School Reopening FAQ

Sussex Christian School Community,

Sussex Christian School is dedicated to providing excellent Christian education in this rapidly changing world. The safety and health of our students have always been paramount but have never been more at the forefront than today. We have been working with our parents and our community to provide a safe learning environment as the guidelines and research has been coming in. We have been preparing to do so even before the end of the school year with constant feedback from our parents.

In preparation for receiving school opening guidelines, we sent a survey out to our parents on June 24. We cannot thank our parents enough for filling out the survey and providing the Reopening Team with valuable insight on how we can best meet the needs of our community.

After a preliminary review of the NJDOE detailed guidelines, we were assured that SCS would be able to safely reopen the school in September. We were excited to email our parents this news on June 26.

After a careful review of the guidelines and a review of our survey results, we were able to tell our parents some of the ways on-campus learning will be different to ensure a safe learning environment with our letter on July 2.

We will continue to refine how SCS looks this fall and will provide a full reopening plan in the coming weeks. Today, we will provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions during this process.

Will face coverings be required?

The primary and most effective method of controlling the spread of the virus is to maintain a “social distance” from one another. Due to our school's small class size and expansive classroom, our students are uniquely capable to meet these requirements. The vast majority of our children’s time on-campus will not require them to have masks on. Times where the students are in the hallways, restrooms, or where social distancing cannot be maintained, they may be required to temporarily wear face protection. All visitors, faculty, and staff will be required to maintain face coverings while inside our campus in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Education standards.

Will more frequent cleaning occur during the day?

SCS will enhance our required facility cleaning practices and procedures and incorporate the new requirements of the local health department. This will include an increase in routine cleaning and disinfecting especially of frequently touched surfaces and objects. Bathrooms will continue to be sanitized daily. Our professional cleaners adhere to enhanced cleaning guidelines. Our classrooms will be stocked with disinfectant wipes where our teachers will clean frequently touched surfaces throughout the day.

What will happen if remote learning is required again?

Our teachers are concentrating their summer professional development on utilizing our remote learning platform to their greatest potential, ensuring we are meeting every student where they are and continue personalized learning.

What will be the requirements for transportation?

For students taking public transportation, they will be required to abide by the regulations set forth by the district of the bus they are on. For those dropping off their children, we will likely have a drop off for the older students at the gym, and the younger students in the front to minimize contact between the student population within the building. We will provide more details in our full reopening plan.

How will you maintain social distancing within the Preschool and Kindergarten classes?

Social distancing looks different for young children than older children and adults. For young children, social distancing is all about reducing contacts. Class sizes will be small and children will continue to play and learn together in these smaller groups.

What will recess look like?

SCS will maintain its staggered recess times. The priority will be promoting physical and social activities that maintain physical distance and not sharing equipment.

What else is SCS doing to ensure the safety of my child?

We will continue to report as we develop the full back to school plan and we welcome any feedback from our community during this process.

Through this endeavor, one fact has always remained clear: transmission of the virus is much less likely outdoors than indoors. Additionally, educational research is clear that learning outside provides a vast array of benefits to the physical, mental, and social health of our students. Therefore, SCS is very excited to move forward with our 3 Acre Outdoor Learning Center. Its mission is to provide educational opportunities to our students in Preschool to 8th grade through unique educational programs focused on science, technology, environmental, history, and leadership education.

Please pray for our teams as we put together this plan, and the safety of our community.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kuperus

Vice President of the Board of Directors