2021/2022 Roadmap

A guide to keeping our students healthy and learning in-person.

The 2021/2022 Roadmap is guided by the assumption that the COVID-19 health crisis will continue as we return this fall. McGillis will continue to respond quickly to circumstances in our own School community, as well as conditions in our city and county. As we plan to return to in-person learning, we are taking a cautious and layered approach with the goals to keep our community healthy and our students learning on campus.

Values Driven in a Time of Crisis

VALUES DRIVEN IN A TIME OF CRISIS

The McGillis School is rooted in values that guide the way we live and learn in our School community. In this time of crisis, our values continue to provide our North Star. Every McGillis student, teacher, and staff member is a member of our Kehilah, and therefore should be known, valued, and cared for. We all have a right to expect both emotional and physical safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this means members of our community can reasonably expect a heightened level of concern for their health and wellbeing. This lies within our values of Derech Eretz and Tikkun Olam. While it is possible that students, teachers, or staff members will be exposed to COVID-19 in the course of their work or studies, everyone can expect that our greatest efforts and reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent illness in our School.

Derech Eretz, having respect for all, guides our interactions with others — friends and strangers, students and adults — to be self-aware, respectful, and courteous. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this means complying willingly with rules and policies designed to keep our community safe and healthy. This means thinking of others, appreciating that their risk tolerance might be lower than ours, and adjusting our behavior with sensitivity and respect. This means respecting policies, decisions, and expectations, even when inconvenient to ourselves.

In some communities, measures taken to prevent COVID-19 have ignited conflicts between the liberty of individuals and perceptions of the common good. We expect our values of Derech Eretz, Tikkun Olam, and Gemilut Hasadim to remind us of our duties to others and demonstrate our shared commitment of respect for our Kehilah.

Our values will guide our interactions and actions, including how all members of our community and visitors:

wear high quality, well-fitting, multi-layered face masks, wash and disinfect their hands frequently, and mind physical distancing norms;
interact with each other in and out of the classroom, and take responsibility for maintaining a healthy environment;
treat others—teachers, maintenance staff, kitchen staff, office administrators, administrators, etc.—as people worthy of their respect and deserving of safety themselves;
follow self-screening guidelines for symptoms of illness and refrain from coming to campus when symptomatic; and
comply with self-quarantine rules regarding exposure to COVID-19.

Guiding Principles

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Our entire McGillis community has remained committed to the challenges that the pandemic has presented, and unfortunately, continues to present. However, we’ve proven our steadfast commitment and our guiding principles will continue to help us navigate the ongoing uncertainties that are likely to continue as we begin the new school year.

Our Guiding Principles:

Protecting the health and safety, including the physical health and the social-emotional well-being, of our kehilah is our top priority;
Delivering our mission and values in a program that inspires and prepares our learners for a lifetime of creating a better world;
Committing as a community to adopt the necessary measures, protocols, and expectations to ensure a safe and healthy community with the goal to keep our students learning on campus; and,
Knowing that reducing risk to zero is impossible, we will follow public health and safety guidelines, utilizing the Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake County Health Department, and the CDC’s coronavirus guidelines as our main reference points for our ongoing assessment of risk.

Community Commitment

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

McGillis re-introduces our Community Commitment and asks all families to recommit to the measures, protocols, and expectations that will ensure a safe and healthy community as we continue to recognize the presence and possible impact of COVID-19 in our community.

As champions of our Community Commitment, each one of us should feel free to encourage one another when we notice that we may not be complying with the norms of our protocols, understanding that they’re most often not breached with intention, but rather lack of attention.

In-Person Learning

IN-PERSON TEACHING & LEARNING

During the 2021/2022 school year, McGillis intends to only offer in-person learning and will not offer classes regularly via Zoom.

In-person learning is a traditional school experience with students attending school in person five days a week. Students are able to capitalize on classroom environments that provide engaging social interaction and feedback.

A layered mitigation strategy offers a cautious approach to keep our community healthy and our students learning on campus.

Concurrent cases in our community will always lead the School to consider the best course of action, which could include in-person learning as usual for all students, remote learning for a grade level, classroom, or subgroup of students, or remote learning for our entire student population until the health of our community improves.

OUR LAYERED APPROACH

As of the start of the 2021/2022 school year, many of our students are currently not eligible for vaccinations. Therefore, the School will implement a layered prevention strategy to protect our community and support in-person learning, including:

Getting Vaccinated

Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. With the persistence of COVID and the complexities of variants, the School is considering policies around vaccinations. Our community should anticipate, upon full FDA approval, the School may consider a vaccination requirement. At this time, we are asking families to update their child/ren’s medical information, including COVID-19 vaccination status as your child/ren are eligible for vaccines. We anticipate that at some point during the school year, all students will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

Wearing Masks

When To Stay Home

Please stay home and notify health@mcgillisschool.org if:

your student is showing signs or symptoms of COVID-19;
your student has been notified they were in contact with an individual infected with COVID-19;
your student or any member of your household tests positive for COVID-19; or
any unvaccinated student with a household member is pending a COVID-19 test due to symptoms.

NOTE: If a vaccinated student with a household member is pending a COVID-19 test, and the student is symptom-free, the student may return to school. However, testing is strongly recommended, including a rapid test as soon as possible and a PCR test 3-5 days after last exposure.

Each case will be assessed individually to determine the necessary course of action as determined by the School’s protocol.

Information will remain confidential and will allow the School to take necessary action to mitigate risk within our community.

According to the CDC, symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus and can include:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

Testing

Hygiene

Air Filtration

Cleaning

Ongoing Assessment of Our Community’s Health

COVID-19 TASK FORCE

The School’s COVID-19 Task Force Team meets regularly to keep a pulse on what is happening nationally, locally and within our School community. This team regularly assesses our McGillis COVID-19 situation and takes the necessary actions to keep our community’s exposure limited to the highest degree possible.

Annette Accarrino, Director of Marketing & Communications
Jim Brewer, Head of School
Matt Haber, McGillis Board Past-President
Adam Hersh, MD & McGillis Parent
Jen Merino, Health Specialist
Mary-Beth Scholand, MD & McGillis Board of Trustees
Emily Spivak, MD & McGillis Parent
Michael VanTyne, Director of Operations & Technology

Isolate At Home If You Test Positive For COVID-19

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should isolate right away.

You should isolate right away if you test positive for COVID-19, even if you are fully vaccinated, and contact health@mcgillisschool.org. This means to stay home except to get medical care. You should not go to school, extracurricular activities, etc.

If you’ve tested positive, you should isolate until you have been:

Fever-free for 24 hours, and
Your respiratory symptoms have improved for 24 hours, and
It has been at least 10 days since you first got sick.

If you did not have symptoms, you should isolate for 10 days from the day you were tested.

You are infectious and can spread the virus to others starting up to 2 days before you first had symptoms until your isolation period is over. If you never had symptoms, you are infectious starting 2 days before the day you were tested for COVID-19.

Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and came into close contact with you during this time should quarantine.
Close contact means you were closer than 6 feet to a person who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or longer in a 24-hour period while they were infectious.
If you test positive for COVID-19, anyone who lives in your home and is not fully vaccinated should quarantine for 10 days from the last time they were in close contact with you during isolation.

If A Student Experiences Symptoms While at School

Quarantine Requirements After A School Exposure

Standard Quarantine Protocol

For anyone who does not meet the criteria above, the standard protocol after an exposure is to quarantine. Quarantine at home if you are exposed to COVID-19 and are not fully vaccinated. We consider anyone who was within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes, to be exposed. You should not go to school, work, group gatherings, or extracurricular activities. Isolate and get tested if you get symptoms of COVID-19 after you were exposed, even if you are fully vaccinated or recently had COVID.

Under the standard quarantine protocol, you can end quarantine:

On day 10 without testing. You can end quarantine 10 days after the last time you had close contact with the person who tested positive if you don’t have symptoms of COVID-19.
On day 7 with a negative test result. You must wait at least 7 days after your exposure to be tested. You can end quarantine if your test is negative and you do not have any symptoms of COVID-19.

Although you can end quarantine after day 10 if you don’t have symptoms or after day 7 if you test negative, you still need to take safety precautions and watch for symptoms for 14 days after you were exposed.

The best ways to stop diseases from spreading in school or throughout our communities are for everyone to be vaccinated and for those who have the disease⏤or have been exposed to the disease⏤to quarantine or isolate at home until they can no longer get other people sick.

Communications

The School will transparently communicate as much information as possible about each case, while also remaining committed to protecting the privacy of the person(s) involved. Positive COVID-19 cases in the School will be communicated with families in the grade-level where the positive case occurs.

McGillis will maintain a weekly dashboard regarding COVID-19 and our community health, which will be accessible via the All School Family Canvas page and the Sunday Magpie Messenger.

Absenteeism

Accommodations may be made for students who experience prolonged absences due to a positive COVID diagnosis, quarantine due to exposure to COVID, or a severe illness or injury that keeps them home for longer than one week in duration. Students who find themselves ill and not able to attend school may work asynchronously on school work if they are healthy enough, and will be caught up upon their return by their teacher(s).

School COVID-19 Response

The McGillis School will be prepared for the rise in prevalence, or the risk of a rise in prevalence for COVID-19 in our School community. The School will continue to consult with our COVID Task Force to determine the appropriate action and response to a COVID-19 positive case. The response will be determined based on policy considerations from CDC, UDOH, SL County Health Department, and circumstances around each situation. Concurrent cases in our community will always lead the School to consider the best course of action, which could include in-person learning as usual for all students, remote learning for a grade level, classroom, or subgroup of students, or remote learning for our entire student population until the health of our community improves.

OTHER HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Health Screening App

Classroom Seating

Classroom Distancing

Classroom Mitigations

Lunch

McGillis students will continue to eat lunch outdoors and will only eat indoors under challenging weather or air conditions. Lunch will be provided each day and will be provided in containers. Lunches brought from home should be nut free. McGillis will aim to return to our more typical lunch operations when it is safe to do so and in adherence to all current restaurant and kitchen recommendations from the SL County Health Department. Our community should anticipate another full year of eating lunch outdoors.

Water & Snacks

McGillis students should come to school each day with a filled water bottle; there are 2 bottle fillers available for students to refill their bottles. Drinking fountains will remain disabled at the start of the school year, and will remain off until further notice. Students are also encouraged to bring their own nut free snack from home. All treats shared in School must be store bought and prepared in a professional kitchen.

Student Gatherings

Students may gather indoors in groups organized by and supervised by faculty/staff in various areas where large groups can gather (MAC, Library, Gathering Space, Dining Hall, etc.). The School will refrain from All-School in-person gatherings (grades K-8 combined) until it is deemed safe to do so. For example, for an event such as Shabbat, it’s feasible the School may combine three grades together in a large space, but it will be some time before we return to All-School Shabbat with all the students in the MAC together. McGillis will carefully monitor the success and feasibility of larger student gatherings as the year progresses.

ATHLETICS, ACTIVITIES, & EVENTS

Athletics

McGillis intends to resume participation in our Athletics programs. The School will compete against other schools in our league, both traveling to other schools and hosting schools to play on our campus and in our MAC. Masks may be worn during competitions, depending on the current COVID climate and the advice of our community health experts. Indoor athletics attendance may be restricted to players and coaches only depending upon COVID climate and recommendations. More details will be shared for each sport in advance of the season’s start, as protocols may vary depending on the season and indoor versus outdoor sports.

Field Trips & Class Trips

McGillis will conduct field trips with regularity. Our buses will include 14 passengers and 1 driver and windows will remain open and masks worn when traveling. Class trips will resume as feasible according to the destination, the guidelines and practices of community partners, and the nature of the trip. Details for each trip will be shared in advance for the grade the trip pertains to.

COVID-19 vaccinations are required for all students and employees participating in overnight trips. Any exemptions will need to be approved by the Head of School.

According to the CDC, individuals are considered fully vaccinated:

2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

As your child becomes vaccinated, please update their medical profile in the Veracross Parent Portal. At this time, the only vaccine authorized for children 12 years of age or older is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The School will also implement a testing process for overnight class trips including:

a required PCR test 72 hours prior to departure, AND
the possibility of a rapid test 24 hours prior to departure.

_{(updated 8/20/21)}

Middle School Dances

Library

Extended Care

Drop Off & Pick Up

Limited Campus Access

At this time and until further notice, parent/guardian entry into the School building will be restricted. New parents and parents of Kindergartners are welcome to come into the building to drop off their child(ren) between 8/24-9/03/21. Parents must wear a mask inside the School. Any parent spending time in the building beyond drop off and pick up should sign in and will also participate in a health screening.

Masks will be required for essential visitors who will access entry through our Main Entrance and report immediately to the Front Office, which will introduce a health declaration statement, and initiate a temperature and symptom check prior to giving permission to move to another part of the School.

Parent Volunteers

In-Person Community Events

Our McGillis community is eager to gather in-person again for events. We anticipate offering in-person events that will be modified according to the current COVID climate and advice from our health experts. At this time, our Back To School Night will be virtual given it’s a larger community event, and we intend to host our Grade Level Socials this fall in-person. As the year progresses, we will determine our ability to gather in-person for other events.

Vaccinations

Together we can.

Recent Head of School Updates:

2021/2022 Roadmap PDF

The wellness of our community is the social responsibility of each and every one of us. As a community, and as a society, we have a responsibility to each other to do what is best for our collective whole.

REVIEW OUR Community Commitment

McGillis has our children's safety and learning as top priorities. Over the last year when much of the world is unpredictable, we've found comfort in our McGillis community knowing that everyone is working towards a common goal of keeping our family safe, happy, and healthy."

Jaimi and Ryan Nielson, Parents of Owen ’25 & Olive ’29

Are you interested in learning more about our 2021/2022 Roadmap?

Call 801-583-0094 to set up your visit today!

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