RETURNING TO SCHOOL

Mitigating Risk On Campus
We continue to follow the on-going guidance from the CDC, WHO, and local medical experts on the best ways to reduce exposure to COVID-19. Part of this work requires that our entire school population help us to create a community of care.

There are also several practices we are putting in place school-wide along with some physical shifts to the building that will all serve to mitigate risk. Specific mitigation strategies when individuals are on campus may include, but are not limited to:

Practices and Procedures

• Everyone is required to wear a mask throughout their time on Greenhills campus—both indoors and outdoors. The only exceptions are if an individual is actively eating/drinking in a designated space or if an individual is by themself behind a closed door.
• Everyone should work to maintain six feet of distance between all individuals. For class meetings, students will have assigned seats that are at least 6 feet apart from one another.
• Everyone will be asked to complete a health screening if they plan to come to campus and should not come to Greenhills if they fail the health screening, which will ask individuals to identify if they are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 or if they feel unwell in any way.
• Everyone will follow a regular schedule of hand washing or using hand sanitizer throughout the day. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout campus to ensure easy access.
• Faculty will clean hard work surfaces and teaching spaces before and after use, with assistance from staff. Disinfectant spray will be available for frequent use.
• Daily cleaning practices are compliant with local requirements and CDC recommendations, including the types of cleaning products used and the frequency of cleaning. Special attention is paid to the cleaning of high-touch surfaces throughout the day.

Changes to our Physical Space

• Audited our spaces to verify that we had proper ventilation
• All air filters replaced with high-grade MERV 13 filters
• Added 15 commercial-grade HEPA filter machines (Austin Air HealthMate medical-grade air purifier) throughout the building to implement a higher level of air filtration
• Serviced all HVAC systems in the building to make sure they are working efficiently and at current recommended levels
• Worked with our facilities crew to develop systems for cleaning our spaces thoroughly and efficiently
• Identified the teaching spaces that allow for maximum distance between individuals and airflow
• Considered traffic patterns throughout the school that would lessen contact
• Decided not to use cubbies and lockers at this time
• Audited spaces and placed signage that clearly notes maximum occupancy
• Installed six-foot markers throughout the school

Plum Food Service and Lunch
Plum will provide grab-and-go lunch options; self-serve options will not be available. Students will be oriented to the lunch procedure at school. Everyone should wash or sanitize their hands prior to and following lunch.

• Individuals will queue for lunch service at a safe distance.
• Tented outdoor spaces with tables, the dining room, and designated spaces in the building will serve as eating areas.
• There will be no sharing of food or eating/drinking utensils.
• Eating surfaces will be cleaned with a disinfectant at the end of each lunch service.
• Masks can only be removed while eating and drinking.

Responding to Concerns about Potential Exposures and Symptoms of COVID 19
We have created an email group to receive reports of positive test cases, new symptoms, potential exposures, concerns, and questions regarding COVID 19, with particular attention toward students and employees in the building and on campus.

If you wish to report a positive test result or exposure or ask a question about an exposure, please write to covid-coordinators@greenhillsschool.org. If you have an emergent issue, please call the School’s main number, 734.769.4010.

The people who receive and respond to emails to covid-coordinators@greenhillsschool.org include Quincy McLaughlin (Associate Head of School/Head of Upper School), Caroline Huntoon (Head of Middle School), Lisa Hogan (Covid Coordinator), Stephanie Bentley (Administrative Coordinator), and Ken Geremia (Operations/Emergency Planning). When and if a report requires a community notification of any kind regarding COVID-19, we won’t identify the reporter or the individual identified as experiencing new symptoms, an exposure, or a positive test result.

Greenhills families are still asked to send news of absences for all students (in-person and remote) for any reason to attendance@greenhillsschool.org.

Responding to Cases of COVID-19 in the Greenhills School Community
The School’s Covid Coordinators meet weekly with Washtenaw County Health Department specialists in a dedicated meeting for schools, and will continue to follow the guidance from public health officials regarding our response to cases in our school and local community. In these weekly meetings we review current local case data, any updates regarding Interim Guidance for schools, discuss school case reporting and coordination, ask questions, and seek guidance.

If a student or staff member believes they have COVID-19 symptoms (including fever, cough, nasal congestion or runny nose, sore throat, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, new loss of taste or smell, or shortness of breath), they should stay home from school to monitor symptoms, follow up with their healthcare provider, and notify the school by writing to covid-coordinators@greenhillsschool.org. That healthcare provider may recommend a COVID-19 test or period of isolation.

If a student or employee reports a confirmed case of COVID-19 (by writing to covid-coordinators@greenhillsschool.org), Greenhills will collect the contact information for any close contacts of the affected individual, as required by public health authorities. Should a positive case of COVID-19 be identified, we will notify the local public health department and follow all directions for further notices and contact tracing. The Washtenaw County Health Department is charged to conduct contact tracing and we will make classroom rosters and other data obtained available to them when needed, and their efforts will be supported by our school. The Washtenaw County Health Department is also charged to direct the Greenhill’s responses to individual or multiple positive cases. Though the guidelines for determining when a COVID-19-infected person is able to return to school or work continue to evolve, at present students or employees who test positive, or who are deemed a close contact with someone who tests positive, should expect to be required to quarantine for 14 days. All community members will be notified of confirmed positive cases, though privacy rules preclude the naming of sick people.

A “Close contact” is s person who has spent at least 15 minutes with someone that has COVID-19 and were at least six feet apart during that time with or without a mask or a person sharing a household with or directly caring for a person having a confirmed positive case of COVID-19. WCHD will take the lead with all contact tracing, though schools may be asked to assist with gathering a list of potential contacts. WCHD will contact people directly if they test positive for COVID-19. They will also be in touch if they’ve found through case investigations that someone has been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19. (“Close contact” is considered within six feet for 15-plus minutes.) You can find more about contact tracing here. At this time, WCHD recommends that all close contacts quarantine and monitor symptoms for 14 days from last exposure to a person having a confirmed positive case of COVID-19. In some circumstances, quarantine recommendations may extend beyond 14 days.

Parents and students are expected to assist the School in fulfilling responsibilities to help local health departments in contract tracing.

At this time, WCHD recommends that all close contacts quarantine and monitor symptoms for 14 days from last exposure to a person having a confirmed positive case of COVID-19. In some circumstances, quarantine recommendations may extend beyond 14 days.

If Students or Staff Become Sick While on Campus
If anyone on campus becomes sick or develops symptoms listed above, they must depart campus as soon as possible. Until that time, the symptomatic individual will continue to wear a mask and remain in a supervised isolation room near the front of the school, with a designated separate entrance and exit. Parents/guardians/emergency contacts should be prepared to pick up the student as quickly as possible in the case of illness during school day. Students and staff that have COVID-19 symptoms and are sent home should remain at home until they receive a negative COVID-19 test, until the isolation period has passed as indicated by the CDC, or until their health care provider determines they can return to in-person activities. Students and their families will be responsible for communicating with the student’s health care provider as well as all necessary Greenhills staff members.

Building Community
School is social, and we know that our student’s well-being relies on the connections they make at Greenhills. We are developing programming and practices to intentionally cultivate community. They are rooted in the following ideas:

• BelongingBelonging fosters well-being. Students’ individual differences are acknowledged and appreciated by teachers and peers. A shared sense of purpose drives every interaction. Students think and talk collaboratively as they reflect on how their learning relates to the bigger picture. They feel safe enough to share more of who they are with each other. Self-care and authentic sharing are modeled, and different perspectives are embraced and supported. Greenhills is proactively committed to being a community that centers Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Cultivating belonging is key to that work.
• ResponsibilityStudent responsibility is an essential aspect of healthy development. In the flexible learning landscape, discomfort is validated and normalized. Students are empowered to identify challenges and brainstorm solutions. They learn to put new experiences in perspective and, with scaffolded and developmentally appropriate support of their community, work to develop self-efficacy and advocacy. Students take responsibility for both the intent and impact of their actions, maintain the dignity of their community members, and adopt a growth mindset.
• StabilityStability maintains students’ sense of safety, while reducing cognitive load. Routines that can be adapted to the in-person and remote contexts are established and sustained. Faculty, staff, and administration prioritize reliability through consistent messaging and regular communication. Students can anticipate how, when, and where they receive and consume information.

Staying in Touch
Regular and reliable communication is paramount as we return to school. Keep an eye out for the following communications:

• Monthly Community-Wide Chats
  The school will put out a series of monthly YouTube live events—prerecorded—for current Greenhills students and families to replace all-school assemblies and create space for sharing school-wide rituals like convocation, student performances, and Greenstock.
• Quarterly Grade-Specific Emails
  Grade deans and team leaders will connect with their grade’s students and families through regular communication about student life to reinforce community values, preview upcoming events, and keep families in the loop about grade-specific work.
• Enhanced Advising
  Advisors are the expert on each of their advisees. They are the go-to person when a question comes up about that student and strive to be the first point of contact for families. Advisors serve as a mentor, advocate, and key member of their advisee’s support team at school. Advisors will be in regular contact with students and families—reaching out to them is always an option.
• eForum Newsletter, School-Wide Emails, and Website Updates
  As with any year, we will keep our community up to date using our traditional methods of communication.

Diversity and Inclusion
As we clarify our vision for the fall, we are deliberating taking steps forward with our work related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and our school’s ongoing efforts to become an anti-racist school. As a learning community, we must ensure that every student in our care feels safe, valued, and supported; and we must bring marginalized students to the center of all we do at Greenhills. We will ensure that our affinity groups continue to offer safe spaces for students to share and respond to their experiences. Additionally, families can expect to see our plans and commitments around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion shared on our website prior to the start of the school year.

Engaging in Student Life Activities
Engagement in student life—clubs, activities, affinity groups, athletics, and fine and performing arts—is essential to student well-being. The small communities formed in student life activities offer a sense of stability, belonging, and responsibility for students, mitigating some of the inherent risk of isolation. We are committed to offering our extensive student life activities remotely with possible in-person opportunities. We encourage all students to participate in student life at Greenhills.

Online Platform and Necessary Resources
We will continue to use GryphOn as a platform to house information about student courses. Online spaces will be clear, consistent, and concise to help students navigate synchronous and asynchronous experiences in order to lessen the cognitive load of navigation, and conserve energy for learning. Classes will primarily rely on Zoom for video conferencing but may utilize other online applications such as FlipGrid, GoogleForm, and Padlet. We will use structures and routines that students can rely on and innovate within those set structures. If there is a barrier to accessing necessary resources, please contact techsupport@greenhillsschool.org.

Laptop Policy and Recommendations
Beginning in Fall 2020, Greenhills School began requiring students to bring a laptop daily to school instruction, whether remote or in-person. A 1:1 device for students allows us to continue to boost our instruction technology capabilities, help students to collaborate and communicate on devices that they feel most comfortable with, and decrease the usage of shared devices. Most importantly, 1:1 devices for our students allow us to eliminate the sharing of devices in the school to minimize touchable surfaces that may spread COVID-19.  The complete Laptop Policy is available here, as well as on GryphOn.

Support
For any help with GryphOn, Zoom, or other technology, please send a message to techsupport@greenhillsschool.org. We welcome feedback related to student technology experiences and suggestions for improvement.

Do the benefits of in-person teaching really outweigh the risks and disruption?
The honest answer is: we’re not sure. Based on what our mental health and medical advisors tell us, we have reason to believe that students would benefit from some structured time together. That said, our goal is to be thoughtful and reflective about the steps in this process, and we know we will need to adjust.

Given all of the requirements and protocols you have to put in place, will in-person instruction feel overly restrictive?
School will certainly feel different. While we hope that these in-person days are beneficial for our students, we also know that it is likely students will experience some loss or frustration in response to such a different version of school.

If we choose to keep our student fully remote, will they be behind?
While we believe that there are benefits to returning to limited in-person learning, we recognize that each family’s situation, concerns, and barriers to return will be different. Students will still have full access to our academic program and many of our student life offerings should they need to remain fully remote for any reason.

What will my upper school student do during their free periods? Are they allowed to leave campus?
We will have designated distanced spaces for upper school students to work during their free periods where students will be expected to remain throughout their free period. Students will not be able to roam the school as they wish. When an US student’s free periods occur at the beginning and ending of an in-person school day, they will be permitted to arrive late or depart early, but they are not able to leave school during the day after a class and then return for a later class.

Will visitors be able to access campus?
Our campus is still closed to visitors.

Will you be providing bus service?
At this time, we will not be providing bus service.

Will there be before and after-school care?
At this time, we will not be providing before and after-school care.

Will Supervised Academic Study Hall (SASH) continue to be available
Yes, we will continue to offer Supervised Academic Study Hall (SASH) for middle school students who require it. SASH can only accommodate those families that absolutely need the assistance: parents and caregivers who have no other family member available to supervise a child during the day; and parents and caregivers who are at risk of losing their jobs if they stay home to supervise a child. Please email academicoffice@greenhillsschool.org if you require your student to attend their remote weeks from school in a campus study hall.

Will students be able to use lockers and cubbies?
We have suspended the use of lockers and cubbies for the time being. Students should only bring the supplies they need for any given day, and plan to keep those supplies with them in a backpack

Do students need any additional supplies for in-person instructions?
In addition to supplies for each course, students should bring:

• a fully charged laptop
• headphones
• a mask to wear and an extra just in case
• a coat or sweatshirt for walking, eating, and learning outside
• a water bottle (clearly labeled with student’s name)

We will send grade-specific emails with reminders as those particular in-person days draw near.

Do you anticipate any teacher staffing issues as a result of teachers who need to be home with their own kids?
Staffing across the divisions may be challenging given various needs. We are working with faculty and staff to balance individual and school needs.

Will you be charging the same tuition for remote learning as in-person on campus learning?
At this time, Greenhills will not be discounting or reducing tuition for remote learning or hybrid learning. Regardless of the learning scenario, the entire Greenhills’ faculty and staff are working to deliver our enhanced program to students and families, and to live the mission of our school. The extensive planning and implementation of mitigation plans brings added, not reduced, cost to the school, and we are confident that our efforts will provide even greater value.

Do you have any programming/support envisioned to help address the mental health/ social emotional impacts for students of all ages?
Social emotional learning for wellness is at the center of our plans for campus return. We have adopted approaches across all grades and divisions to support individual wellness and to shape curriculum themes, advisory, and community connections.

Are you experiencing any negative effects on learning as a result of COVID? How is Greenhills addressing this?
Learning has been different for all students—in all schools. The long-term impact of this global pandemic is yet to be seen, and it will affect each child differently. One of our school’s greatest strengths is our ability to know our students well and to connect with them as individuals, meeting them where they are at and addressing their unique needs. We continue to work hard to mitigate any negative impact this pandemic might have on our students. If parents or guardians have specific questions or concerns from this past school year, we encourage them to contact the teachers, team leaders or grade deans directly for conversation and information.

How can students minimize their risk before coming to campus?
Students should continue to follow stated public health guidelines, including physical distancing, wearing face coverings while indoors and in crowded public areas, washing/sanitizing hands regularly, and minimizing contacts and exposures in order to minimize their risk. Our medical advisors also recommend students avoid out of state travel before school begins.

Will you insist students (and the rest) stay 6ft. apart at all times (lunch/break)? Do you really need to? If we screen students and staff for fever/symptoms before they arrive on campus every day, can’t they be closer?
We will try our best to have students maintain physical distance as this is one of the major mitigation strategies recommended by our health advisors. Screening for symptoms daily does not give enough information, especially given the asymptomatic nature of some COVID cases.

Will Greenhills enforce health and safety measures?
Yes. Health and safety is paramount, and it was a key factor in our decision to open the 2020-2021 school year remotely. We will only be able to welcome students to campus for limited in-person instruction if we are able to adhere to health and safety measures. Our commitment to the health and safety of our community members will continue to be unwavering, and keeping to the policies and protocols in place will be essential. We will also look to families to help talk with their students before school starts to help with this.

Has Greenhills considered COVID testing?
We are in steady communication with our medical advisors and the WCHD about the swiftly evolving local testing options. As of this update, we are not planning on implementing testing for all employees and all students attending in-person days, on site at school in January when we will have one grade in the building at a time. We are continually reviewing local testing options and will incorporate testing into our existing mitigation strategies when and if our medical advisors endorse a vendor and strategy that’s right for Greenhills. We will provide an update in January. You can find local testing options here.

Does Greenhills have up to date and fresh air HVAC systems?
Yes, and all systems have been tested and serviced in preparation for good ventilation. We have replaced all of the filters with high grade MERV 13 filters. We will also open windows and doors depending on the location.

In addition to masks are you thinking that teachers can use a shield also?
Yes, there may be a combination of face masks and face shields, depending on the teacher.

What kind of chemicals or cleaners are being used in the classroom?
All facilities cleaning materials follow CDC guidelines for safety and usage.

Will a nurse be available at school?
We are seeking guidance from our Medical Advisory Team about a range of options to support health policies and structures for a return to the school building. The school is considering how the possibility of the role of a school nurse may be helpful to the community.

Will lunch be provided for students?
Plum will provide grab-and-go lunch options; self-serve options will not be available.

Where will students eat?
Tented outdoor spaces with tables, the dining room, and designated spaces in the building will serve as eating areas.

How will students eat if masks are required at all times?
Masks can only be removed while eating and drinking. Students will also be required to maintain six feet of space at all times.

What safety procedures are in place to keep students safe during lunch?

• Students will be encouraged to eat outside in tented outdoor spaces with tables.
• The dining room and designated spaces in the building will also serve as eating areas with protective shields in place.
• Students will be required to maintain six feet of space at all times.
• Eating surfaces will be cleaned with a disinfectant at the end of each lunch service.
• There will be no sharing of food or eating/drinking utensils.
• Everyone should wash or sanitize their hands prior to and following lunch.

What will after school activities be like in the fall (athletics, theater, Forensics, Robotics)?
We know these activities are deeply important to our students and essential for allowing students to create an individual support system within our school. Information about our in-person athletic program can be found on team pages in GryphOn, and The Hub. Additionally, some activities have started to offer optional in-person meetings on campus. As we move through the year, we will continue to work to make safe versions of these activities available to our students and will share more specifics as we are able.

How will students participate in wellness classes?
Our wellness faculty will continue to develop lessons and activities that will allow all students to participate remotely, and in-person when it is safe to do so.

What is the plan for performing arts? Will theater productions continue in a modified way or be canceled?
The upper school and middle school plays are both scheduled to be remote productions. Each production will be directed by a visiting artist who is not only an experienced educator but a working actor. We’re looking forward to taking advantage of this unique opportunity to work with talented artists around the country. Specific show details and information regarding auditions and rehearsal schedules are forthcoming.

Will grade and group meetings, like school assemblies, happen?
While all sizable in-person gatherings will not be possible, we plan to organize regular community meetings remotely.