COVID - 19 Policies and Procedures
Your child’s safety is our top priority, so in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic GNCS has adopted the following Policies and Procedures to keep our community safe.
We appreciate your cooperation in following the state guidelines and keeping our school safe. That means that every choice each one of us makes needs to be as safe as prudently possible in light of this pandemic. Please be aware of hotspots and high risk behaviors, and be diligent with social distancing and face mask wearing as these practices will help all of us (students, staff, families, others) in maintaining GNCS as a safe place. These procedures were compiled from a variety of sources including the CDC, IDPH, General Church Legal Counsel, and our New Church sister schools.
We have developed 6 main strategies for this year:
COVID- 19 Code of Conduct
1. Hand washing stations are in place in each classroom and will be used throughout the day.
2. Increased emphasis will be placed on hand washing during transitions and any time a student touches his/her face.
3. Hand sanitizer stations have been installed at appropriate places and will be used by students and teachers regularly.
4. Students (age appropriate) will disinfect desks and high touch surfaces in classrooms daily.
5. Teachers will wipe down all of the high touch surfaces in their classroom at the end of each day.
6. Additional cleaning of the buildings will be done at the end of each day.
7. Teachers will disinfect any shared toys or dramatic play areas throughout the day, and at the end of each day.
1. Teachers will wear face masks and will follow health protocols when face masks need to be removed.
2. Teachers and students may remove their face masks when they are outside and are able to maintain 6 feet of distance.
3. Students will wear face masks while in the buildings, unless they are eating or drinking during snack or lunch. Eating will be done outdoors whenever possible.
4. Any writing or imagery on any face mask must be acceptable for a church school setting.
5. Students and teachers are expected to bring a clean face mask to school each day, along
with a spare.
6. Desks have been positioned so each student is 6 feet apart – where this is not possible plexiglass barriers have been installed. When desks are not being used floors will be marked appropriately.
7. Some teachers will utilize additional plexiglass barriers during teaching.
1. No parents/family members are allowed into the school buildings. If something needs to be dropped off, please contact Judy for assistance.
2. In the event of an emergency, any personnel must wear a face mask when entering the buildings and keep distance from students and staff.
1. In order to minimize the amount of risk to any particular group or teacher, our schedule this year has been done in blocks. i.e. the music teacher will teach to 5 groups but only 2 separate groups in any one week.
2. In addition, this allows extra time for materials to be wiped down and sanitized between the weekly groups.
1. Homeroom classrooms are assigned to use particular doors, bathrooms, and sections of the gym.
2. Children within each homeroom grouping will only interact with the children in their grouping. If pandemic restrictions ease, this policy could be revisited.
3. These precautions will help us prevent the spread of germs in general and in particular COVID-19. These precautions are also in place, to help us accurately track people in the event of a COVID-19 case and minimize school and/or classroom closures.
4. Students and teachers will use only their assigned bathrooms.
1. Each morning, at home, before leaving for school parents must give their child a health screening, which includes checking your child(ren)’s temperature and make an assessment for any COVID-19 related symptoms. A daily online health questionnaire must be completed by each family before your child(ren) arrives at school.
2. In order to trigger the following COVID-19 response protocols, your child must be diagnosed with 2 of the following symptoms: sore throat, runny nose, chills, muscle pain, nausea/vomiting, headache, or diarrhea OR 1 of the following symptoms: fever (100.4 or greater), cough, new lack of smell or taste, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing THEN Call Judy Teel (847- 72-0057).
3. For students experiencing COVID-19 symptoms qualified above (and their family members) they are only able to return to school after:
a. A negative COVID-19 test or
b. A doctor’s note citing a chronic condition or
c. 10 days since symptoms first appeared and 72 hours with no fever without the
use of fever-reducing medications.
4. If there has been a diagnosis of COVID-19 in my child’s classroom and/or there has been
close contact (close contact is defined as closer than 6 feet for longer than 15 minutes) with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 then….
a. Area where infected person was will be closed off and disinfected.
b. GNCS will notify all potentially exposed individuals instructing those potentially
exposed individuals to isolate and self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.
c. In an instance where there is a positive COVID-19 test result* (see Confidentiality on page 4) in a classroom that class will go to remote learning. All exposed persons will need to self-monitor and be symptom free after a 14 day quarantine period, before returning to school.
d. In an instance where there is a negative COVID-19 test result then the child can return to school after 24 hours if showing no two symptoms and no fever (without the use of fever reducing medication).
5. In the event, that a child is showing 2 or more COVID-19 symptoms during the school day, and does not have a doctor’s note, he/she will be escorted to a waiting room (or an outside area weather permitting) with its own outside entrance. In the case that that child has siblings at GNCS, they will be asked to join their sibling. Judy Teel or Phil Parker will be informed of the child(ren)’s removal and will ask the parents to pick up their child(ren) within one hour (if at all possible). Parents then should follow the protocols set out on the “Sick Child/Family Process” flowchart on page 5 of this document. Classroom activities will continue as normal until a positive test is reported or another student shows symptoms and the school deems it necessary to go to remote learning.
* Confidentiality
1. The school will treat as confidential any reports made of the circumstances in the Screening and Reporting Sheet described below (e.g., being diagnosed with COVID-19) and the identities of Affected Persons. To the extent required by applicable law, the school will follow state and local requirements for the reporting of Affected Persons within the school community to state or local health authorities.
2. Questions or Concerns: Personnel or parents/guardians with questions or concerns about these protocols should contact Phil Parker (224-766-0850). GNCS will evaluate the concerns and take action as may be appropriate. GNCS will neither tolerate nor engage in any retaliatory conduct against any person who reports a concern or participates in an investigation regarding these protocols.
