COVID-19 Plan for ECDC

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for staff

• No-touch infrared thermometers

• Gloves

• Masks

• Face shields

• Hand sanitizer

• Cleaning agents approved by the EPA for use against COVID-19

• Electrostatic sprayer for disinfecting furniture and shared materials

• Disposable isolation gowns and shoe covers

Masks

• Teachers are required to wear a mask at all times, except when outside. 

• Children are not required to wear masks, however, if they arrive at school with one, we will reinforce healthy wear. 

• When not using a mask (e.g. during lunch and recess) teachers will provide a safe place for children to store them. Parents may choose to send a school box for storage.

Illness

• As always, if your child shows signs of illness, please keep him home. 

• Children may return to school once they are free of symptoms (fever, diarrhea, vomiting) for 24 hours without the use of medication.

• Children who exhibit illness at school will be evaluated by the staff. Temperatures will be taken and an overall assessment of the child’s health done. PPE will be used to protect the staff while administering care to the child. If the administration determines a child should not be in school, a parent or caregiver will be contacted to pick up the child as soon as possible. 

• Ill children waiting to be picked up will remain with a staff member in a quarantined area until a caregiver arrives.

• It is very important that ill children are picked up from school immediately.

Arrival

• There will be one entry point to the school, the gym doors at the north end of the parking lot.

• Parents should enter the gym where staff will conduct a health check on children. Parents are not allowed to enter the school side of ECDC at this time. When COVID cases begin to consistently decrease, this precaution may be lifted.

• Staff members will be available to walk children to class, help them put their belongings away, and wash their hands.

Health Screening

• All faculty members will have their temperature checked before school begins.

• Staff will evaluate students’ overall health including temperature checks at the entry point. Faculty or children with a temperature of 100.4 or higher (100 degrees for infrared no-touch thermometers) will not be allowed to remain at school.

• Parents may be asked questions pertaining to recent travel or exposure to illness.

• Visitors to the school are not permitted without an appointment. Any visitors will have their temperature checked and be asked to wear a mask.

Belongings and Cubbies

• Children should bring a backpack every day that zips closed.

• Each child will have a cubby to hold his belongings.

• Backpacks should hold a change of clothes, lunch, and snuggles for rest time.

• All belongings will go home every day so that cubbies can be sanitized each night.

• Children may bring a water bottle that will remain in the cubby and only be used at snack and lunch. Disposable water cups will be provided at other times when necessary. 

Hallways

• Traffic through hallways will be one way when possible.

• Teachers will ensure no more than one class travels through the hallway at any particular time.

Classrooms

• Doors of classrooms will remain open to promote ventilation.

• Teachers will eliminate furniture and materials that are not critical, allowing for more space in the classrooms.

• Materials that are difficult to sanitize will be removed from the classroom.

• Children will remain with their own class as much as possible. The intermingling of classes will be limited to outside, gym, or activities where social distancing is possible.

Specialty Classes (Art, Spanish, Music, Gymnastics, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd)

• We will begin specialty classes after Labor Day, assuming COVID cases are consistently declining. If not, specialty teachers will come to classrooms.

• Children will wash their hands in the classroom before going to a specialty.

• Specialty teachers will provide hand sanitizer for children before and after using materials.

• There are 10 minutes between specialty classes built into the schedule to allow for extra cleaning of shared materials.

Playground

• Each class will have a scheduled playground time every morning and afternoon.

• The number of children on the playground will be limited to prevent overcrowding.

• Since playground equipment is outside and exposed to the sun, the threat of spreading viruses on these surfaces is a very low risk.

Shared Supplies

• Sharing materials is a critical part of the early childhood environment. It is inconceivable for young children not to share toys and supplies during the school day. Staff will sanitize frequently used items between uses as necessary.

Snack and Lunch

• When school begins, students will eat snacks and lunch in classrooms.

• When COVID cases begin to consistently decrease, teachers may decide for children to eat snacks and lunch at the lunch tables in the lobby.

• We will not be offering milk or pizza to purchase this semester. Parents will have the option to purchase a packaged Chick-Fil-A meal on Fridays.

• Parents should send individually wrapped, pre-packaged snacks for the class on their assigned days.

• Children should bring a packed lunch each day. Please consider packing items that do not require opening, or children can open on their own.

Rest time

• ECDC provides cots for the PK3 students and trifold mats for the PK4 and TK students.

• We will not use sheets on the cots/mats at this time, however, please send a small blanket and a small snuggle each day.

• Snuggles (blankets and stuffed animals) will go home in the backpack every day.

Dismissal

• Staff will accompany children not enrolled in aftercare to the gym. Parents will enter the gym doors at the north end of the parking lot to pick up their children. Parents must wear a mask to enter the gym.

After School Programs

• We will offer dance through That’s Dancing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school in the ECDC gym.

• There will not be any other offerings at this time.

After School Care

• Aftercare staff will wear masks during working hours, except when outside.

• Aftercare will use the playground as much as possible when weather permits.

• When the weather is not appropriate, children will use the ECDC gym or divide into small groups in classrooms.

• Parents should ring the buzzer at the main entrance and wait for a staff member to bring the child to them.

Cleaning and Hygiene

• Children will wash their hands before and after specialty classes, eating, and playing outside.

• Additional hand sanitizers are available throughout the building and in each classroom when washing is not possible.

• Electrostatic sprayers will be used to disinfect shared materials, tables, chairs, cubbies, and furniture each evening.

• High touch surfaces like light switches, doorknobs, faucets, handrails will be disinfected frequently during the day by staff.

• Drinking fountains will not be used at this time.

• Bathrooms will be disinfected once during the day and each evening.

COVID Cases

• The school will alert the Tulsa Health Department of any confirmed positive cases of COVID in our ECDC community.

• THD will advise the school on protocols for quarantines, testing, etc. and the appropriate parents will be notified.

School Closure

• Our current plan is for ECDC to remain open five days a week even if Marquette K-8 goes to a distance learning model.

• If more stringent precautions are required by the Tulsa Health Department and the Diocese of Tulsa, or we do not have enough staff to serve the ECDC families, we will re-evaluate our ability to keep our doors open.