November 5, 2020

North Linn Informational Letter

November 5, 2020

Dear North Linn Parents,

We made it through the fall and are looking forward to the winter season.  This note is to provide you some information for the approaching winter season.  Covid certainly had an effect on our school as we had a number of students testing positive and many more who had to quarantine.  We will continue our efforts at school to keep our students safe.  Our goal when school started was to keep our school open and effectively be able to teach our students and thankfully, we are meeting that goal. We greatly appreciate the continued support of our North Linn School Community.

This is a reminder that we do have a Covid dashboard on our website if you are interested in viewing how many students and staff have been impacted.  There is also an important link on that site that provides information on what we can and cannot publicly share.  When we learn of a student who has tested positive, we work with Linn County Health and with relevant people at school and then make contact with any student who may need to quarantine.  There have been some suggestions that we update the data daily.  We chose not to do this because on many days, we would report “zero” or “less than 6”.  If we post weekly data, then we can post an actual number of cases reported over the previous week.

On Monday, November 9th you will receive an email from Dawn Dvorak regarding a survey to complete for the school district.  This will be given to all parents and staff PK-12 and the students in grades 6-12.  My goal this year is to learn as much as possible about North Linn so we can make the best decisions possible for our future.  I look forward to your input on this survey over the next 2 weeks.

Thanks,

Dave Hoeger

Superintendent
 

SNOW DAYS

The State of Iowa has given schools permission to conduct snow days virtually and count them as school days.  Some schools are planning on using this option and some schools are going to treat snow days as they have in the past.  At North Linn, we are not planning on conducting virtual school on our snow days at this time.  We may reconsider this decision if we had an exceptionally bad winter and many snow days.  

There are several reasons for this decision.  First, our elementary students do not take their electronic device home each night so they would not all have a device available to connect to the teacher.  Second, teaching virtually takes some time to plan and it would be difficult to tell teachers and students early in the morning to plan on teaching and learning from home by 8:00 AM.  Finally, it takes time for many families to make necessary arrangements for child care for both our parents and our teachers. If we have a snow day, do what we have always done and encourage the kids to shovel the sidewalks, play in the snow and sleep in.  

SCHOOL NURSE'S MESSAGE

Winter is upon us and with winter comes more sickness. People will begin spending more time indoors, which increases our risk of illness. Not only do we need to think about COVID-19, but also other illnesses like influenza, strep throat, and the common cold, among others.  

Here are some tips on how to stay healthy during this winter season.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with an alcohol based hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes.  Dispose of tissues and promptly wash your hands.
• Avoid sharing personal items with other people. 
• Clean frequently touched surfaces like door knobs, remote controls, electronic devices, etc. with household cleaners.
• Wear a mask when in a public setting and when you are around people whom you do not live with.  Masks need to be worn over both the nose and mouth and need to fit snugly.
• Continue to practice social distancing..whether you are wearing a mask or not. Avoid large crowds or gatherings and stay 6 feet apart.
• Get plenty of rest, eat healthy foods, and drink plenty of water.
• Get a flu shot. 
• Avoid contact with anyone displaying symptoms or those in quarantine.
• Stay home if you are sick! If your children are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or any other illness, please check with their healthcare provider before sending them to school. 

COVID-19 information: 

• High-risk symptoms include: Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, and loss of taste and smell.
• Low-risk symptoms include: Fever, headache, muscle and/or body aches; fatigue, sore throat, runny  nose/congestion, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

Students with any high-risk symptom or two or more low-risk symptoms should stay home and are advised to seek an evaluation by a healthcare provider.

Information and guidance from LCPH:

When to quarantine:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html

When to isolate:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/isolation.html

ELEMENTARY CONCERTS

This year instead of holding our annual 2nd and 3rd grade winter concert and our Kindergarten Literacy Night, teachers will be recording students doing various activities and performances and sharing them virtually with families.  While we wish we could all be together, we know that students will still get to enjoy sharing all that they have learned with their families.

NORTH LINN ACTIVITY GUIDELINES FOR HOME EVENTS

FACE COVERINGS

• Required for ALL in attendance and will be worn while on school grounds for both indoor and outdoor activities at North Linn. 
• Coaches, players and officials are not required to wear masks, but are encouraged to wear masks when not competing.

SPECTATOR EXPECTATIONS

• Have face coverings ready before entering a school building and/or grounds.
• Accept personal responsibility by following public health and school guidelines.
• Practice safe social distancing as much as possible.
• Be patient and use common sense.
• Stay home if you show symptoms, have a temperature of 100.4 or higher or if you have been in contact with someone with a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days. 

SEATING

• Indoor seating will be clearly marked with tape or signs. Some rows may not be utilized to promote social distancing. 

ADMISSION

• Basketball & Wrestling - $5 Adult Admission, $4 for Students, 5 Years Old & Under Free 
• Passes Accepted - North Linn Activity Passes for 2020-21 

CONCESSIONS

• Will be available and week to week items for sale may vary. No popcorn or suckers will be sold or allowed in the gyms.  

PRECAUTIONS THE SCHOOL IS TAKING IN REGARD TO FACILITIES

• Locker rooms are cleaned before and after each use.
• Hand sanitizer use for athletes, coaches and officials before and during games
• Wrestling mats cleaned before & after each practice and meet. On nights with triangulars the mats will be cleaned after each dual. 
• Individual wrestlers will sanitize as often as possible.
• Basketballs will be cleaned during quarter breaks and timeouts. 
• Score table workers will wear masks and sanitize often.
• Score table and contents on the score table will be sanitized after each game. 

FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROTOCOLS

• Anyone that does not abide by the above expectations will be asked to leave the venue. 

PLEASE DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS TO ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR MIKE HILMER (mhilmer@northlinncsd.org)

NORTH LINN WINTER YOUTH ACTIVITY GUIDELINES

PRACTICE GUIDELINES

FACE COVERINGS

• All players, coaches and parents must wear masks the entire time they are  in the North Linn facility. Any parents that are watching practice or in the building for any reason must wear a mask. The only exception would be that it is up to each individual coach as to whether or not their team will wear masks while actually practicing. The advantage to coaches having players wear masks while practicing is that if there is a positive case of covid, only the person testing positive would have to quarantine if everyone is wearing a mask throughout each practice. If the team is not wearing masks and there is a positive case of covid it is likely that most (or all) of the team will have to quarantine. 

PRACTICE STRUCTURE

• It is important to do your best to break your practices up so that players are not within 6 feet of each other for any sustained period of time. A guideline that Linn County currently uses is 15 minutes of continuous sustained contact within 6 feet. This does not mean that they can be within 6 feet of each other for 14 minutes and take a one minute break and then be close again for 14 minutes. It is rather a guideline for sustained contact when contact tracing. Again, with masks none of that matters, only the positive case would have to quarantine. Without masks, it would come down to contact tracing at the discretion of the Linn County Health Department along with our school administration. 

FACILITY PROTOCOL

• We ask that you bring some sort of disinfectant wipes and wipe down the bleachers and/or areas that your players used so the next group has a safe environment for practice. It would be a good idea to have kids bring their own basketballs. Otherwise, please quickly wipe down the basketballs that were used before the next group practices. 

WATER FOUNTAINS

• All water fountains are off limits so please have the kids bring their own water bottles for practices. In addition, coaches should ensure that kids bring hand sanitizer and are sanitizing often. 

LOCKER ROOMS

• All school locker rooms are off limits for any youth activity. 

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

FACE COVERINGS

• Required for ALL in attendance and will be worn while on school grounds for both indoor and outdoor activities at North Linn. 
• Coaches, players and officials are not required to wear masks, but are encouraged to wear masks when not competing.

SPECTATOR EXPECTATIONS

• Have face coverings ready before entering a school building and/or grounds. No mask, no entry.
• Accept personal responsibility by following public health and school guidelines.
• Practice safe social distancing as much as possible.
• Be patient and use common sense.
• Stay home if you show symptoms, have a temperature of 100.4 or higher or if you have been in contact with someone with a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days. 

SEATING

• Indoor seating will be clearly marked with tape or signs if needed. Some rows may not be utilized to promote social distancing. 

CONCESSIONS

• Will be available and week to week items for sale may vary. No popcorn or suckers will be sold or allowed in the gyms. 

Under no circumstance should someone that has tested positive for covid or someone that is in quarantine from school participate in a youth practice or competition of any kind. If a player has been tested and awaiting the results, that player should not participate in practices until the results are in and they are cleared to practice.

FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROTOCOLS

• Anyone not following the above expectations may be suspended or terminated from use of our facilities. This may be an individual or group depending on the circumstances.  

PLEASE DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS TO ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR MIKE HILMER (mhilmer@northlinncsd.org)