Q&As About the 2s Class
Questions about the 2s Class
1. How many students will be in the 2s class?
Up to 16 students.
2. Since the 2s class will be virtual all year long, can they also attend Big Trees?
Yes.
3. Since the 2s class will be virtual all year long, can they also attend Big Trees?
Yes.
4. My child was on the waitlist for the 2s class.
When will I know if he has been accepted?
Sunday, August 2 anyone who has previously completed enrollment forms will have the opportunity to re-enroll and secure their spot for this fall.
If you were previously on the waitlist, you will have an opportunity on Wednesday, August 5 to secure your spot (if spots remain).
On Sunday, August 9, any remaining spots will be available for the general public
5. What is the volunteer policy for parents of virtual 2s class? Are there any committee hours? Janitorial weekends/ cleaning duties?
No, it’s your lucky year! No committee hours, janitorial weekends, or cleaning duties.
Questions about 3, 3s/4s, and 4s Class
Questions about 3, 3s/4s, and 4s Class
6. For the virtual 4s class will the teacher-student ratio be 1:12?
The maximum enrollment for all classes, virtual and in-person, is 14 students.
7. What is the age range for 3/4 class?
The minimum age is children who turn 3 years old on or after September 1, 2020.
General Questions about Virtual School
General Questions about Virtual School
8. Where will Parent Education be held?
Parent Education will be held virtually.
9. What if the kids are not interested in the virtual classes? Do we make them participate even though the child walks out?
For 3 and 4 year old children they may not be sitting right in front of the computer and they may still be participating. They all participate in their own ways! Last spring we saw children doing somersaults in the living room or playing with another toy, but then would begin singing along from where they were or run back to answer a question or show an item they were asked to go find.
For the 2s class, participation will be with their parent. The 2s class is a “parent and me” style virtual class. The child will be more engaged with their parent while the parent primarily follows the teacher’s direction.
10. When will the Activity Kit pick-ups be? Will we get an email when it’s time for our pick-ups?
Yes, you will be notified when it is time for your pick up. More information will be distributed at a later date.
11. Will there be a virtual only option for the entire school year?
Not officially at this time. If Santa Clara county does not move off the state watchlist, we would be virtual for the entire year. If the county does get off the watchlist, there will still be at least 2 more weeks of preparation before going in-person.
Questions about In-Person Phase
Questions about In-Person School
12. Can you clarify this statement? Children cannot be concurrently enrolled in more than one class? E.g., CCNS and dance, etc? This is a mandatory directive from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. See the link on slide 35 of the presentation. In order to reduce exposure to multiple populations, children are not
permitted to enroll in more than one in-person program. So if CCNS is virtual or the other class is virtual, that is fine.
13. Is it possible that we only enroll when CCNS in-person class starts and skip the online class?
It is possible to wait until CCNS opens in-person to enroll. We are never able to predict how long the waitlist will be, so it is difficult to gauge the risk of waiting. At CCNS, we consider our school to be a yearlong commitment. The investment made in training work parents and preparing materials for CCNS at Home school is significant. Additionally, our community and the relationships and friendships that develop are key components of the fabric of our school.
14. If the class transitions from virtual to in-person, but we're not comfortable with in-person at that time, would we be able to drop out? Yes, you will have 4 weeks between being notified that we will be going in person and actually going in person. CCNS requires a two week notice of un-enrollment.
15. What is the rationale of having school days on 2 consecutive days?
In order to minimize exposure between classes/cohorts of children and adults, we wanted to group the in-person days together. We will be cleaning after every class, but we want to do everything that we can to be as safe as possible.
16. What are the health screening questions and will they be asked every single time?
Yes, the screening questions will be asked every time you come to in-person school. These are the health screening questions and the actions based on the responses:
- Within the last 14 days have you been diagnosed with COVID-19 or had a test confirming you have the virus? If YES- Stay home and seek medical care.
- Do you live in the same household with, or have you had close contact with, someone who in the past 14 days has been in isolation for COVID-19 or had a test confirming they have the virus? Close contact is less than 6 feet for 15 minutes or more. If YES- Stay home and seek medical care and testing.
- Have you had any one or more of these symptoms today or within the past 24 hours? Are these symptoms new or not explained by another reason? If YES- Stay home and seek medical care and testing.
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Night sweats
- Sore throat
- Nausea
- Vomiting
Diarrhea
Tiredness
Muscle or body aches Headaches
Confusion
Loss of taste/smell
17. For the COVID screening questions. Is one of them: Have you been in contact with someone who tested positive in the last 14 days? (If I answer yes, what would you do?)
Yes, it is one of the health screening questions. If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) for more than 15 minutes with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, we ask you to immediately report this to the Director, get tested, stay home and monitor for symptoms for 2 weeks after the last exposure date. If the COVID-19 positive person resides in their household, you would need to stay home 2 weeks after that household member completes their isolation.
18. Can a parent volunteer for all 3 days?
In-person school will only occur 2 days per week. You will work on your assigned workday. You may sub for a parent in your cohort on the second day, but you cannot be an additional workday parent on that day because we are limited by the county on the number of adults that can be at school.
19. Is there still a sub system when a parent and child is out sick?
If you or your child are sick and need to stay home on your workday, your pool for substitutes would come from the 3 other parents in your cohort. If none of those 3 are available, it is possible to run school with 2 parents, but not ideal.
20. Do kids have to wear masks?
No. However, if you want your child to wear a mask and they are able to, they are permitted to wear a mask.
21. What about snacks? And will the school still be nut free?
School will continue to be nut free. All snacks will be checked before coming into school.
22. Are we expecting the children to keep 6 feet apart (if we have in person classes)?
No. However, group activities such as circle time and snack time will have children spaced out.
Questions about Big Trees Class
23. Is Big Trees always in person or will it begin virtually as well?
Big Trees will always be in person.
24. Will there be a health check for Big Trees classes?
Yes. Upon arrival at the Big Trees location, the teacher will use the same health check (temperatures and questions).
25. What will be the protocol for Big Trees? E.g. will parents and children stay 6 feet apart?
Yes, since each child will have their parent, the expectation is for the parent to help their child to socially distance themselves from others in the great outdoors.
26. Are all the Big Trees sessions the same or is each one different?
Some locations are revisited between sessions. The wonderful thing about nature is that you can see different things when you go to the same place in different seasons or even different days of the week!
27. With only 8 spots in big trees, do we anticipate that being enough? As in, won’t more than 8 people be interested?
Sadly, we anticipate 8 spots not being enough at all. The county has imposed a class size limit and also prohibits teachers from teaching a second cohort at the same time in order to minimize exposure between cohorts of children.
28. If we want to do Big Trees while school is virtual, but would like to switch to in person if/when that becomes available, would there be a wait list for that (assuming the class is full)?
Yes, you could enroll in Big Trees and get on the waitlist for CCNS in-person.
29. I’d like to know more about enrollment for Big Trees. Enrollment for Big Trees is after CCNS enrollment. So if we don’t enroll for CCNS but then also don’t get into Big Trees, we will have to wait for a spot to open up in one of them?
Yes. If you don’t enroll in CCNS and don’t get into Big Trees, you could get on the waitlist for both. We don’t know what the waitlist situation will be for either class, so it is hard to predict the likelihood of getting in/off the waitlist.
30. Are people able to sign up for more than one Big Trees session at a time? Just trying to figure out our chances of actually getting in. The first two sessions of Big Trees will open for registration to everyone at the same time. The rest of the Big Trees sessions will open for registration at a later date.
Questions about Big Trees Class
Questions about Big Trees Class
23. Is Big Trees always in person or will it begin virtually as well?
Big Trees will always be in person.
24. Will there be a health check for Big Trees classes?
Yes. Upon arrival at the Big Trees location, the teacher will use the same health check (temperatures and questions).
25. What will be the protocol for Big Trees? E.g. will parents and children stay 6 feet apart?
Yes, since each child will have their parent, the expectation is for the parent to help their child to socially distance themselves from others in the great outdoors.
26. Are all the Big Trees sessions the same or is each one different?
Some locations are revisited between sessions. The wonderful thing about nature is that you can see different things when you go to the same place in different seasons or even different days of the week!
27. With only 8 spots in big trees, do we anticipate that being enough? As in, won’t more than 8 people be interested?
Sadly, we anticipate 8 spots not being enough at all. The county has imposed a class size limit and also prohibits teachers from teaching a second cohort at the same time in order to minimize exposure between cohorts of children.
28. If we want to do Big Trees while school is virtual, but would like to switch to in person if/when that becomes available, would there be a wait list for that (assuming the class is full)?
Yes, you could enroll in Big Trees and get on the waitlist for CCNS in-person.
29. I’d like to know more about enrollment for Big Trees. Enrollment for Big Trees is after CCNS enrollment. So if we don’t enroll for CCNS but then also don’t get into Big Trees, we will have to wait for a spot to open up in one of them?
Yes. If you don’t enroll in CCNS and don’t get into Big Trees, you could get on the waitlist for both. We don’t know what the waitlist situation will be for either class, so it is hard to predict the likelihood of getting in/off the waitlist.
30. Are people able to sign up for more than one Big Trees session at a time? Just trying to figure out our chances of actually getting in. The first two sessions of Big Trees will open for registration to everyone at the same time. The rest of the Big Trees sessions will open for registration at a later date.