We want to give families a preview of some of the guidelines students who are attending in-person can expect on a typical school day, starting next week.
Students will start each day by accessing the DSST Daily Screener Tool online before they arrive at school. Students will use their DSST email address and DPS student ID as the password. Access the Screener Tool here.
Here other key pieces of information to help you and your students prepare for a day in the life of a student at school:
In Class
Classrooms will be situated to maximize the space between desks with a minimum allowable distance of 3 feet. Students must remain in their assigned seats to ensure we can effectively contact trace should there be a positive case.
Out of Class
During transitions, students and staff will maximize distancing, maintaining a 6 foot distance whenever possible. This includes classroom transitions, PE and any other time students aren’t at their desks.
Bathrooms
To minimize contact between students, your school will have a system in place to restrict the number of students either filling up bottles or going to the restroom at any given time. Students will need to sanitize and/or wash their hands thoroughly after using the restroom.
Water bottles
It turns out that for now, drinking fountains are a thing of the past. With that, it’s critical that students bring a water bottle with them to school to fill up at one of their school’s handy water bottle filling stations.
Nightly Deep Clean
Clean is the name of the game. We have worked with our district partners (DPS and APS), who own and clean our buildings, to ensure that all high touch surfaces and spaces will be sanitized nightly.
Sanitizing During The Day
Our staff will also have surface disinfectant on hand and will be cleaning surfaces between classes to further minimize the potential for the spread of germs. We will have hand sanitizer available for students and staff to use throughout the day. Students should feel free to bring their own.
Masks and Distancing During Meals
It’s hard to eat through a mask - so this will be the one moment in the day when students can remove them. We’re ensuring that space between students will be maximized by using classrooms, common spaces like cafeterias, commons, gyms and outdoors for meals.
Students will also have assigned seats at lunch time so that we can effectively contact trace. This will ensure that students will be 6 feet away from one another during meals. Staff monitoring meals will have their masks on and be safely distanced from everyone. Students should bring warm clothing for comfortable meals and breaks outside.
Breaks
Weather, time and safety dependent, there may be time for student breaks outdoors. Students will need to maintain 6 foot distancing and wear masks.