ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – After months of preparations, starting Tuesday, in-person learning can resume for students in Alameda County.
Not every school district will be ready to welcome kids back to the classroom.
Even though schools have been given the green light it will be a while before public schools resume in-person learning.
At the Child Unique Montessori School, leaders say they’re using state, federal guidelines, along with some advice from overseas.
Since March, Cindy Acker and her staff at Montessori Elementary School of Alameda have been crafting a game plan on the best ways to protect kids in the classroom, in the age of COVID.
In addition to the state, and federal protocols, she even reached out to leaders in Taiwan for advice.
“Taiwan had a record that was not elevating the way it was here in the United States, so I wanted to know what they did,” Acker said.
After months of prepping and planning, the staff will put their practices to use, as the school welcomes back students for in-person learning.
Acker says the school made huge improvements by adding an enhanced air filtration system, classes will be limited to 11-students, temperatures of students and staff will be checked 4-times a day, dividers will help keep kids from gathering in a single location, and a disinfector will go around the room collecting items used by students that are marked with these yield signs.
“Literally no child touches something twice without it being disinfected, as opposed to being disinfected at the end of the day which we do every day, we’re disinfecting every minute,” Acker said.
The school is among 20 that have been given the green light from Alameda County officials to reopen after the county moved to a new tier in its reopening plan.
Acker says the changes while tough, is about protecting the kids.
“It’s just what it is right now. It’s just something that we have to deal with,” Acker said.
So far, 20 schools in Alameda County have submitted reopening plans to the county.
All 20 are private schools.
County education leaders say they’re expecting to see some reopening plans from some smaller public school districts in the coming weeks.