The lower school team set up a successful and safe end of year checkout system that worked with ease for our parents! Our teachers came to campus, packed all of their student's belongings and made sure all was Covid19 sanitized!
The Lower School team did it once more!
The 2019-20 school year ended somewhat anticlimactically. The usual end of year festivities typical in American schools such as class parties, yearbook signing, and Field Day were non-existent. As the school year came to a close, CAS staff and families faced another extension to the State of Emergency, which meant a change to the usual End of Year celebration and checkout for students and staff. But the CAS Lower School, as with any obstacle, took this in stride and rose to the occasion.
The Lower School Principal, Elizabeth Phillips, had developed an End of Year Checkout Plan well before the conclusion of Distance Learning. The original plan was to occur over seven days and was quite complex to allow for social distancing and to limit the amount of individuals on campus. It also included an intricate resource exchange and runner system so no student or family member actually entered campus. Ms. Phillips ensured community members were made aware of the plan well in advance, utilizing multiple communication tools.
Then the confinement extension.
Phillips was ready the same day with communication to staff and parents informing them a new plan was in the works and to stay tuned. Within 24 hours, a new Lower School checkout plan was developed and published. It called for each staff member to be issued a Permission to Work letter so they could come to campus. The new plan delayed checkout by only two business days. Staff came to campus on Monday, June 15, for training in the new system and to pack up student personal belongings in labeled bags. Staff worked together to prepare student items so they were organized and ready to be distributed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The new End of Year checkout system was organized by family name and various staff teams. Lower School families did a wonderful job following Ms. Phillips’s directives of having school resources to be returned in labeled bags. Items to be returned were to be in the back of vehicles. Upon driving up to the gate, staff collected the family name and runners retrieved student belongings. The exchange took place through the back of cars. Staff and families said “Happy Summer” from a distance. It was not what we envisioned but it was necessary given the circumstances.
The morale of community members was high. Everyone operated as a team. In true American team spirit, staff were treated to special Checkout 2020 tee shirts and fun music blasting on campus. The Parent Teacher Committee treated the staff to snacks and refreshments both days as well as an End of Year checkout BBQ. Throughout the checkout period, community members wore PPE and observed safety measures such as social distancing.
The 2019-20 school year was anomaly. A year no one anticipated. A year of “building the plane as we flew”. With an unprecedented event such as a pandemic, full of uncertainty, one thing remains certain...CAS always rises to the occasion.