February 23, 2024
In preparation for the new school year, our faculty members have been consistently working on developing safety measures and applying social and emotional learning to ensure the safety and success of our students. We want to provide the emotional support that students need to successfully adapt to returning to school.
As the semester begins many parents, students, and teachers are feeling apprehensive about the new year. In order to provide the best education and environment for our students, we began working proactively and sent out surveys last year. The feedback we received responded for a return of the interactive learning experience that Renton Prep is known for.
We know remote learning places much higher responsibility and stress on families at home. Alternatively, in-person learning allows for much greater social, emotional, and academic support for children. With that in mind, we are doing our best to prepare a safe and supportive environment for our students this upcoming school year.
This year our classes will be 100% in person. We’ve received a lot of feedback from our family surveys of how students missed our interactive education. So this year we are returning in-person field trips, cross-age mentoring, and our highly collaborative experience that is essential to our curriculum. Our plan is to keep our students on campus throughout the school year unless an adjustment is required. This flexible mindset is a strategy that we used last year which kept our students and staff safe during the pandemic. We had no cases of COVID-19 on campus last year and are very excited for our students’ return.
CDC and governmental guidance continue to rapidly change and likewise, we plan to be flexible to accommodate. We are currently taking each individual COVID-19 precautions day-by-day, based on research, safety standards, and governmental regulations and recommendations. As of now, it looks like all schools will be asked to wear masks so that is what we plan to abide by. However, if this should change, we will reassess based on safety, staff, and student needs.
At the beginning of November, we updated our current Renton Prep COVID-19 safety plan. In order to ensure maximum safety, we make policy adjusts after every government approval we receive for our programs. In addition, the policy also undergoes modification for any changes that the Department of Health requires for schools.
Our newest programs are the Return to Learn onsite testing and the Test-to-Stay quarantine. They greatly affect the testing, travel, and quarantine sections of our safety policy; and we suggest all guardians and staff read it in preparation for the upcoming holidays.
We offer onsite testing for students during regular school hours through Washington State’s DOH “Return to Learn” program. This program offers onsite rapid antigen COVID-19 testing with parental presence and consent. This program is optional and is only available when the office is open. All appointments are coordinated through the office and are not offered during holidays and school breaks.
Please see the testing document in our Renton Prep COVID-19 Safety Protocol Wakelet for more details.
We require both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to returning to school from any domestic or international travel. In order to be valid for return, students must not be experiencing symptoms and their negative test results MUST meet the guidelines in section 11 b.
If a student is symptomatic after travel, they must stay home and obtain a PCR test from a local testing center or medical facility.
As a reminder, the Renton Prep on-site testing program is only available when the office is open and not during holidays or breaks. With this, families returning from travel will need to submit test results from a local testing center or medical facility prior to their return.
In addition, all individuals are to self-monitor themselves for symptoms. If any staff or student returning from travel must isolate themselves and re-test if they develop symptoms.
If students or staff choose not to get tested after travel, they must stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days.
** For more information about our updated quarantine policy as well as our newest edition of our safety plan, please visit our website— located under the “About” page and the “covid-19 safety plan” tab. **
Due to the pandemic, extended school care was temporarily closed. We are very excited to announce its return this year along with a new extended care leader— Christiana Allen-Thompson!
Nearly all procedures for extended aftercare this year will remain relatively the same. However, this year guardians will need to remain with their students until before school care check-in and call to enter the building. In addition, guardians must be at the front door for pick up and call upon arrival to sign students out. This process allows us to filter our various pick-up times to ensure the safety of our students.
For additional information on our extended school care, please check our website!
The primary change we will see this year is the in-person educational model. We plan to have our students on campus this year, and with that comes in-person events, field trips, and group-oriented learning. We are looking forward to increasing in-person events for our students and families like our open house on Aug 16th.
Renton Prep remains a STEAM and project-based school, so students will still see the integration of online educational programs and technology-enabled growth. However, we are excited to incorporate more hands-on experiences to keep our students motivated as they return to school.
Not to mention, students and families will see some new faces along with familiar ones! We have a dynamic team joining us this year that will model an ongoing love for learning in our students and community.
We are looking forward to the potential that comes with this new school year! Renton Prep is excited to continue to collaborate across various platforms, but ultimately with our students all under the same roof.
We have a strong desire to expand on our sense of community within the school. And, we are hopeful that this will be Renton Prep’s best year yet! To learn more about our teaching methods and contact us today, or apply for 2021-2022 enrollment.
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