CONTENTS: Health Screenings • Drop-Off • Pick-Up • Free School Meals • Face Mask Requirements and Masks Available
Tomorrow, September 8, is the first day of school, and we can’t wait to see your student(s). As a reminder, it will be a half day. The drop-off times will be based on students’ last names; dismissal will be at 11:30 a.m.
If your student has a school-issued Chromebook and charger, it should be brought to school fully-charged tomorrow. If there are any known problems, please report them to Technology Director Amanda Bickford: abickford@vsnb.org.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will be full days in-person. Distance Learners will start instruction on Thursday, September 10.
Importantly: If your student, or anyone who resides in your student’s home, has traveled in the last 14 days to a location other than those counties with low rates of active cases, and/or if a family or staff member has contact with visitors from a location other than those counties with low rates of active cases, it may be necessary to quarantine. A map showing the counties with low rates versus high rates of active cases is available on the State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development website: https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19/restart/cross-state-travel. This map is updated every Friday. Please adhere to the Vermont Department of Health’s travel and quarantine guidance: www.healthvermont.gov/response/coronavirus-covid-19/traveling-vermont
HEALTH SCREENINGS
Please complete the school’s health screening tomorrow morning before arriving at school. You can do this in one of two ways:
- Go to www.teacherease.com on any web browser and log in. You will use the same login that you used when registering your student. When you log in, a screen will pop up asking you to complete the Daily COVID-19 Screening Questionnaire for each of your students. Follow the prompts and answer the series of questions. After you submit the questionnaire, you will be instructed to either send your student to school or keep your student home and call the school nurse.
- Download the TeacherEase app on your phone or mobile device. Log in using the same login that you used when registering your student. Follow the instructions above in #1.
If you do not complete the health screening at home, a staff member will conduct it with you upon arrival at the school.
Students need to stay in the vehicle until a staff health screener has taken their temperature and confirmed that they passed their health screening. Everyone in the vehicle must be wearing their masks when the staff member approaches.
MORNING DROP-OFF
Students/families are encouraged to walk and/or bike during the first week of school! If this is doable for your student/family, it will help us by alleviating the traffic, while we all get used to the new drop-off procedures. We ask for everyone’s consideration as we do our best to move students through the health screenings and into school as quickly as possible. Please do not use this time to have conversations with staff members, and do not give the health screener any materials or communications for the school. If you have questions or concerns, please call or email the school. We expect that drop-off will be slow going for the first week, and we thank you for allowing extra time in your schedule and for your patience.
Students and adults must arrive at school wearing their face coverings. The adult accompanying a student(s) for drop-off must NOT leave until receiving a thumbs-up that the student(s) has passed the health screening and temperature check.
Drop-Off Times:
- 8 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.: Students with last names beginning A-L
- 8:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.: Students with last names beginning M-Z
- For families with multiple last names, please use the last name of your youngest student
Drop-Off and Pick-Up Locations:
- The Church Street “Drop-off Zone” is for families with students in Pre-K through First Grade. Staff members will escort these students into the school building. If your family also has older students, they should be dropped off here, as well.
- School Street is only for families with students in Second Grade through Sixth Grade.
If you have students in multiple grades, please use the location designated for your youngest student.
Bikers and Walkers:
- If an adult is walking or biking a student(s) to school, the adult must wait with the student(s) until the student(s) has passed the health screening. There will be signage indicating where walkers/bikers should wait for their health screening. Remember that everyone is required to wear face masks on the school grounds.
- If student walkers/bikers are NOT accompanied by an adult at drop-off, the parent/guardian needs to understand that their student may be sent home if they do not pass the health screening. In such cases, the school will call the parent/guardian to notify them of the situation.
AFTERNOON PICK-UP
All students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. on September 8, and on all subsequent full school days at 3 p.m.
Students should be picked up at the same location at which they were dropped off in the morning. All students will be released to parents/guardians or a contact designated for pick up.
Students in K – First Grade will be accompanied by a staff member to meet their parent/guardian or caregiver.
Students in second grade through sixth grade will be dismissed from the School Street side of the building to connect with their parent/guardian caregiver. If they have permission to walk or bike home, please fill out this Google permission form so that they can be dismissed from school right away.
When the weather is inclement, students will wait in their classrooms and will be contacted when an adult arrives to pick them up. We will do our best to keep everything moving quickly and smoothly, but please understand that pick up may take longer than usual.
FREE MEALS FOR ALL STUDENTS
We are happy to report that starting on September 8, VSNB will be able to offer free breakfast and lunch to ALL VSNB students every day, including the weekends, through December 2020. Thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE), the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union, and the Abbey Group for making this happen.
Meals are also being delivered by bus throughout North Bennington to students who are not attending VSNB and to VSNB Distance Learners. All children 18 years or younger qualify for one free breakfast and one free lunch each day. The pick-up locations for children 18 years or younger are available at https://vsnb.org/covid19-2020-21/ (toward the bottom of the page).
Families who would like to send their students with lunch from home, may still do so.
If your student(s) wants to participate in the meal program, they can order from the school menu on a daily basis.
VSNB Menu for the First Week:
For lunch, students can choose the main menu item or a yogurt meal.
• Tuesday, September 8th – Students can order a lunch to bring home on this half-day
Breakfast: Whole grain Smart Breakfast Cookie, fruit, milk
Lunch: Zee Zee Fun Meal, cheese stick, sunflower seeds, applesauce cups, dried fruit
• Wednesday, September 9th
Breakfast: Whole grain sweet bread, fruit, milk
Lunch: Ham & cheese, tortilla, black bean & corn salad, fruit
• Thursday, September 10th
Breakfast: Whole grain cereal bar, fruit, milk
Lunch: Turkey & cheese, sub roll, veggies and fruit
• Friday, September 11th
Breakfast: Whole grain breakfast bar, fruit, milk
Lunch: Chicken Ranch Salad on romaine, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and fruit
Please send your student in with a Rubbermaid-type of container or a washed wide-mouth container, such as a large yogurt or cottage cheese container (without lids). These will hold students’ masks during snacks and meals. If you do not have a container, the school will provide one.
Water fountains will not be available. Please be prepared to send your student to school with a reusable water bottle that must be brought home for cleaning at the end of each school day. If you are not able to provide a water bottle for your student(s), please reach out to School Nurse Kaitlyn Hewson at khewson@vsnb.org or 802-442-5955. Students will be permitted to refill their water bottle at the sink designated for their classroom.
MASK REQUIREMENTS
Acceptable masks include:
- Multilayer masks made of washable, breathable fabric (the CDC recommends masks with two or more layers)
- Disposable surgical masks (multilayer are best)
Non-acceptable masks:
- Bandanas
- Neck gaiters (cloth tubes that wrap around the face)
- Masks with valves (these only protect the wearer)
- Knitted or fleece masks
Click here to read the CDC’s brochure: “How to Select, Wear, and Clean Your Mask.”
If your child does not have a face mask, or your child’s mask does not meet the guidelines, we will have extra fabric masks on hand—thanks to Friends of the Village School volunteers and the Green Mountain Mask Makers. Additionally, we are maintaining a supply of disposable masks for students who may need them.
