For Parents

Dear HOPE Parents and Staff:

As you may be aware, the City of Racine mask mandate will be reinstated as of September 4^th, 2021. In a recent meeting, the Racine Health Department stated that the mask mandate will include schools. We will, at this time, the Racine Health Department’s approved health and safety plan for HOPE schools which requires the following actions starting on Tuesday, September 7^th , 2021.

1.  All scholars, staff, and visitors will be required to wear masks when present in our schools regardless of their vaccination status.
2. We will still follow CDC guidelines around keeping all areas of our schools sanitized.
3. Scholars will remain in cohorts to reduce any possible virus spread.
4. Scholars will continue to be served breakfast and lunch in wrapped individual portions, and scholars’ meals/snacks will be consumed in their individual classroom settings.
5.  Hand sanitizer will always be available in classrooms, hallways, offices, and community spaces. Scholars with fevers or other symptoms of COVID will be isolated from other students until a parent/guardian arrives to take them home.

I personally want to thank all of you for your cooperation and support during this school year as we travelled a unique path balancing ongoing education for our scholars while preventing the spread of COVID infections in our schools.

Let us give thanks to our merciful Father, the Father who never left our side during our struggles and challenges.

Blessings to you and your families,

Casandra Delgado

Principal

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Dear HOPE Parents and Families:

We are very much looking forward to welcoming our scholars for the start of the 2021-22 school year in late August. With the changes in COVID recommendations from the CDC, issued 7.9.21, and the end of health department mandates for schools, our HOPE COVID On-Campus Operations Framework Team met recently to determine HOPE’s 2021-22 COVID Health and Safety Protocols; and we would like to share the following updates with you.

• Mask Wearing

  • Scholars and school staff will not be required to wear masks on campus, in most cases, but may do so if they wish.

  • Visitors, including parents and volunteers, will be required to wear masks on campus and follow all visitor protocols.

  • Scholars and school staff will be required to wear masks during all-school assemblies/chapels when these events are held in the gym.

• School Arrival Screening

  • Temperatures will no longer be taken upon scholar or staff arrival at school. We ask, however, that parents/guardians monitor their scholar’s health for symptoms of COVID and other communicable diseases before scholars leave home for school. We will continue to require scholars who are ill upon arrival at school or become ill during the school day to be sent home as soon as is possible.

• Field Trips

  • All field trips will be approved on a case-by-case basis after reviewing COVID risk factors that may impact scholar/staff attendance.

• Breakfast and Lunch

  • All scholar meals will continue to be served on pre-filled/sealed individual trays. Each campus will determine whether scholars will eat meals in their classrooms or adequately spaced with their cohort in the cafeteria. All eating surfaces will be cleaned/sanitized before/after student use.

• Movement of Scholars

  • Scholars in Kindergarten – Grade 4 will continue to be part of a classroom cohort throughout the day.

  • Scholars in middle (grades 5-8) and high school (grades 9-12) will be allowed to transition from one classroom to another maintaining appropriate space between cohort groups while in the hallways.

  • Staff will ensure that learning spaces are clean/sanitized between cohort use.

• Cleaning and Personal Hygiene

  • All common spaces and restrooms will continue to be cleaned throughout the school day as we did during the 20-21 school year.

  • Scholars will wash and sanitize their hands before/after eating and after using the restroom.

  • Shared scholar materials such as gym equipment and math manipulatives will be sanitized between scholar use.

  • Scholars will be issued plastic water bottles at the beginning of the school year, and water bottle filling stations will be available for scholar use again this year.

  • Hand sanitizer dispensers will remain in place throughout our school building for scholar and staff use.

• Interscholastic Sports

  • Our scholars will resume participation in competitive interscholastic sports as approved by their parents/guardians and following the protocols established by athletic governing agencies.

• Personal Space
  • We will maintain a 3 foot distance between scholars in our classrooms when feasible. All attempts will be made to keep scholars a safe distance apart in common areas when feasible.

If you have concerns or questions regarding these updates or would like further information, please contact your scholar’s principal.

We pray for God’s blessings on our scholars, their families, and our staff during the upcoming school year,

Ellen Bartling, PhD | Executive Director | HOPE Christian Schools

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