Killian Elementary

Dear Killian Families,

I hope you and your family are well. In this edition of the KES LIONS DEN family newsletter, you will find important details about our Phase 3 Reopening Plan. With so much information and trying to manage new information as it is shared, be sure you are staying connected with your child's teacher as well as with the school. Please review the Phase 3 updates below and contact us at ke-info@richland2.org for any unanswered questions.

We thank you in advance for your patience, understanding, and grace as we prepare to receive some more of our students on Monday, March 22nd, 2021 and navigate adjustments that may need to be made as we enter Phase 3. We are excited about this phase and look forward to seeing the students who will be coming in to the building for Phase 3!

Sincerely,

Stacey M. Franklin, Principal

Anyone entering the building is still required to wear a face mask as it is District Policy. This includes students of all ages and grade levels. Please have your student put on his or her facemask prior to stopping in the car rider line as this can delay the flow of the line. If a student forgets their mask at home or has a mask that is damaged, a mask will be provided. Wearing masks that properly fit your child's face and nose will limit the spread of germs, especially when coughing, sneezing, and talking.

Note: Students will be provided mask breaks throughout the day. Additionally, they will be allowed to take off their masks to eat lunch and at recess, as long as they are 6 feet away from one another.

We have always stressed the importance of frequent hand washing and sanitizing with students, but in the times that we are currently, it is even more important that we follow these procedures. In an effort to ensure our students' hands are as clean as possible, hand sanitizing stations have been placed in every classroom as well as throughout the building. Students will be expected to sanitize their hands as they enter the building, as they enter the classroom, as well as before leaving the classroom. Also, soap dispensers are in every classroom and will be refilled with soap daily by our custodial staff. Please continue to enforce to your child the importance of hand washing as well as keeping their hands away from their faces. In addition, our custodial staff has a schedule of cleaning throughout the day that will include restrooms and all high touch surfaces. Each classroom is sprayed daily after students depart with an electrostatic sprayer with disinfectant.

Keep your child at home if he/she has any one (1) of the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of taste or smell
• New or worsening cough

Other symptoms to consider:

• Sore throat
• Muscle or body aches
• Fatigue
• Chills
• Headache
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea, Vomiting, or Diarrhea

If your child is experiencing COVID like symptoms, please keep them at home and contact their teacher as well as the school nurse. You can call the school at (803) 699-2981 and ask to speak to the nurse. Additional information will be shared with you at that time. Please DO NOT give your child medication such as Tylenol or Motrin and send them to school as they could be putting other students and staff at risk. Please consider checking your child for symptoms before coming to school each day. Your diligence and attention to this important matter will help us in keeping everyone healthy.

For parents reporting for their child or reporting that they are positive or a close contact, please click here.

As we begin Phase 3, we wanted to be sure our families were clear of the two different ways that instruction will continue to be provided at Killian consistently five days a week (with Fridays as an early dismissal day at 11:30 AM).

We have two learning model options for every grade level. (1) Classroom Communities are classes in which the teacher and the students will be learning in-person. The only change for Phase 3 is that students may will now leave the classroom for specialized classes (e.g. speech, ESOL, etc.). (2) The other type is E-Learning through the use of Google Meets and Google Classroom. The teachers for these classes are in the building but they will continue to teach students virtually while students who choose this model remain at home. In addition, many of our teachers are teaching with a Dual Modality model for Phase 3. This is a classroom that has both in-person students and virtual students. Please see information below about how and when you can request a change to your learning model.

Please note: In-person students are expected to be in school 5 days of the week. In the event that your student needs to become an eLearning student for a temporary amount of time, please contact the Principal, Mr. Stacey M. Franklin, as he has to grant approval for an extenuating circumstance. Students are not permitted to alter between learning models and teachers will not accept outside Google Meet invitations from those not approved.

Richland Two District Virtual School - Students participating in the RD2 Virtual School will continue in this learning model.

All Richland School District 2 elementary families were offered Classroom Community and E-Learning model options for Phase 3 in which you selected through Parent Portal no later than March 7th that will go into effect on Monday, March 22nd for Phase 3.

Learning Model Transition Intervals

Parents are permitted to make a request to the principal to do a learning model change. If the request comes as a result of a change of preference, we will follow the schedule below.

If the request to change learning models comes as a result of an emergency/extenuating circumstance, the learning model change (if approved by the principal) will be honored in up to 3 days.

March 25 and 26, and April 15 and 16 will be asynchronous eLearning days for students so that the district can hold vaccine clinics for our employees.

Parents, please know that we recognize the impact these days will have on your family's schedule. We ask for and appreciate your patience, understanding and support as holding the vaccine clinics for our employees has multiple benefits for the district as a whole:

• By having the clinics on a Thursday and Friday, our employees have the weekend to recover from any temporary symptoms they may experience. This cuts down on employees having to take time off after getting the shot.

• The clinics will reduce the possibility that on any given day schools will have multiple employees request to be off for vaccine appointments and/or will have multiple employees need to take sick leave due to temporary symptoms.

• The clinics streamline the process for our employees.

• Two weeks after April 16, a large majority of our employees will be inoculated and will no longer have to quarantine due to a possible close contact exposure. If employees have to make their own appointments, the district has no control over the timeline for how long it will take for a majority of employees to be inoculated.

Arrival:

Students can enter the building beginning at 7:30 until 8:30. This window of time has been increased to reduce the number of students in the hallway at a time. Car riders should not be let out of the car until 7:30 AM. Also, car riders should not be let out of the car until all cars have pulled forward and your car is past the cross walk. This helps to ensure adequate supervision. Bus riders will be loaded and unloaded based on their bus stops. All students should report to their classrooms when they arrive at school. Staff members will be stationed throughout the hallways to assist students with getting to their classrooms each day. Breakfast will be served in the classroom for all students.

Due to COVID 19 protocols and following Richland School District Two policy, parents will not be allowed to walk their child to class. Parents will not be permitted beyond the front office. Thank you in advance for helping us keep everyone safe.

Instruction:

Instruction will begin at 8:30 AM. Your child's teacher will share the daily schedule with you. All classes will have a scheduled recess, scheduled mask breaks, and lunch in the classroom. The instructional day ends at 2:30 PM.

Dismissal:

Dismissal will begin at 2:40 PM. Bus riders will be called over the intercom to load when the they arrive. Students will have assigned seats on the bus. Day care students will be picked up from their classrooms to sit in the Multi-Purpose room while waiting to be picked up. If your child will be riding a Day Care van, please be sure to notify their teacher with the name of the Day Care. In addition, if your child will not be riding a day care van one day, please notify the school and the daycare so they are aware.

Car Riders will be called around 2:45 PM. Students will dismiss from their classrooms. Car Riders will be given car tags to make the car rider line run smoothly. All car riders must be picked up no later than 3:15 PM.

After School Care:

Killian has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands to offer before and after school care. For more information, please go to www.begreatacademy.com or contact Veronica Watkins at vwatkins@richland2.org or 803-760-0533.

Early dismissal is scheduled for 11:30 AM every Friday due to the additional planning time required for dual modality instruction. There will be no asynchronous/Elearning provided for the afternoon of these early dismissal days.

Expectations:

• Class Community learners are expected to attend school daily, unless there is the need for an excused absence. Please be sure to notify your child's teacher if your child will be absent.
• Elearning students are required to follow their teacher's class schedule to actively participate in all educational activities. Please be sure to notify your child's teacher if your child will be absent.

Students will be required to have their Chromebooks in school everyday. Chromebooks for in-person students and E-Learners will need to be charged at home each night. We recommend having a consistent place for your child to keep his or her Chromebook each night in a common area.

All students will eat breakfast and lunch in the classroom. Students may opt to bring their own lunch from home. Click her for the Monthly Breakfast and Lunch Menus.

In addition to providing meals on-site for in-person students, meals will be available for eLearners. Curbside meal pickup for eLearners, as well as children up to the age of 18 who are not Richland Two students, will continue.

Students should bring a refillable water bottle daily. Water fountains will not be available for students to drink from, instead, they will be water bottle filling stations.

Our Service Solutions custodial staff is scheduled in shifts throughout each day to ensure continuous cleaning during the school day and after dismissal.

Note:

• Custodial staff will be cleaning high volume, high touch areas throughout the school continuously throughout the day.
• Custodial staff will complete full cleaning of each classroom daily after dismissal.
• Custodial staff will be using Electrostatic Cleaning on top of regular cleaning in classrooms daily.
• Teachers have professional cleaning supplies to do spot cleaning as needed throughout the day.

Email: ke-info@richland2.org
Website: richland2.org/KE
Location: 2621 Clemson Road, Columbia, SC, USA
Phone: (803) 699-2981
Facebook: facebook.com/Killian-Elementary
Twitter: @Killian_STEAM