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It is going to happen sooner or later. School administrators and principals will soon be faced with the real task of reopening schools after COVID-19. They’ll be tasked with providing the best educational environment for students and perhaps playing a bit of catch up on missed curriculum - all while needing to protect students and staff and following guidelines provided by various government agencies.
This is an unprecedented challenge for administrators. How will they be able to teach the same amount of students with existing budgets and space constraints, while implementing social distancing and ensuring an extremely high level of hygiene in the school?
Without even specific guidelines for schools yet, there are guidelines already being implemented in businesses that are returning to work, and these or similar guidelines will need to be in place for schools as well. Summer is traditionally the time when schools take stock of what they need to purchase for the next academic year. This summer will be no different, but the focus on the types of items to order this year will certainly be different.
The first step in reopening a school will be for the school administrators to create new policies regarding hygiene, spacing, and illness. These policies will need to be made in conjunction with federal, state and local government guidelines. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has a COVID-19 FAQ page with many points specifically addressing school administrators and teachers. This information will be instrumental in devising your school reopening policies.
After creating the policies, your school will be tasked with implementing the policies, communicating it to students and parents, and enforcing it in the school. Educating students to stay in compliance will be an ongoing process. The CDC provides some very useful health promotion material, with resources for various age levels. There are buttons and badges, fact sheets, posters, stickers and videos. Most are offered in English and Spanish. Best of all, the material is free.
In managing the reopening of schools, administrators will need to consider the health and safety of two distinct populations: students/teachers, office/reception staff.
Perhaps the single most important factor in managing student health will be keeping up with their hygiene. The school policy you create will likely have stipulations for hand washing frequencies, and hand sanitizing. It is very likely that if there is one thing that will be completely brand new in your school, it will be check-in stations at school entrances and hand sanitization carts throughout the school.
Check-in stations can be easily set up at school entrances or school office entrances. They should be on wheels so they can be easily moved to where they are needed. The station can be easily repurposed for future uses, or brought back to use for any future flu season.
Hand sanitization carts will also be new to the school this year. These carts can be placed throughout the school where students can use them as needed. Look for mobile carts with space for large sanitizer dispensers as well as other supplies.
Personal spacing disks are yet another product that will be new to the school campus this year. You may have seen these already in some retail stores or government offices. These disks are durable and high performance mats that help protect against exposure to COVID by showing people where to stand and keep safe distances from each other. These disks can also be great for use in preschool or classrooms for younger children by giving them an easy way to identify where they should be standing, sitting or playing. The disks adhere to the floor but can be easily reapplied to another location without leaving a residue on the floor. The disks can be customized - it’s just up to you to find the most creative way to use these in your school.
Some schools, especially for younger children, are adopting a policy of hand washing every two hours or as needed, if sooner.. A constant need for hand washing can become a major distraction to the rhythm of the classroom if students need to leave the room. Standalone, portable sinks are a good solution. They include containers for fresh and waste water, and an electric pump. Some also have heaters to supply warm water. They can be easily placed in classrooms, hallways, or other areas to provide students and teachers with quick and easy access to warm and cold water - without leaving the area they are in. These are on locking wheels so they can be easily rolled to the best location.
One thing that will never change is the need for kids to move around. In addition to the focus and health benefits of active seating, these wobble seats by Kore are antimicrobial, helping prevent the spread of bacteria. They also allow teachers flexibility to arrange their classroom seating to accommodate social distancing guidelines
Will current classrooms need to support a full class of children? Will the classroom be split into smaller groups attending at different times? Classroom kits which include sets of desks, chairs, and other items are a quick and easy way to set up classrooms on demand. The layout of the desks can be easily configured to match any learning style, or classroom setup. Whiteboard topped desks are a very popular option that both students and teachers feel enhances the learning.
For preschool, rooms and spaces can be easily divided and configured with colorful preschool room dividers. These will allow you to create play areas for small groups of children, or even individual children, with the greatest of ease and flexibility. These play panels are colorful and stimulating making it easy for kids to engage in creative play. They are low maintenance, hygienic nylon-covered vinyl surfaces and are easy to clean.
School office and administrative staff will also require special office arrangements for returning to school after COVID-19. By adding a few safe products for office spaces, you can create a healthy environment which will not only meet health guidelines, but ensure the comfort and reassurance for staff (in addition to any students or parents who may need to visit the office).
Many of the above mentioned products such as the check-in stations, personal spacing disks or sanitization carts will be useful for all people who enter the building - students, staff, parents, and other visitors. Providing separate hand sanitizing stations for the admin staff is a must.
Staff will need to be protected from each other, but also from students, delivery people or anybody who visits the office. This is where protective barriers come into play. Wellness screens, also known as sneeze guards, are designed to integrate into reception areas, open plan offices, and other work areas. Usually made from acrylic, these screens are easy to wipe clean and sanitize to help maintain a healthy environment. They come in freestanding and mountable versions, allowing the screens to be easily implemented without damaging existing furniture.
There are many types of workspace dividers and portable partitions to protect staff who work in close proximity to each other. Some panels feature anti-microbial materials and are great options for employees who work at desks, tables, or cubicles.
Managing the reopening of your school this year will be more complex than ever. As an educational administrator, your main job is to ensure that your students get the best education they can, with all that entails - and it entails a lot! The added responsibility of providing a safe and healthy environment will require extra effort and attention. Using free material provided by the CDC and other levels of government will help you with communicating and reinforcing health guidelines. Innovative school furnishings and office products for the COVID-19 world will help you in quickly adapting your school’s environment, and ensure that when school does reopen, all stakeholders will go back with essentials!
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