BOA (K-5) Return to School

There are specialty classes outside of the core instructional blocks that your child could opt out of to decrease screen time.  There will be short periodic breaks as needed during instruction as well.  Please reach out to your child's teacher to discuss any concerns and to determine the appropriate next steps.  

The transition to distance learning may be challenging for families. Parents will need to think differently about how to support their children; how to create structures and routines that allow their children to be successful; and how to monitor and support their children’s learning. The ten guidelines provided below are intended to help parents think about what they can do to help their children find success in a distance learning environment.

1- Establish routines and expectations

Parents need to establish routines and expectations. BOA has a set schedule of learning throughout the day with breaks built in for rest, activity, snack and lunch.  Reinforcement of  classroom Zoom expectations and conduct is essential for maximizing student learning.  Keep normal bedtime routines for your students (Don’t let them stay up late and sleep in!) Your children should move regularly and take periodic breaks as they study. It is important that parents set these expectations for how their children will spend their days.

2- Define the physical space for your child’s study

Your child may have a regular place for doing homework under normal circumstances, but this space may or may not be suitable for an extended period of time. We encourage families to establish a space/location where their children will learn most of the time. This should be a public/family space, not in a child’s bedroom. It should be a place that can be quiet at times and have a strong wireless internet signal, if possible.

3- Monitor communications from your children’s teachers

Teachers will communicate with parents through email, when and as necessary. The frequency and detail of these communications will be determined by your children’s ages, maturity, and their degree of independence.

4-Begin and end each day with a check-in

Parents are encouraged to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. In the morning, ask what is your child learning today? What are their learning targets or goals? How will they spend their time? What resources do they require? What support do they need? This brief grounding conversation matters. It allows children to process the instructions they’ve received from their teachers. It helps them organize themselves and set priorities. Older students may not want to have these check-ins with parents (that’s normal!), but they should nevertheless. Parents should establish these check-ins as regular parts of each day.

5-Take an active role in helping your children process and own their learning

In the course of a regular school day at BOA your son or daughter engages with other students or adults. These social interactions and opportunities include turning to a peer to exchange a thought or idea, participating in small or large group discussions, asking questions for clarification, collaborating on group projects, and countless other moments.

While some of these social interactions will be re-created on virtual platforms, others will not. Human beings learn best when they have opportunities to process their learning with others. Beyond the check-ins recommended at the start and end of each day, parents should regularly circle back and engage with their children about what they’re learning. However, it’s important that your child own their work; don’t complete assignments for them, even when they are struggling.

 

6- Establish times for quiet and reflection

A huge challenge for families with multiple children will be how to manage all of their children’s needs, especially when those children are different ages and have different needs. There may be times when siblings need to work in different rooms to avoid distraction. Parents may even experiment with noise-cancelling headphones (no music necessary!) to block out distractions.

 

7- Encourage physical activity and/or exercise

Make sure your children remember to move and exercise. This is vitally important to their health, wellbeing, and to their learning. Coach Bobby will recommend activities or exercises, but it is important for parents to model and encourage exercise! Think also about how your children can pitch in more around the house with chores or other responsibilities. Don’t let your children off the hook – expect them to pitch in!

 

8- Remain mindful of your child’s stress or worry

During this pandemic, it is imperative for parents to help their children manage the worry, anxiety, and range of emotions they may experience. Difficult though it may be, do your best not to transfer your stress or worry to your children.

Please remember to monitor your children’s online social interactions. Remind your children to be polite, respectful, and appropriate in their communications and to represent your family’s values in their interactions with others.

 Student Roles & Responsibilities

• Establish daily routines for engaging in the learning experiences - stick to your schedule.
• Identify a comfortable, quiet space in your home where you can work effectively and successfully
• Regularly monitor online platforms (Google Classroom, etc.) to check for announcements and feedback from your teachers
• Attend classes as outlined by your class schedule via Zoom
• Zoom Class Expectations:  When attending a zoom class, students must:
  -Dress in BOA t-shirt or polo (sweatshirt or sweater if cold). Free dress bottoms
  -Sit at a desk or table 
  -Communicate and behave with the same respect and consideration you would use in the classroom
• Complete assignments to the best of your ability 

 

Parent Roles & Responsibilities

Provide support for your children by adhering to the 10 Guidelines for BOA’s Parents as well as you can:

• Establish routines and expectations
• Define the physical space for your child’s study space 
• Monitor communications from your children’s teachers
• Begin and end each day with a check-in
• Take an active role in helping your children process their learning
• Establish times for quiet and reflection
• Encourage physical activity and/or exercise
• Remain mindful of your child’s stress or worry
• Monitor how much time your child is spending online
• Keep your children social, but set rules around their online social interactions

 

For questions regarding:

• An assignment, or resource or a personal, academic or social-emotional concern contact your child's Head Teacher via email 
• A technology-related problem or issue please contact Ashley Rose, BOA’s Technology Specialist rose@mmboa.org
• For other issues related to distance learning please contact Kelly Corteway, Principal

  corteway@mmboa.org

Student Google email, password, and Classroom code will be provided in an email from your teacher in late August.  

Teachers will take attendance during the morning Zoom Meeting.  If your child will be absent from the Zoom day of instruction please email your child's teacher.

BOA will continue to use email and blasts for normal day-to-day communications with parents and faculty/staff. We will be adding methods of communication as outlined below.

Channel	Audience	Description & Access
Email	Faculty, Parents	Email will be used for all major communications and announcements, including those from the Administration. Head Teachers  will also use email to communicate, although they will use other platforms to interact with their students as well.
Google GSuite	Students across Lower and Upper School (K-5)	Google GSuite will be the platform used by our teachers. Classroom (Hub for the daily assignment) Slides (Guides the learning by subject and contains all links to resources needed)
Zoom	Students, Teachers	Zoom is an online video conferencing platform that allows for live group meetings, hosted by teachers.
MMBOA Website	Families	BOA will maintain general information on its website www.mmboa.org

 

Assignments will be posted in Google Classroom.  Once logged in on the homepage please click “Classwork” in the header.  Assignments will be labeled by day.  

Teachers will start a Zoom meeting each morning and continue classes throughout the day.  Students will login to class using their teacher's Zoom ID and password.  This information will be sent by the teacher prior to the start of school.

Yes, we need your support!  Students will need you to initially log them into their accounts and show them where to access their assignments and how to connect to the Zoom meeting when they are distance learning.

Please email your child's teacher.  Please feel free to email Ashley Rose (rose@mmboa.org) if you have a technical issue outside of those hours and we will respond as soon as possible.  

• Keeping students, faculty, and staff safe
• Optimizing the learning environment to deliver our curriculum
• Reconnecting as a community socially and emotionally, student to teacher, peer to peer

Yes, San Mateo County has stipulated four pillars that we must follow to ensure a safe return to school:

• Health and Hygiene:  practice daily hygiene routines, conduct daily health screenings and conduct effective cleaning routines. 
• Face Coverings:  based on extensive research, face coverings are essential to stem the spread of COVID-19 and are required for everyone on campus from kindergarten students to staff, except those, who for medical reasons, cannot wear one.  Face coverings are to be worn when arriving/leaving campus, and in common areas.  Face coverings are not required during outside recreation (including PE).  Given the nature of our young learners, below are the recommendations from the San Mateo County Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities Pandemic Recovery Framework for face coverings during instructional time when they begin the school year on campus:
• • Kindergarten 25%
  • 1^st Grade 50%
  • 2^nd grade 75%
  • 3^rd-5^th 100%

• Physical Distancing:  a critical element to limiting the spread of COVID-19. To maintain 6ft of physical distance, limiting the number of people in any space is necessary.  In order to accomplish this, schools will need to implement alternative schedules for students, rearrange classrooms, utilize outdoor space when possible and limit the use of common areas on campus.  

BOA will implement the Stable Cohort model of physical distancing.  A Stable Cohort refers to a defined group of students whose size is dictated by the ability to implement physical distancing within the classroom. Therefore we will divide each class into two Stable Cohort groups (Group A and Group B) so that each classroom can be arranged to accommodate our students while maintaining 6ft of physical distance.  Both stable groups will rotate their time on campus weekly.  The Stable Cohort model aims to minimize mixing of the group members with others, but allows for necessary and practical considerations in a student’s educational program. The intent of the Stable Cohort is to create as stable an environment as is practical by reducing numbers of students and the movement of students across campus. 

• Limited Gatherings:  addresses the need to limit in-person meetings and group events that occur outside of the instructional setting. Teachers and students convening for learning is an essential activity and does not constitute a gathering. Activities outside of the instructional setting should be conducted remotely, postponed or otherwise restructured.

Our planning is focused on putting students at the center and with our mission and core values as the driving purpose.  After reviewing all of the input from staff and parents, while also considering the needs of our young learners, BOA decided to implement the hybrid learning model with 2 set on campus instructional days each week with Wednesday being a third day on campus rotating for each group.  When students are not on campus, they will be participating in e-learning by joining their class via Zoom for core subject instruction while at home.  Both groups have an even amount of in person instructional days.

Here is the schedule for Group A and Group B to assist with planning your family schedule.

 

At MMBOA, our philosophy has always been to deliver a balanced curriculum that emphasizes academic excellence and social and emotional development, while striving to create a lifelong love of learning.  Due to the guidelines outlined in the pandemic framework, we feel that the best way to continue our commitment to our philosophy is to have students on our campus for multiple days each week.  We remain focused on educating the whole child: academically, socially and emotionally so that a strong foundation can be formed for future success.  We believe strongly that we must have our students on campus each week in order to nurture the whole child's individual growth and development during this pandemic.  

Key Considerations:

Academics:

• Ability to assess both groups of students during each school week.  
• Ability to quickly identify areas for re-teaching.
• Shorter duration of consecutive days spent e-learning.  

Being able to assess our students and re-teach concepts (as needed), in the most timely manner possible, will allow students to solidify new concepts more effectively and help limit the amount of time for review.  The flow to this schedule will be instrumental in ensuring that our teachers and students progress through our curriculum and meet learning targets and objectives.

Social and Emotional Development:

• A classroom environment supports the development of the child in several ways: learning to problem solve, being open-minded by trying new things, developing confident communication skills, understanding and respecting rules/others, accepting responsibility, and learning empathy and compassion for others.
• Important to the learning process, is the ability to collaborate with peers by sharing ideas and thoughts with one another.    

Overall Considerations:  

• Learning continuity, consistency, momentum, and routine.
• Daily synchronous connections between both groups to create a unified classroom experience.
• Delivery of our educational program while focusing on health and hygiene within our stable cohorts to mitigate risk.  

We believe that the frequency of having our students on campus multiple days each week allows for a more consistent and optimal learning environment for our students. 

 

Yes, families may choose to select 100% distance learning.  Your child will be assigned to a stable cohort (Group A or Group B) so that you have the option to send your child back to campus when ready.   Please email Mrs. Corteway corteway@mmboa.org if you plan to select this option.

Students who are learning from home on their days off-campus will be given a packet of work and any materials needed while at home before they leave on their last day of on-campus learning.  They will join the rest of their class for core instruction via Zoom.   Being mindful of the age of our young learners, core subjects will include math and reading in kindergarten and expand to also include social studies and science for grades 1-5.  Students will return their packet of work on their first day back for on-campus learning for teacher review and assessment/grading.  We will be using Google Classroom to manage and organize assignments and activities so that caregivers are able to follow along while at home.  More details and information will be sent in August.  

 

Yes, we will be building a new schedule that ensures that both groups of students have the same specialty classes while on campus each week.  

 

BOA will be adjusting our hours of operation.  Our campus will be open from 7:40-5:00 daily. This includes the academic day and after school program. 

BOA will provide a morning drop off and after school pick up service for our families.  Families with multiple children will need to utilize both drop off and pick up locations if children are in both the lower and upper elementary.  At the start of the school year, and until further notification, elementary parents must use the drop off and pick up service at the designated locations.

 Here is a summary of the academic day by grade level.  

	Lower Elementary	Academic Day	Am Drop Off	PM Pick Up
	Kindergarten	8:30am-2:45pm	8:00am-8:30am	2:45pm-3:00pm
	1st Grade	8:15am-3:00pm	8:00am-8:15am	3:00pm-3:15pm
	2nd Grade	8:15am-3:00pm	8:00am-8:15am	3:00pm-3:15pm

Drop off and pick up will take place on Merry Moppet Lane at the entrance to the new building.

Upper Elementary	Academic Day	Am Drop Off	PM Pick Up
3rd Grade	8:00am-3:00pm	7:40am-8:00am	3:00pm-3:15pm
4th Grade	8:00am-3:00pm	7:40am-8:00am	3:00pm-3:15pm
5th Grade	8:00am-3:00pm	7:40am-8:00am	3:00pm-3:15pm

Drop off and pick up will take place on Carlmont Drive..

 

 When it is your child’s day to attend school on campus, you will have the option to enroll your child in our afterschool program which will begin at the end of the academic day and end at 4:45.  Pick up day will be from 4:45-5:00 daily.  

The after school program will begin with a snack and recess.  Students will remain in stable groups with their assistant teacher.  All K-5 students will have time to work on homework and also enjoy additional activities such as curriculum enrichment games, art or movement & mindfulness.  

The afterschool program fee will be $350.00/month.  We will not be able to accommodate a daily drop in schedule.  In addition, per the San Mateo County Guidelines, visitors to campus must be limited, therefore we are putting a hold on offering independent contractor classes. 

Elementary students will eat lunch in their classrooms at their individual desks.  Lunch carts will be brought to the classrooms.  All kitchen staff and teachers will wear gloves and face masks when preparing, plating and serving food.  All food safety and food handling protocols will remain in place.

 

Yes, that is possible, so we must build adaptability and flexibility into our plans. BOA will be ready for any scenario. We believe that maximizing on-campus time is the best way to ensure all our students are learning at their best.  Therefore, we will adapt as quickly as possible to revised county recommendations that allow for greater on-campus time.  Also, should there be a need to transition to 100% distance learning, we will be able to transition to e-learning without delay or disruption to progressing through the curriculum.

 

Our Campus Re-opening Task Force was established in early spring with the following immediate goals:

• Updating operational practices and policies aligned with direction and guidance from the San Mateo County Health Department, Department of Social Services and San Mateo County Office of Education.
• Successful launch of BOA Summer Camp and the preschool summer program on June, 22, 2020.
• Developing and maintaining a campus wide janitorial schedule to provide increased cleaning and sanitizing of all classrooms, work spaces, restrooms and outdoor play structures.

Daily Campus Cleaning/Sanitizing

• 12:45 pm – Clean and sanitize all restrooms (toilets, countertops, sinks, fixtures, dispensers, door knobs, light switches and floors)
• 11:00 am - Sanitization of all high touch areas (door knobs, light switches, handrails gates, etc.)
• 6:00 am  - Clean and sanitize outdoor equipment

Nightly Janitorial Service

• Vacuum/mop all floor areas
• Empty and sanitize trash, recycle and compost bins
• Sanitization of all high touch areas (door knobs, light switches, handrails gates, etc.)
• Classroom sanitization of chairs, desks, table and counter tops, sinks, fixtures and dispensers
• Clean and sanitize all restrooms (toilets, countertops, sinks, fixtures, dispensers, door knobs, light switches and floors)
• Creation and successful implementation of drop-off and pick-up procedures
• Creation and Implementation of schoolwide health and safety policies during the time of Covid-19.  

If you, your child, or family member living in your household is exposed or there is a known potential exposure to Covid-19, you must alert the school immediately by calling 650-593-6175 or email at contactus@mmboa.org if after hours.

 

Confirmed Case: (A case refers to a person who tests positive.)

o   MMBOA Administration will communicate with the school community that a confirmed Case has been identified and outline the actions being taken

o   In consultation with the San Mateo County Health Department, determine necessity to close the entire campus or certain areas of the campus for a prescribed amount of time.

o   Take immediate action to sanitize and disinfect the school property impacted by the case. 

 Confirmed Contact:  (A contact refers to a person who has come in close contact with a case.)

o   Notify the school immediately and remain away from campus.

o   Consult with San Mateo County Health Department.

o   Take immediate action to sanitize and disinfect the school property impacted by the contact.

o   Communicate with our school community that a confirmed contact has been identified and outline the actions being taken.

o   Per the County Health guidelines, self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

Suspected Contacts to Contact:  (Contacts to Contact are people who may have been in proximity to a contact.)

o   Any member of our school community (students, family members and staff), who suspect that they may be identified as a Contact to a Contact, must notify the school immediately.

o   MMBOA Administration will gather necessary information to determine whether a 14 day quarantine will be required before returning to school.

Please read the information below carefully.  You must sign and submit this form in order for your child to return to campus.