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Friday, August 26, 2022

Dear PYC Families,

We had a wonderful first week of school filled with so many new discoveries! The girls learned new routines, met new friends, and have begun to discover their distinct potential as learners and leaders. 

Here are a few highlights from our first week:

3/4 year old class: 

We are learning about Morning Gathering and the importance of coming together,
how to share our ideas, and how to take time to listen to each other.

We are practicing patience. Waiting is hard sometimes.  

4/5 year old class: 

We are discovering and rediscovering the Loose Parts materials. 

We are practicing how to wait for others to finish sharing their ideas before sharing ours.

We made agreements about the safe way to play on our new playground equipment.

Extending our learning to the Mansion space.

SAVE THE DATE! 

THE PYC IS GOING TO PIGEON ROOST on Friday, October 7th. More details to follow. 

PRINT: PYC Detailed-Dates List
​​​​PRINT: PYC Weekly Schedule
PRINT: PYC Studio Schedule
LINK: Uniform Guidelines

Carline Procedures: *Please remember, we all are important role models for children.*
This parking procedure will be in effect for morning arrival, lunch dismissal, and end-of-day dismissal. Please notify any adult who drives your daughter of our procedure.

General guidelines for the safety of all children: 

• When using the car line, children will be assisted into/from the vehicle from the curb side. Children must enter and exit the vehicle on the curb side for safety. Car seats should be on the passenger side to facilitate this.

• Remain with your vehicle while you are in the car line.

• Do not leave your car running unattended.

• Children may not be left unsupervised in your vehicle. 

• In the carline, please do not pull around vehicles that are paused in the carline. This is extremely unsafe for the little children using the crosswalk.

• Cell phone conversations should be concluded before entering the pickup/drop-off line.

ARRIVAL PROCEDURES

• You may park in a legal parking place on the street or in the parking lot at any time of day, hold your daughter’s hand, and walk to the building using the designated crosswalk. 

• You may use the Pick-Up/Drop-Off option in the Columbia Parking Lot at these times:

• 8:00 – 8:30am, drop-off

• 12:20 – 12:30pm, pick-up for half-day girls

• 3:00 – 3:20pm, pick-up for full-day girls

• When using the drop-off line, pull forward to the curb and a teacher will assist your daughter from the car. 

PICK-UP PROCEDURES

• Have your name card visible. Please let us know if you will need additional cards for other drivers.

• Remain seated in your car. A teacher will bring your daughter to the passenger side of your car when you reach the curb.

• A teacher will assist your child into the car (car seats must be on the passenger side). 

• When your child is safely buckled, proceed out of the parking lot.

Allergy Reminders
With increased food allergies in our community, please remember that all snacks/treats brought into the Program for Young Children for birthday treats and class parties must be tree nut and peanut free. Additionally, lotions and lip balms brought to school need to be given to your child's teacher in a labeled baggy to ensure they do not include tree nut ingredients (e.g. shea butter). Students should not bring scented hand-sanitizer to school.

PYC Early Drop-Off & Aftercare
Coach Kelly Hoyt is the Early Drop-Off Coordinator. The program runs from 7:30-8:00am and begins on Wednesday, August 24. Depending on the weather, students may be outside on the PYC Playscape or in the Studio. Coach Hoyt's email: khoytstandley@columbusschoolforgirls.org 

Jill Williams and Jenny Morgan will be coordinating Aftercare. The program runs from 3:15-6:00pm and begins on Wednesday, August 24. Aftercare requires sign up through Final Forms under the 'Child Pick Up Policy' tab. Mrs. Williams' email: jmwilliams@columbusschoolforgirls.org 

PYC Resources 

All-School Details
(Divisional details are linked at the bottom of this page)

Health: Staying Healthy and Maintaining Continuity of Learning
A vital part of our health and safety measures continues to be the mitigation of the COVID-19 virus. We are fortunate to have a beautiful campus, which has been modified to support enhanced ventilation throughout to provide more fresh air to our classrooms and common areas. In addition to enhanced ventilation, hand sanitizer and masks are readily available throughout campus for community members and visitors. Classes also have the ability to utilize our outdoor spaces when weather permits. These mitigation efforts are supported by the high percentage of students, faculty, and staff who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. If you or your daughter are not up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, we encourage you to visit your local clinic so that you, too, can benefit from this added layer of protection. We will open this school year with masks remaining optional for everyone, including visitors. Should national, state, or local agencies mandate any changes throughout the course of the year, we will be in touch with you to communicate any adjustments to our protocols. During periods of high transmission, testing may be required for overnight trips and high-risk activities such as indoor sports and co-curricular programs. Please review the details below for additional information related to masking and quarantine.

Masking:

• Masks remain optional for all community members and visitors. As a community, we will respect individuals’ decisions related to mask wearing.
• Masks should fit snugly over the nose, mouth, and chin. Avoid single-layer cloth masks, or those made of thin fabric that don’t block light. To learn more, see this guidance from the CDC. 
• Masks are required for community members returning to campus during days 6-10 of their recovery from COVID-19.
• Masks are recommended for those who have been in close contact with a positive case of COVID-19.

Vaccinations:
Vaccines are the best layer of protection against severe illness from COVID-19, and they are widely available. We encourage everyone to make sure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations as eligibility allows. 

Illness & Reporting of Positive Cases:
Please test your daughter if she is symptomatic and report positive cases via our COVID-19 Online Reporting Tool located on our COVID-19 dashboard. Following your submission, Nurse Jen Scheiderer (formerly Nurse Price) will contact you to clarify isolation and return dates. If your child is out ill with symptoms that last longer than 24 hours, a negative test result or an alternative diagnosis must be provided. Test kits are widely available at your local pharmacies and grocery stores. CSG maintains a small inventory of tests; please contact Nurse Scheiderer if you are unable to obtain a test from your local stores, and she will supply you with one depending on availability.

If your daughter is symptomatic, please keep her home until a negative test result or an alternative diagnosis is received.

If your daughter tests positive for COVID-19, she must:

• Isolate at home for five days from the date of the onset of symptoms (day 0) or from the date of the positive test if she was symptom free.
• If she has been fever free for 24 hours, she may return to school on day 6, wearing a mask through day 10. Nurse Scheiderer will work with your family to help you determine these dates as well.

Since those testing positive for COVID-19 may still be contagious during their five-day return period at school, they will be provided with a separate dining space during mealtimes when they need to be unmasked. Teachers will provide students who miss more than three days of school due to isolation with class materials on Canvas for Middle and Upper School students and learning activities on the parent portal or Seesaw/Canvas for PYC and Lower School students.

Decision-making:
Our COVID-19 Response Committee, consisting of school administrators and Nurse Scheiderer, meets regularly to discuss local, national, and international trends to plan for any surge or change related to the virus. The information collected by the committee is shared during regular meetings with the full administrative team to determine whether or not adjustments are needed to our protocols. The team is also in regular contact with other local schools, the Ohio Department of Health, Franklin County Public Health, and Columbus Public Health.

Communication:
COVID-19 cases on campus are updated weekly every Friday during the school year via our COVID-19 Dashboard. In alignment with Franklin County Public Health guidance, we will also continue to communicate via email if we have two or more cases within a cohort group, such as a classroom, club, or athletic team.

General Health and Wellness:
As always, we will continue to monitor other health issues as they arise. Families can help us in these efforts by ensuring that students stay up to date on all vaccinations and wellness visits. Please also remember that wellness forms need to be completed in FinalForms by August 21. 

Safety and Security:
Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff takes many forms here at CSG, and we are prepared to act quickly and decisively to keep our community safe on all three of our campuses: Main Campus, Kirk Campus, and Cynthia’s Woods. We plan, practice, and prepare for unforeseen events on an ongoing basis, and we are prepared to mobilize quickly to respond to any emergency situation that could affect our students, faculty, or staff.

House Bill 99:
This June, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 99 allowing local boards of education to authorize school employees and teachers to carry firearms in schools. CSG will remain a weapon-free campus. Our approach to safety and security relies on regular threat assessments, training, and close partnerships with local first responders—namely, the Bexley Police Department. Teachers are well trained to keep our students safe during any threat and will continue to take a defensive approach to ensuring the safety of our students. You can help us in this effort by speaking with your daughter and reinforcing the need to maintain a secure building by not propping doors or opening them for strangers, and by letting the school know of any threatening behavior.

Our Partners:
In addition to close partnerships with first responders in central Ohio, we maintain a contract with Armada, a leading provider of preparedness solutions worldwide, to continually evaluate and elevate safety procedures throughout our three campuses. Armada also supported the development of our emergency operations action plan, which we regularly audit and revise to most effectively handle any situation. 

Training & Emergency Operations:
We work with our faculty, staff, and students to ensure everyone is prepared in the event of an emergency. We partner with Armada and CSG’s Operations and Facilities Director, Brian Botzman, to provide training for our faculty, staff, and Emergency Operations Team. Trained to proactively plan for, respond to, and communicate about crises, our Emergency Operations Team (EOT) is charged with carrying out our action plan in the event of an emergency on any of our campuses. Emergency operations plans are available to all faculty and staff through our emergency notification app. Students regularly participate in tornado, fire, lockdown, and auxiliary drills throughout the year. Division Directors will also share safety-related, age-appropriate best practices with your daughter as we start the year. Some of the best ways to ensure campus security are to never prop open doors and never open doors for strangers. Students who have a concern should immediately report all information to their teachers, division director, or any trusted adult on campus. Your help reinforcing these best practices during conversation with your daughter is greatly appreciated.

Communication:
In the event of an emergency, we will use our emergency communication system to provide you with accurate and up-to-date information related to the situation. Once the situation is resolved, you will receive an all-clear message through the same system and, if available, additional information about the situation through email. The emergency notification system uses your preferences set in MyBackpack to notify you via phone, email, or text. If you want to update your preferences at any time, please login to your MyBackpack account to make the change(s).

School day schedule including early drop-off and after hours: Early drop-off and after hours care will be provided starting August 24. Early drop-off is available to all students and is complementary for PYC and Lowers School families. PYC students who use early drop-off will enter Columbia House directly, and Lower School students who use early drop-off will enter through the main entrance at 65 S. Drexel Avenue, not the Lower School entrance. For those who use buses to get to and from school, please reference this page for bus pickup and drop-off times.

FinalForms: Required school forms for the 2022-2023 school year
FinalForms is our system for completing required school forms related to health, transportation, school policies, and other related topics. Please log into: https://columbusschoolforgirls-oh.finalforms.com/ to access your account. If you have not logged into Final Forms before, please follow the online prompts to establish your profile. If you have forgotten your password, please follow the online prompts to reset your password. Students in Middle and Upper School will also receive a confirmation email once parents and guardians have registered and completed the forms. Students will also be required to digitally sign forms such as the Student Handbook and the Acceptable Use Policy. 

Transportation:
Please click here for current information related to school transportation including pickup and dropoff times. Should you have any questions related to transportation, please contact Brian Botzman, Director of Operations & Facilities. Registration for bus transportation is located within FinalForms.

Important Contact Information:
Our Division Directors and program leaders are eager to hear from you with any questions you may have. You can reach them at anytime using the details below:

• Angie McLarty (PYC)
• Betsy Gugle (Lower School)
• Pam Hartshorne (Middle School)
• Scott Parsons (Upper School)
• Leisan Smith (Chief Equity Officer)
• Megan Henry (Athletic Director)