Back to School Plan

Hi Canyon Crest Families!

I wanted to try and answer some questions (before they change again!) that I have received about the Back-to-School plan and what Canyon Crest has in place for safety measures. I hope this will help you make more informed decisions about this school year and also put your mind at ease as we go into this unusual year. First, I want to share more about what the option choices are for this school year.

Options for School Year 2020

Option #1 In School/Home Study Option    This option has two parts or options within it. In this option your child either starts school in person with their assigned Canyon Crest classroom teacher or they start online with their assigned classroom teacher. If you choose “in person,” students come to school either Monday & Wednesday (A day), or Tuesday & Thursday (B day). Students will be assigned either an A or B schedule by the district, by alphabet to align students who attend other schools in the district within families. On the days students are not in school they will be working on assignments online through their teacher’s Canvas platform. More information will be coming on this later from your teacher. If your family chooses to start online instead of in person, your child will be completing the work outlined through the teacher’s Canvas classroom and attending scheduled Zoom sessions with the teacher and class. As our state and district phases change and COVID cases decrease, the home study option may not be available and students would then be required to be back in school, in person.

If your child is in the DLI program and you choose Option #1, they will have instruction in English on one day and instruction in Spanish on the next day of the A/B schedule. There would also be supplemental assignments and activities in their teacher’s Canvas classroom in Spanish.

What do you need to do to have your child in this option?    On the survey choose option #1. If you need to change your option, just retake the survey and we’ll use your latest entry.

Option #2  The other option is eSchool. This is a separate online program, run by the district with teachers from the district overseeing specific grade levels. This is not connected to Canyon Crest. Students would not have a Canyon Crest teacher assigned to them, but would work directly in the eSchool program. The platform they currently use is K12.

If you are a DLI student and are interested in this program, we can reserve your spot in the DLI program for this year, but you will not receive any Spanish instruction with eSchool.

What do you need to do to have your child in this option? If you would like this option, please choose #2 on the survey. If you need to change your option, just retake the survey and we’ll use your latest entry.

Here are some other frequently asked questions that I have received: 

Will there be recess?

The answer is Yes! We will have a scheduled recess during the day. We have scheduled our grade level recesses so there are fewer students on the playground at the same time. There will be lots of room to spread out and play. We will have to limit games that require touching and tagging for now. As soon as our phases start changing, we will be able to update the games we can play outside. We will make sure everyone uses hand sanitizer or wash their hands before and after recess. Students will be able to use recess equipment (such as balls or jump ropes), and will clean it when it is brought back into the school. Large playground equipment will be monitored to have a minimum number of students on it at one time, and surfaces will be cleaned during the day. Students will not be required to wear masks during recess. They can put masks in their pockets or attach it to a lanyard. Masks will be required when coming back inside the building.

Will there be lunch and how will it work? 

Yes, every grade level (including Kindergarten) will eat lunch at school. We have scheduled our lunch times so there is only one grade level in the cafeteria or gym at a time. Every student will have an assigned spot in the cafeteria to sit for social distancing. During lunch students can take off their masks to eat, but will need to put it back on if they get up and move from their assigned space. This will help us with contact tracing, if necessary. There will be a defined entry and exit in the cafeteria that will be clearly marked with arrows. Because we will only have half the students at a time, the cafeteria will not be crowded.

How will specialty classes work during our shortened days? 

While we are on the early release A/B schedule, all of our specialty classes will be online. Specialist teachers are creating Canvas classrooms that children can interact with and complete the assignments and activities. Our Specialists will also be working  with classroom teachers to support core instruction. As our phases change we will be able to go back to  in-person specialty classes. We are still working on how we will check out library books, and will update you as soon as that plan is complete. We want our students to be able to check out books to read at home!

Sixth grade band, orchestra, and choir will all be online for now. This will change as the phases change. More information will be coming from the band and orchestra teachers.

Do students have to wear masks?

Governor Herbert has mandated anyone entering a school building wearing “face coverings”. This means that all students, teachers, aides, administrators, secretaries, parents, and anyone entering the school need to wear a face covering. “Face covering” has recently been clarified as: masks, shields, or bandanas.  Students will be able to remove masks during lunchtime while they eat, and out at recess.

As parents, you can help prepare your children for wearing masks by practicing at home. Have your child wear their mask while they play their favorite video game, watch their favorite movie, or play outside. Go to the store or look online and pick out some fun masks to wear. Be positive and excited about going back to school and your children will follow your example and tone you set. Remind them that this is just temporary and allows us to be back together in school during this time.

How will the classroom look?

The classroom will look a little different than you remember from past years. Our custodians have helped us move out extra desks so we have enough for our A/B day. This will allow teachers to space out the desks for social distancing. The district office has also purchased  clear dividers that go on desks and tables to use in the classroom. This gives students their own personal space, but they can see around the room and visit with friends and teachers.

What will learning look like during the A/B schedule? 

While we are on the A/B schedule school will also look a little different than everyone is used to. Children will come to school two days a week on their assigned days. The day will be shortened. School will start at 8:50 am and end at 1:50 pm each day. During the time they are at home they will be completing assignments from class, practicing reading, math, and other subject areas, learning how to navigate through our online programs, and so on. This year students will be using Canvas for their online classroom learning platform. Our teachers have been working hard to set up their classes to teach in person and online. They will tell you more about it when we start the school year.

Will we have computers to use at home? 

Yes! This is exciting! Our district has purchased enough chromebooks so that every student will have their own computer to use. They will be taking the computer home each night and bringing it back to school each day. It will be important to take extra special care of it, so it can last them all year long and beyond. Children will also need to be sure that it is fully charged when they bring it to school each day, since we don’t have enough plugs in our classrooms for everyone to plug in at the same time. When students come to school on the first day of school, their teacher will be checking out their computer to them. Since it is the property of the school, please talk to your children about taking good care of it and following the rules about being safe online, even when they are at home.

Can I request to have my child attend on a specific day, either A or B? 

To follow health and state department guidelines in keeping our numbers even and low for social distancing each day, we will need students to attend on their assigned days. We are also making a district attempt to accommodate families who have students in multiple schools to be home at the same time. For now, we cannot accommodate specific requests about days to attend. Please remember – this is just temporary, and in an effort to get us back to “normal” as quickly as possible.

What will before and after school drop off and pick up look like? 

Before School: This year we are asking parents to wait until 8:40 am to drop off

their children. Students will go directly to their classrooms where an aide or their teacher will greet them. If your child eats breakfast, they will enter the lunchroom through the outside front door by the cafeteria. This will be open at 8:30 am After they eat, they will be dismissed to go to their classrooms at 8:40. We will adapt these procedures and times as needed, or the phases change.

After School: This year our after school dismissal will look different. To reduce congestion in the hallways, grade levels will be dismissed over the intercom one at a time, or by buses. After students are dismissed they will need to go directly to their dismissal area, bus or carpool, and not linger in the hallways. Bus riders will exit out the east doors, bike riders exit out the south doors to the bike rack where the bike rack is. Walkers and car pickup will exit out the front (west) doors and practice social distancing as they wait for their ride to pick them up. Please be on time to pick up your children after school at 1:50 pm.

Pick up and Drop off lanes will be the same this year. We will send the map out as we get closer to the start of school.

How will we keep things clean and sanitized? 

Our custodian has hired extra helpers to be at school during the day to help wipe down high touch and other surfaces throughout the day. Teachers will also have extra cleaning supplies in their classrooms to wipe down desks, supplies, recess equipment and other high touch items throughout the day. All of our cleaning supplies are vetted, approved by the district, and safe for us to use. We will also have hand sanitizer in each classroom and at entrances and exits. After students leave the building each day, our custodial staff will be doing a thorough cleaning of wiping down every desk, cleaning bathrooms, and all other surfaces and areas in the building. They have worked very hard all summer to get the building ready. It looks beautiful and we are clean and ready to have our Canyon Crest students back!

What school supplies does my child need?

School supply lists have been emailed to parents, posted on social media and on our school website. Please check for your child’s grade level list. It is very important that children have their own personal school supplies this year, since we cannot share supplies. The school will provide basic supplies for students who don’t bring their own.

Will breakfast and lunch be served?

Yes! Breakfast and lunch will be served as in the past, but will be sack lunches and ‘grab and go’ meals. We have set up th cafeteria for students to eat breakfast and lunch there each day.

Will we be able to use the drinking fountains? 

While we are in Phase 1 and possibly through the year, to keep everyone safe and healthy, we have closed our drinking fountains. Students may bring water bottles and fill them at the sinks in their classrooms. The district has purchased a water bottle for every student and they can fill up in the morning and throughout the day while at school. Each week the students will take the water bottles home to clean and then bring them back the following week.

Where are we picking up with learning? 

Don’t worry! We know it’s been a long time since students have been in the school building. When teachers first came back they were a little nervous too. The good thing is teachers are experts at helping students learn what they need to be successful! This is what we do! They will be sure to review things students learned last year, find out where they are, and help them all year long to learn everything they need to know for this school year. We are just so excited to be back doing what we love and to see our students again!

I’m sure there are more questions that I haven’t addressed. Please call the front office to ask if you have further questions. We will do our best to help you. We are here to support our Canyon Crest families. Keep watching your emails, our social media, and school website for more information and we look forward to seeing you soon, either at school or online!

Sincerely,

Rene Cunningham, Principal