COVID Information

WHAT IS KINDI DOING DURING COVID-19?

The health and safety of our staff, students, and their families is a top concern for Kindi Academy. We are doing our best to follow the general safety guidelines and add some of our own to keep everyone safe and healthy. We are also constantly monitoring the situation and any developments that will contribute to enhancing our measures and procedures.

Please keep in mind that this document is an evolving one, and it is amenable to constant change based on new findings. The final goal is to come up with best practices to keep all school stakeholders safe and well.

School-Wide Measures

Cleaning and sanitizing of school facilities five days per week.
Nightly spraying the whole school with a virucide agent.
Using UVC lights overnight to kill viruses and bacteria.
Masks are mandatory for all students and teachers even vaccinated ones except during snack, lunch, recess, or gym.
Limit parents to the front foyer and office. Staff will call children through the paging system for early dismissal or otherwise.
Each classroom has a COVID Air Purifier that operated during school hours. This will circulate the air every 7-10 minutes.
A teacher is required to open their class exterior door few minutes each period to allow for fresh air.

Classroom Measures

Students regular seating will be spread out such that desks and rugs (Montessori) are spaced 3 ft. apart.
Teachers are required to wear the mask as long as they are at less than 4.5 feet away from students. Otherwise, a teacher may optionally remove the mask temporarily.
A student is required to sanitize their desk, chair, and used material before leaving the room.
Students will be reminded to wash and sanitize their hands routinely.
Students will be instructed on how to sneeze properly.
Classrooms will be furnished with hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes to be used often during the day.

Dropping-off

Teachers will not unload students from cars in the driveway as used to be the case to avoid cross infection. Parents will have to unload their children. Teachers will be waiting outside or by the door to take the temperature of the students while parents are waiting. If the temperature is at 100.4 degrees or higher, the student will not be allowed into the school.
Students will have to put on the mask and take a squirt of hand-sanitizer by the door as soon as they enter the building.
Parents of late students will have to wait until the temperature of the student is taken before they take off.

Physical Activity

If students are playing a contact sport such as soccer, dodge ball, basketball, or such then they will be required to have the mask on.
If students are exercising or playing non-contact sports (such as running), then they are not required to have the mask on.

Education

We will spend the first few days and weeks educating children about “How Germs Spread” and “Why we’re Doing This?”
We will be using media and hands-on activities to get the message across.
Disinfecting, hand washing, coughing/sneezing and social distancing topics will be discussed frequently in each classroom as a reminder to all students.
Display signs will be placed throughout the school to remind students of important safety tips.

Positive Case Finding

If a case is found in any of the following groups:
- Room 101 (3-6 Montessori)
- Room 102 (3-6 Montessori)
- Room 103 (3-6 Montessori)
- Lower Elementary Grades 1-3 (any of the 3 groups)
- Upper Elementary (Grades 4)
- Upper Elementary and Middles School (Grades 5-8)

then the whole group of students, their homeroom teacher, and any teachers that got in touch with them recently will be asked to take a COVID test immediately and not come back to school until they have a documented negative result (Rapid tests are accepted). The person with the positive test will not be allowed back in school before a PCR negative test result.

In the case the student with positive COVID has siblings at the school, the siblings will not be allowed to school until all test negative (Rapid for siblings) on DAY 3 after their infected brother/sister tested negative. This means that while the infected sibling can come to school after his/her negative test result, the siblings will have to wait for 3 more days before coming to school.
In some cases, an infected student will test positive for extended periods of time and cannot get a negative result. In this case, we need a letter of the pediatrician or IDPH allowing the student to go back to class.
An email will be sent school-wide if a case is confirmed positive. No email will be sent out for just symptoms or suspicion.

Students with Cold Symptoms

If a student has any cold symptoms such as but not limited to runny or stuffed nose, fever, coughing, or has diarrhea, or skin rash, the student needs to be absent and must perform a Rapid Covid test and get a negative result before coming back to school.
In the case of fever, a student must be clear of fever for 24 hours before coming back to school (with a negative test result as mentioned)
If the symptoms are due to a chronic allergy, there is no need for a test.
No test is needed for Strep Throat or Pink Eye situations. Students just need the proper medication before coming to school.

Travel

When you come back from traveling abroad, and your child is not vaccinated, then the student must take a Rapid or PCR test with a negative result before coming back to school. If the child is vaccinated (12 and up) then there is no need for a test, but should keep an eye on any developing symptoms.

Families Doing their Part
We ask that all parents do their part to prevent any lost time or confusion by:

Taking their child’s temperature at home. If they detect that their child is falling ill, the child should be held back at home. This will save time for all parties.
Parents must disclose if they test positive or were in contact with a person who tested positive as soon as they find out. This will help us take immediate action which includes informing classmates and teachers and asking them to test.
We ask that parents honor all school safety rules so we can best perform our job in protecting our Kindi family.
We welcome all ideas that might make our school a safer place. Talk to us about your thoughts.

If you have any suggestions, please email us at office@kindiacademycom