We pray that your summer is going well and you and your family are staying healthy! These beautiful summer days will be a wonderful memory during the cold and snowy days this winter!
As you are probably aware by now, Governor Whitmer has approved the reopening of in-person instruction with required safety protocols for this coming school year and for us at Zion starting August 17 - as long as our region stays in Phase 4. If we slip back into Phases 1-3, we will implement our at-home learning program. If we move into Phase 5 or 6, many of the required procedures are lifted.
In order to be allowed to reopen we must submit a plan to the state outlining how we are implementing the Governor’s Return to School Roadmap. We will not be allowed to reopen without this plan. We have been working hard on our Fall Reopening Plan for Phase 4 seeking input from our professional staff and healthcare workers. There are a few details to be worked out yet such as lunch procedures and arrival entrances. Once those are finalized we will share our reopening plan with all of you and with the state.
We take the health and safety of all of our students, families, and staff very seriously and will be adhering to all of the requirements of the Governor’s Roadmap. You can open up the link above to the Roadmap and review what those requirements are to get some understanding of what changes will be happening this school year.
Our Day Care and Preschool are licensed through Licensing and Regulatory Affairs - Bureau of Community and Health Systems (LARA).. They also have issued guidelines Guidelines for Safe Child Care Operations During COVID-19 that we have implemented in our Child Care and will also implement in our Preschool for this fall. Our Child Care Center has been adhering to these guidelines since we have reopened this summer as outlined in our Zion CCC Health and Safety Policy: COVID-19. These guidelines are slightly different than the guidelines issued by Governor Whitmer’s Roadmap for Schools but many of the procedures are the same.
Even though our government leadership in Lansing is trying to reduce the amount of funds we receive through the CARES Act (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund), and we are receiving no funds from the state allocated $256 million for schools to implement these changes, Zion is making the required changes because the health and safety of our students, families, and staff is of utmost importance to us. We are committed to doing everything we can to protect our students and staff.
Once our school’s Reopening Plan is complete we will be sharing that with you as we prepare to go back to class on August 17 for K-8 and September 8 for Preschool. Our world is a very different place but we know that God is still in control of everything! We turn our worries over to Him and pray for His protection and peace.
