Parents:
Welcome back to school!  We hope you are as excited as we are to have your child/ren return to learning.  This is a new year for all of us!  We are all experiencing many different emotions: excitement, nervousness, anxiousness, etc.  There have been several significant changes with many of our procedures to ensure a safe and healthy start to our school year.  This letter, as well as many of the other documents within this mailing, are intended to highlight and explain many of those changes.  We know there are a million questions out there.  Please do not hesitate to ask.  We will get through this as a community...TOGETHER.  
These are the items included in this mailing: 
•	District Calendar (1 per household)
•	Emergency Forms – one per child
•	Covid- 19 Symptom reminder
•	Elementary field trip, photograph, publicity release Permission forms
•	Device User Agreement Policy and Protection Plan (There is a $25 insurance charge per household for laptops.  This can be paid at orientation.)
•	Household Income Eligibility form
Orientation: 
An orientation session will be provided to parents and students over 2 days (September 10th and 11th). You will be able to sign up for a 1-hour orientation with your child’s teacher.  Each family can bring up to 3 people to orientation, the student included.  Please only sign up for 1 time slot per family.  Students and parents will learn about the schedule of learning, receive their laptop/tablet if needed, access online learning platforms, and have an opportunity to ask questions and turn in paperwork.  
Families will not have to sign in at the front counter, but there will be a sign-in at each classroom with a health screening.  This will avoid large crowds in the main foyer.  Families are required to wear a mask during orientation.   Link to orientation signup:     http://bit.ly/ESorientation20
What to Bring to Orientation: 
In order to make the orientation process more efficient, please complete and bring the following forms/items to your orientation session.  All of these forms can be turned into to your teacher.
•	Laptop insurance form and $25 per family 
•	Emergency Form 
•	Family Income form
•	Signed permission slips
•	Updated email and cell #
•	Any school supplies you want to drop off
•	Any medications that need to be dropped off
Visitors to the school:
Visitors to the school are always welcome.  However, at this time we are asking parents to not enter the school for drop off or pick up unless a student needs to be signed in or out.  Visitors to the school will participate in a health screening, sign in at the front counter and will be required to wear a mask during their visit.  On a limited basis, parents will still be allowed to visit classrooms to volunteer, attend a celebration for their child or eat lunch with their child.  Please call ahead if you plan to visit your child’s classroom so spacing and capacity can be assessed before the visit.

Bus Arrival:  Students who will be riding the bus will be dropped off 1 bus at a time and enter through the back bus entrance doors. Masks must be worn during the entire bus ride and when students enter the building. Staff will escort the children to either the intermediate gym or cafeteria, where they can be supervised and socially distance while waiting for the morning bell to ring.  Students who arrive as or after the bell rings will be escorted directly to their classrooms.
Parent Drop off:  Students who are dropped off by their parents will wait in their vehicles until they enter the designated drop off/pick up zone in front of the Elementary School.  Vehicles will not be allowed to unload prior to 8:30.  Starting at 8:30, security will allow 6 vehicles at a time into the zone.  Once the cars have all stopped, the students will put on their masks, leave their vehicle and enter the building.  Staff will escort the children to the primary gym where they can be supervised and socially distant while waiting for the morning bell to ring (bell rings at 8:40).  Students who arrive as or after the bell rings will be escorted directly to their classrooms.  Please note: students will not be able to leave their vehicle until 8:30, and vehicles must be in the designated drop off/pick up zone in order for students to exit their cars.

Bus Dismissal:  Teachers will walk their students to their buses daily.  Three separate exits will be used to minimize congested sidewalk traffic.  Students are required to wear masks when walking in the halls and during their bus ride home.
Parent Pick Up:  Students who are designated walkers will be ready for pick up by 3:20.  As parents arrive for dismissal, they should drive through the parent pick up loop and wait for Security to allow six vehicles to pull into the pick-up zone.  Once the cars have stopped, the children will be called for over the radio and they will exit the building and load their vehicles.  Students will be required to wear their masks until they are safely in their parent’s vehicle.  
Security, school staff, and our Attendance Clerk will be outside dismissing walkers.  Since parents will remain in their vehicles, unfamiliar drivers will be asked to show ID as proof they are authorized to pick up students.  All parents who pick up their child at dismissal will need to present their “Authorized Dismissal Card” to expedite the dismissal process.   
Meals:  A reminder that all students will continue to receive free breakfast and lunch this year.  There are no forms to be completed for this; however, to continue to be eligible for this program we do need the enclosed household income eligibility form completed and returned.  They will eat a grab-and-go breakfast in their classrooms.  The meals will be waiting for them when they arrive at school.  Lunch will be provided in the café and an alternate location.  Children will have clear dividers on their tables so they can socialize while they eat without a mask.  The tables and dividers will be sanitized between classes.  All lunch items will be wrapped or packaged and there will be no self-serve items available.  Students are still able to purchase additional snack items. 
Bus Transportation Request: if you require bus transportation to or from home/school/ childcare site, please complete this online request.  Please note that daily changes will NOT be honored.  Any bus change requires 1-week notice.   Link to Transportation Request:  https://bit.ly/HCSDBusRequest2020
Masks:  As a general rule, all students and staff will be required to wear masks whenever social distancing of 6 ft. is not possible, or anytime there is movement. 
Masks must be worn in the following areas:  hallways, bathrooms, buses, sidewalks, in classroom when unable to maintain 6 feet, in cafeteria when not eating or out of seat, outside when unable to maintain 6 feet distance. 
Sick Days: We are asking that students stay home if they are not feeling well or showing any symptoms of illness.  Students who are sick on the days that they are supposed to be in school will need to be called in as such.  However, they have the option to be “called in remote” if they are feeling up to taking part in school-based activities from home.  If they are not feeling up to doing schoolwork however, they will need to be called in sick.  
Health Screening: Parents will be required to verify the health of their child/ren each morning prior to school.  This must be completed prior to students leaving the house. Please do not send students to school when they are not feeling well. Specific information about this will be given at orientation.   
Although this school year will start off very differently than we are traditionally used to, we are so happy to be back and to be able to interact with our students!  We have missed them so much and cannot wait for this year to begin!  We all have a big responsibility ahead of us: to help each other stay safe and healthy. We will all have to do our part by wearing our masks when needed, staying socially distanced, and being patient and understanding while we work through all the necessary changes that allow us to be back in school.  Thank you in advance for your efforts and cooperation with our new safety protocols.  This will take some time to get used to, but we are all in this together and will make it the very best it can be! 

Karri D. Schiavone                                                                                                         Tim Artessa
Principal                                                                                                                      Assistant Principal