HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLNESS PROTOCOLS

MCMS COVID-19 Prevention Policies

Madison Community Montessori School is fully committed to safeguarding the health and safety of all of our faculty, staff, students, and community members. We comply with all public health guidance for operating schools during the pandemic.

Community Engagement and Wellness

Family Engagement through Service and Learning: opportunities to connect, serve others, and learn together as an MCMS community.

The Great Outdoors: We relish opportunities to be outside with the children when in person and have resources with families for fun at home too!

Balance: offering in-person activities and virtual opportunities for convenience and comfort.

Social Connection: Children have opportunities for hands-on learning and social/emotional development with the Montessori method. 

Support for children: In-person or virtual, we acknowledge the needs children may have as they transition back to school, and are prepared to lend a listening ear as well as extra understanding and encouragement while maintaining consistency and reasonable expectations.

 

Family Responsibilities

We ask all families to help us keep the health and safety of the MCMS community a priority. Families can do this in the following ways:

 

  • Make sure you have reviewed the daily health screener before leaving for school each day, and provide information regarding any illness with the office
  • Be consistently on time for drop-off and pick-up
  • Do not enter the MCMS school building if you are sick
  • Practice wearing masks and talking to your children about the proper use and importance of them so they are ready if they need to wear one
  • Make the commitment to keep our community healthy by abiding by all Public Health Madison and Dane County and CDC guidance in your personal lives outside of school

UPDATES TO OPERATIONS

We have looked in to all aspects of our facility and operational policies for ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Some changes are short term and will be adjusted as we move in and out of phases. Other changes will be permanent and have a continued positive affect on our community’s well being. Here are just some of the ways that we have adjusted MCMS for you.

  • Cleaning and sanitization policies and procedures have been updated. Our nightly service consists of hospital-grade disinfectants, color-coded Microfiber cloths (traps 99% of dirt), Microfiber NO DIP flat mops (no cross contamination) and HEPA Vacuums (traps 99.7% airborne allergens). Disinfecting and sanitizing solution is provided in every classroom and our staff sanitizes and disinfects heavily used surfaces and items throughout the day. The solution used utilizes Signet Neutral Disinfectant (DS1) which meets the EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. Lastly, hand sanitizer and no-touch soap dispensers (wall mounted and free standing) are placed throughout the MCMS building and campus for anytime availability.
  • Drinking fountains in the common areas have been restricted to bottle fill mode only. The smaller fountains in the classrooms have been temporarily disconnected or removed. We encourage all staff and students to use individual drinking bottles, fillable with the no touch units on each floor.
  • HVAC & air quality is another area of extreme investment. Our school is equipped with eight individual systems. While other buildings you visit may share air throughout, our classrooms never share air with more than one other room. We have commissioned local experts to test and balance air flow in all rooms. We have also installed auto-cleaning air ionization systems throughout the building. Bipolar ionization works to safely clean indoor air, leveraging an electronic charge to create a high concentration of positive and negative ions. These ions travel through the air continuously seeking out and attaching to particles. This sets in motion a continuous pattern of particle combination. As these particles become larger, they are eliminated from the air more rapidly. Additionally, positive and negative ions have microbicidal effects on pathogens, ultimately reducing the infectivity of the virus. This bipolar ionization is ozone-free and completely safe while in-person. Our nap room also has a portable HEPA air filtration system in use when children from multiple cohorts are napping.
  • Restrooms have been upgraded with no-touch soap and paper towel dispensers, all in an effort to limit multi touch points. Sanitizing solution is provided in each bathroom and procedures posted for after use.
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including access to surgical masks, KN95 masks, gloves, and face shields are available to any staff member. We ask every family to provide their child with clean cloth face coverings if desired.

 


RESOURCES

Our In-person Operating Plan has been created based on guidelines, protocols, and mandates enacted for Dane County. Below you will find additional resources and links with the most recent information available.