Hanover High School Full Return to In-Person Learning 3/7/21

We’ve been anticipating our March 8^th full return for some time now, and we can’t wait to see everyone Monday morning. 

Enthusiastically, we begin our first full week with Spirit Week!  I know the senior class, our student council, our faculty and staff would LOVE to see full and complete participation.  Please join us in our coming together, our working together, and our being together as we kick-off our full return with SPIRIT WEEK.  Monday is “America Day” – so please dress in your best red, white, and blue!  Thank you! 

Last week I sent an update regarding our health and safety policies, procedures, and protocols as we head into our newest transition.  Below, I’ve included a few new ones, a few reminders, and a few modifications.  NOTE: At this time, Wednesdays remain fully remote; as important to understand, during this first full week of our return – no modifications, adjustments, or exceptions are being made to the current expectations listed below.  I have phases planned involving many of these expectations, but I’m not ready to implement anything beyond this initial week and this initial phase.  Thank you! 

School Arrival

Beginning Monday morning, we’ll need to fully utilize both the café and the gymnasium prior to 1^st period, and we’ll need to do so safely and thoughtfully.  To that end, the school will open to students at 7:20 am; however, it’ll be accessible from 7:20 am – 7:35 am only through the gymnasium doors via the courtyard side of the building (Note: At no time is drop-off or pick-up permitted from the back of the building).  At 7:35 am, access will be permitted through the front doors of the high school.  This separation in time and space will keep students further apart in the mornings, and it will allow for more efficient and effective supervision. 

Morning Building Access

• 7:20 am – 7:35 am: Open gymnasium doors via the courtyard side of the building
• 7:35 am – 7:55 am: Open main front doors of the building

Parking

Our seniors were recently assigned student parking.  They are the only students with this privilege, so all other student drivers will need to use the single back row of the main student lot (148-167), available spots along the softball/baseball fields (196-221), and/or open spaces in the maintenance lot.  No student is allowed to park in the faculty lot behind the school – and, again – no drop-offs or pick-ups are permitted in this area either.  Make no mistake, parking will be limited; so, you are encouraged to carpool (with masks), arrive early, and/or befriend a senior (If at any point safety becomes compromised, tickets will be assigned to illegally parked vehicles). 

Classrooms

In every room, we’ve arranged classroom seating at a minimum distance of 4 feet from seat-edge-to-seat-edge, as opposed to center-to-center (No student seating in the building is less than this distance).  The pathways in and out of the classrooms meet, or most often exceed this distancing; furthermore, the front instructional areas of our classrooms are arranged at a minimum distance of 8 feet to allow for ample, controlled teacher and student movement as necessary.  Among many things, these distances will help to safely manage students exiting classrooms (Please note that students will be exiting individual classrooms following controlled, teacher-directed intervals to avoid bottlenecking at the classroom doors and to decrease congestion in the hallways during passing times). 

Senior Directed Studies

With parental permission, seniors with 1^st period and/or 7^th period directed studies will be permitted to arrive by 8:45 am and allowed to dismiss at 1:40 pm respectively.  Any senior arriving and/or dismissing at these times must access the QR Code listed by the main office upon arrival and upon dismissal; otherwise, you will be registered a class-cut.  We may expand similar privileges, but not this week – and not at this time. 

• Parental Consent

Cafeteria Directed Studies

Any student with a directed study in the cafeteria MUST be on time and MUST access the QR Codes listed in the cafeteria upon arrival.  If you have any difficulty or any questions, please see the proctor(s) supervising these study halls. 

Hallway Movement

As students enter the hallways, each hallway remains carefully marked with directional arrows which not only help to separate students but also help to guide students to move in a singular, shared direction.  Stairwells have been individually designated as either “up” or “down” and must be used accordingly.   We’ll need to work together in following these pathways, and we’ll need to be diligent in our adherence to these safety measures.  Please refer to the attached diagram for building traffic-flow design.

Masks

Safety masks must be worn at all times with the exceptions of outside mask breaks, and while safely distanced and seated at lunch.  Upon returning from a mask break, leaving your seat at lunch, or at any moment other than the aforementioned times – masks must be worn without exception. 

Lunches

For obvious health and safety reasons, lunches require a minimum 6-foot distancing at all times.  We serve only 3 separate lunches; however, we’re utilizing a square footage nearly 3 times the usual size for these lunches incorporating the café, gym space, courtyard space, and breakout areas as necessary. 

Mask Breaks

Mask breaks will be staggered among classrooms, and they will be pre-planned to control movement during these times. 

Seating Charts

Students will be assigned seats, as seating charts will be anticipatorily important.  Since we’ve combined cohorts and associated rosters in Aspen, these will be maintained through this program and will be made available to our nursing staff in the event contact-tracing becomes necessary. 

Health Communication Protocols

Please download the attached Health Communication Protocol

Bathrooms

As of now, only 1 bathroom is open daily on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors, while all but 1 restroom remains open on the 1^st floor.  We’ll adjust as necessary. 

Dismissal

We’ll be releasing seniors a few moments prior to the last bell in order to stagger dismissal and to control congestion in the hallways and the parking lots. 

Welcome back, and much more to follow.  Be warm.  Be safe. 

Matthew Paquette
Principal