March 26, 2021
Good afternoon Daniel Hand High School community,
Reopening: Monday, March 29, 2021 Based on the recent enrollment survey results, we are excited that approximately 800 students will attend in-person school on Monday March 29th. Although we are excited, please keep in mind that we are still living in a pandemic and COVID-19 remains a very serious concern. Considering that we have been living with this virus for over a year, it is not unreasonable to expect all school community members to make safe decisions at all times, but especially while on school grounds. For example, during non-structured times like the arrival before school, during free periods, while in the Library Media Center, and during lunch, students should keep in mind the importance of social distancing. The decisions we make over the next several weeks will have a direct impact on our ability to remain open to full in-person learning.
Enrollment Status and Attendance Accurate student attendance is always an important part of every school day. Beginning March 29 and through the remainder of the year, students are expected to attend school based on their parents/guardian's selection for attendance. For example, a student considered "in-person" is expected to attend school every day unless they are ill or excused by a parent/guardian. If an in-person learner choses to be a remote learner for a day, their enrollment status will be updated to a remote learner. If the student wishes to return as an in-person learner, they must complete the form (link below) and provide the school with five days' notice. Daily changes in enrollment status will not be permitted.
The process to change a student's enrollment status is defined below.
-If a student is attending full in-person, Cohort A, or Cohort B, and decides to move to remote status, the parents/guardian must click on the link below and the request will be approved in less than one school day.
-If a remote student decides to move to full in-person (including Cohort A or B), the parent/guardian must click on the link below and await confirmation that can take up to one week. During that time, the student must remain a remote learner.
The following link should be used to request a learning model change: Masks/Handwashing/Sanitizing Wearing a mask correctly is one of the most effective mitigating strategies to minimize the spread of COVID-19. All school community members are still required to wear a mask when on campus or in the building. This requirement will not change even if some members of our school community have been fully vaccinated. Additionally, consistent handwashing and hand sanitizing are also highly effective mitigating strategies. All school community members are encouraged to wash their hands often and to use the school's hand sanitizer dispensers anytime they enter and exit classrooms and prior to eating or drinking.
Social Distancing – Quarantine As many of you are fully aware, a close contact is generally defined as someone within six feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes. Specific parameters may vary by the nature of each case. For your information, if a member of our school community is considered a close contact, they will be required to quarantine from school and any co-curricular activities, including athletics, for 14 days from the close contact.
Parking and Traffic Pattern As communicated earlier in the year, juniors were given the opportunity to park on campus during the hybrid model. Also communicated was the fact that if at some point in the school year 100% of the student body attends school full-time, juniors will no longer be allowed to park on-campus. This is solely because of the limited number of parking spaces on-campus. Based on a careful review of parking space availability and the number of seniors and juniors currently approved to park on campus, we intend to continue to allow juniors with parking passes to park on campus. School personnel will be monitoring the parking scenario on a daily basis. If faculty, staff, or seniors are having difficulty finding parking spaces, the junior privilege to park will be revoked with very little notice. I strongly encourage juniors currently driving to school to have a backup plan if this privilege has to be revoked.
Important: School personnel will be monitoring student arrival on a daily basis. Students driving to school without the required parking pass affixed to their windshield will not be allowed to park on campus.
Beginning on March 29th, students and parents/guardians should follow the traffic pattern detailed below.
A.M. Dropoff Traffic Pattern:
- Enter the campus from Green Hill Road via the Daniel Hand driveway. - Take the first left available in the parking lot. - Take the first immediate right. - Take the second left.
- Exit the campus via the Polson Middle School driveway.
P.M. Student Pickup:
Student pickup at the end of the school day is located in the back parking lot by the tiger (banner) door entrance. Please note that dismissal from school is at 2:00 p.m. and buses depart from the school just before 2:10 p.m.
Period 1 and/or 6 Free Students in any grade will continue to be allowed to arrive to school late or leave early if they have period 1 or period 6 free in their schedules. Permission forms are available in the main office. All students seeking this option must have permission from their parents/guardians. Students who have permission to drive to and from school can of course provide their own transportation in this scenario. Underclassmen or any students who cannot provide their own transportation can only be transported by their parents/guardians. As an important reminder, students MUST be present for the start of Period 2 per State requirements for attendance purposes.
Lunch The current setup in the Dining and Assembly Hall allows up to 100 students the opportunity to eat in a setting with the required social distancing. Heated tents have been installed in the courtyard and are available to any students (when space allows) during each lunch wave. Each tent has three walls that will be removed, along with the heaters, once the weather improves. There are also several tables and an open area in the courtyard available to students during the lunch waves.
For the first full week, we will continue to offer a limited selection of meal options. As we settle into the reopening, we plan to open our Main Line station the week of April 5 and our Sono station when we return from break on April 19. Our goal is to steadily bring back more and more of our popular food service offerings over the coming weeks.
Returning School Materials As students return to the building it's a great opportunity to return any outstanding equipment, textbooks, and library books. Students who have borrowed additional chromebook chargers over the school year will receive an email from the library this week notifying them if that equipment has not been returned.
Visitors Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, visitors are still not allowed in the building.
Cohort Schedule For planning purposes, see below for the cohort schedule for the entire month of April.
Week of March 29 – April 2 29 – Cohort A 30 – Cohort A 31 – Cohort B 1 – Cohort B 2 – No School
Week of April 5 – April 9 5 – Cohort A 6 – Cohort A 7 – Cohort B 8 – Cohort B 9 – Remote Learning Day
Week of April 12 – April 16 12 – Vacation 13 – Vacation 14 – Vacation 15 – Vacation 16 – Vacation
Week of April 19 – April 23 19 – Cohort A 20 – Cohort A 21 – Cohort A 22 – Cohort B 23 – Cohort B
Week of April 26 – April 30 26 – Cohort A 27 – Cohort A 28 – Cohort B 29 – Cohort B 30 – Cohort B
Please continue to make safe and healthy decisions that include wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing your hands regularly. I continue to ask that you avoid supporting or participating in behaviors that can lead to increased Covid-19 metrics.
Enjoy the weekend and stay healthy,
Mr. Salutari
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