyard location where you will wait for your teacher. All students are asked to maintain physical distance from their peers by waiting on a purple physical distancing marker.

Students under 18 will be escorted into the building until a parent or guardian can pick them up. Students who fail the health screening as a result of symptoms will be brought to the isolation room for a health evaluation prior to a parent or guardian picking them up.

Teachers will implement the following safety procedures (checklist) with their small group of students before entering the school building:

Warm welcome and take attendance
Check each student’s daily NYCDOE Health Screening report on phone or paper. Teachers will ask students how they are feeling.
Review how to properly wear a mask (nose and mouth covered with snug fit). Masks are mandatory at all times while on school grounds.
Random temperature check using forehead (no touch) thermometers.
Review proper hand sanitizing / washing expectations.
Review single file line and one-directional traffic expectations in the building.

Dismissal

Students in grades 9-12 will be escorted from the school building by their teachers at the end of the day. Teachers will ensure six feet of physical distancing between students and will walk students to the back courtyard gate for dismissal to Columbia Street.