COVID-19 Update

Jo Nesbit, McClelland Head of SchoolThis letter serves as an interim update for current and prospective McClelland families. We will continue to give you updates throughout the summer and anticipate the delivery of our “final” plan by mid to late August.

The McClelland School’s leadership team and risk management committee are working hard to establish protocols and routines for a safe reopening this Fall. While many things are still unknown and guidelines may be changed, we are fully preparing to operate in full session when we reopen in September. The McClelland School limits class size to no more than 15 students. This practice will help us implement social distancing whenever and wherever possible.

Additionally, we are also looking at ways to modify what we typically do with lunches, recess, and Town Hall Meeting schedules to avoid too many students from different classes together at one time. We are also considering a staggered start to the school day, in an effort to avoid too much clustering in the hallways. The school will be prepared to move to a remote learning model at any time during the school year, for up to two weeks, should a student or faculty member become ill with Covid-19.

We have been working on acquiring the needed cleaning supplies, hand sanitizers, touchless thermometers, disinfecting wipes, and more to ensure we are prepared for September. We have also invested in an electrostatic disinfecting gun, so the school can be quickly and efficiently disinfected daily, or as needed.

As with most things in 2020, we will need to remain flexible, as we cannot predict the future. If there is a local spike in cases, we may find that we need to follow different guidelines, and if things improve, some of these may loosen. What I can promise you is I will do everything within my power to keep the warm, nurturing, and academically challenging environment at McClelland that we all know and love and choose for our children. Our mission is to celebrate every child by promoting character growth, a lifelong love of learning, and academic achievement in a creative and safe environment. I am confident we can continue to achieve this in spite of the challenges we face.

Jo Nesbit
Head of School

The McClelland School
jnesbit@mcclellandschool.org
www.mcclellandschool.org
719-543-5271 office
719-584-2793 fax