SMA School Covid Response: SMA Health and Safety Plan for 2020-21

SMA School Covid Response:

SMA Health and Safety Plan for 2020-21

On March 13th schools across Pennsylvania were abruptly closed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  In less than 24 hours, Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic School  transitioned all classes to online learning.  Schools across the Archdiocese were among the first in the state to make a successful transition.  During the 12 week shutdown, our teachers used various online platforms to communicate with students, created their own learning content, and met with students via video conferencing.  Our students still experienced the structure and accountability for which Catholic schools are known.  Students submitted high quality work and continued to receive grades for their efforts.

SMA School : Moving Forward

As the country prepares to reopen, the administration and faculty of SMA has been busy planning for our school reopening in September. While we are excited to see the students and their families again, our first priority, as always, is for their health and safety. We have received guidelines for reopening PreK-12 schools from Governor Wolf’s office, the Department of Education, BCIU Unit, Department of Health, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  Based on the guidelines, we anticipate being able to fully open the building for all grade levels. We assembled a SMA Coronavirus Planning Committee which worked with these guidelines to put together a strategic plan for providing for our students’ health and safety when they return to school.

We are in the process of purchasing PPE and are making building modifications to ensure student and staff safety. 
 

Catholic Schools Onward: Archdiocesan Plans for Reopening Schools

The Archdiocese established a new task force called the Catholic Schools Onward, Best Practices and New Opportunities as We Move Forward, (CSO) referred to as CSO. The CSO is made up of about 30 people, ( I am a member!)  each person brings a specific expertise or represents a particular stakeholder group within our schools. Some of these groups include principals, nurses, business members, teachers, religious, parents, board members, and central administration.

Prior to the first meeting, each member was provided the guidance from the State of PA regarding school reopening expectations, guidance from the CDC, and plans from schools that have already reopened. It is their plan to take the guidance provided and support each school with specific and practical procedures to start school in a safe manner. To accomplish this, the task force is organized into a number of different subcommittees that have already begun to tackle the role of developing the specific practices that our schools will use.  Listed below is a list of these subcommittees.

Subcommittees:
Playbooks: this subcommittee will provide specific guidance on procedures in the case of a student, staff, or  family member contracting COVID-19.

Building Operations:  this subcommittee will develop guidance regarding daily cleaning procedures, procedures for monitoring the daily health of the students and staff, how to safely travel around the building and other procedures such as lunch and recess.

Classroom Operations:  similar to building operations, this subcommittee will examine everything that takes place within the classroom. This will include such things as building cohorts to reduce unnecessary exposure to others, seating arrangements, the use of recording lessons, strategies for personal materials, and how to eliminate the need for shared materials. 

Virtual Learning:  this subcommittee examines how we can enhance the virtual learning process and how it may be utilized. 

Mental Health: This subcommittee examines the process to reintegrate students back into the building. Most students have not been in groups such as a classroom in many months. Some have been isolated. This subcommittee is looking at procedures to help reintegrate our students into the new normal. 

Additionally, there are subcommittees looking at procedures for Procurement of PPEs and other supplies, communications regarding this process, procedures specific to our  Pre-K programs as well as, after school activities and CARES.

Catholic Identity, as you are aware, is the purpose of our schools and we want to make sure through everything we do, it remains at the forefront of our mission. It is easy to focus on all of the guidance and procedures and we want to make sure that our Catholic Identity is at the forefront of all we do.

Our new SMA Coronavirus Task Force has been hard at work the past several weeks and

we the faculty and staff of St. Mike's are proud to present our SMA 2020/2021 Guidance and Procedures to you today!