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COVID-19 COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

Willow Montessori Academy is committed to balancing the needs to provide a safe school environment with students’ developmental needs to socialize and inspire a love of learning. To that end, all interventions will be made in as natural a manner as possible with as much subtlety as we can so that the predominant climate of our community remains positive and stress-free. 

Willow Montessori Academy is committed to implementing health and safety precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our school community while prioritizing the safety of your children and our teachers, as well. As a staff of 10, we are in charge of following the recommendations of the CDC and Health Department at school and in our personal lives. But we represent 15% of the on-campus community. Students comprise the other 85%, so parents, we need your help! Because we are such a close-knit community, we can not do it without your support. To that end, we are asking WMA Families to voluntarily enter into a COVID community commitment so we are all working as a team to keep each other healthy. We have the great fortune of being a responsive, dedicated, and caring community of families and teachers. By following these precautions together, we can decrease the chance of transmission. 

Willow Montessori In-School Safety Measures 

WMA's goal is to minimize outside exposure and have early identification procedures in place so the quality of the Montessori learning experience remains intact for your child while limiting opportunity for transmission to our community. To mitigate transmission among students and keep each teacher safe as possible, we commit to the following precautionary measures: 

● Close monitoring of symptoms 

● Daily temperature check 

● Daily health screening 

● Social distancing (3 ft - 6 ft when feasible) 

● Hygiene routines 

● Teaching hygiene techniques 

● Sanitation routines 

● Teaching hand washing techniques 

● Nightly cleaning 

● Face masks (when appropriate and necessary)/ Face shields 

● Safety gloves when appropriate

● Non-essential visitors not permitted 

● School-wide gatherings replaced by zooms or small groups with mask if you can’t maintain 6 ft

 

Family At Home Safety Measures 

The following guidance is strongly recommended to the greatest extent possible. Please read and provide your consent and support. 

“I acknowledge and understand that participation in school activities or programs at Willow Montessori Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic presents certain risks beyond WMA’s control. I know these may exist regardless of whether WMA controls or attempts to control such risks and even if WMA exercises the utmost care in trying to prevent anyone from getting injured or sick” 

To show my support and help the school community reduce the chance of transmission, my family and I commit to the following precautionary measures: 

In Public Spaces, including work, all members of my household commit to the following: 

● Increased social distancing 

● Face masks worn when social distancing measures not available 

● Monitoring for symptoms, or self-quarantine if chance of exposure, after international travel or domestic travel to an area experiencing widespread community transmission 

● Hand sanitation after contact with high touch surfaces 

● Hand washing during or after public activities 

At home, all members of my household commit to the following: 

● Monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 such as: mild, cold-like symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, and cough, vomiting and diarrhea, temperature, loss of taste/smell, shortness of breath

● Teach proper hand washing techniques to child 

● Model hand washing habits 

● Promote awareness, help child identify, when hand washing might be necessary

● Reporting to school when there is a confirmed case in our family 

● Disclosure and self-quarantine when known direct contact with a confirmed case case occurred

As per the Texas Department of State of Health Services: 

In accordance with the most recent guidance from the Texas Department of State Health Services, issued July 9th, 2021 the following are the minimum recommended health protocols for child care families in Texas. Child care centers may adopt additional protocols to help protect the health and safety of all employees and children. 

I _____________________ parent/guardian of child/children ______________________ hereby certify that I will screen myself and my child each day before coming to school for any of the following new or worsening signs or symptoms of possible COVID-19 or Delta variant. I agree to inform the school immediately if my child exhibits any of these symptoms. 

❏ Cough 

❏ Shortness of breath 

❏ Chills 

❏ Repeated shaking with chills 

❏ Muscle pain 

❏ Headache 

❏ Sore throat 

❏ Loss of taste or smell 

❏ Diarrhea 

Acknowledgment of Risk & Personal Responsibility:

❏ Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.4 F 

❏ Known close contact with a person who is lab confirmed to have COVID-19

❏ Runny nose 

“I acknowledge that I have freely chosen to enroll my child at Willow Montessori Academy for the 2021-2022 school year. I understand that WMA has taken all reasonable precautions to protect parents, students, and staff from exposure to COVID-19. Those measures include, but are not limited to, appropriate screening of families and staff, temperature measurement, face shields, masks, increased social distancing, and enforcement of proper hygiene and sanitization. 

I am permitting my child to participate in school activities and programs at WMA with this understanding and hereby knowingly and voluntarily assume all risks of injury, illness, or damage related to COVID-19 which may arise as a result of my child’s voluntary participation and attendance of WMA. I understand WMA has no insurance that will pay or reimburse me for illness or injury expenses incurred as a result of my child participating in any programs while at school. Therefore, I accept full responsibility for all medical expenses for any injuries or exposure my family might receive by reason of my child’s attendance. 

I further acknowledge that my child’s attendance may expose my family to COVID-19 in spite of the above measures, and I assume any such risk, thus releasing WMA and all its agents from liability. I may discontinue my child on-campus attendance at any time in light of the risks I am assuming hereunder, while acknowledging that this attendance in now way impacts or releases me from my contractual tuition agreement.

I also agree that by attending Willow Montessori Academy, my family will fully comply with all such measures out of respect for the safety and health of the teachers and larger school community. I agree to abide by all safety precautions outlined in the above commitment, to the fullest extent possible, when in public, when in public spaces outside of school.” 

I hereby agree: 

- I understand that it is my sole decision to send my child to school knowing the unknown risk involved 

- I agree to abide by all the guidelines set forth by the CDC, Texas DSHS, Governor Abbot, and the school. 

- I will keep my child home if they are sick. Sick includes, but is not limited to, temperature over 100.0 F, persistent cough, wheezing, colored mucus, diarrhea, vomiting, or any other symptoms stated above. If my child becomes sick at school, I will pick up my child within 30 minutes. 

- If my child is sick, they will not be able to return to school without written release from a physician. 

- If my child has been in close contact with someone in their personal life diagnosed with COVID-19 but is not currently sick, I will immediately notify the school and my child will not come to school for 14 days after the last day they were in contact with the person and get checked again before returning to school. 

- If my child’s classroom must be quarantined for 10-14 days due to a COVID-19 or Delta Variant positive case in the school, no credit will be given. If a child is quarantined due to reasons other than the school, such as contact with a family member who tests positive for COVID-19. 

- Tuition will be due in full each month and will not be prorated due to sickness, vacation, school holiday, or school closure. 

- Hours of operation will be 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. until further notice, to allow for additional disinfection of the classrooms. 

- Due to the unpredictable nature of COVID-19 or Delta Variant, I understand that Willow Montessori Academy, the Administration, staff, students, parents, or any individual affiliated with or in the school may be infected by the virus or may be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. In any and all cases, WMA, Administration, Director, staff, students, parents, or any individual affiliated with the school shall not be personally or jointly held responsible for any financial or consequential damages. 

The CDC updated the COVID-19 Guidance for Operating Early Care and Education/Child Care Programs on July 9th and held a call with public health officials on July 15th where they reviewed the preventive strategies/recommendations. I have provided the link below. 

Key Takeaways: 

● Vaccination is currently the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination among eligible individuals can help Early Care and Education (ECE) programs protect staff and children in their care, as well as their families. 

● Most ECE programs serve children under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered COVID-19 prevention

strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together) to protect children and adults who are not fully vaccinated. 

● COVID-19 prevention strategies remain critical to protect people, including children and staff, who are not fully vaccinated, especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels. 

● Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (ages 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated. ECE settings may implement universal mask use in some situations, such as if they serve a population not yet eligible for vaccination or if they have increasing, substantial, or high COVID-19 transmission in their ECE program or community. 

● Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, the occurrence of outbreaks, and local policies and regulations to guide decisions on the use of layered prevention strategies. 

Summary of Recent Changes - Update as of July 9, 2021 

● Updated the guidance for mask use and physical distancing for fully vaccinated people. Generally, fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing themselves. 

● Expanded the guidance for how organizations can promote vaccinations among staff and families. 

● Updated the guidance for outdoor mask use among people who are not fully vaccinated. Generally, people can be outdoors without masks. 

 

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