The Unicorn playground is getting a new outdoor patio with a portal roof, and the kiva has had its roof removed so it is now an open sand play area, covered by a new shade sail. The hoophouse has been re-covered and is now weather-proof. Additional shade structures have been added, along with new tables for projects and mealtimes for individual students.

The Blue Room is being renovated to become another early childhood space, for half of our Unicorn students. A new outdoor play area for the “meadow unicorn” class is being added, with a large covered space for an outdoor classroom on the east side of the Barcelona Blue building. We also created a new fenced in play area with tables for projects and mealtimes for individual students, and meadow unicorns will also access the Unistarhopper yard for outdoor play time as well.

The Grasshopper deck is having stairs added to the north side, leading to a new fenced in play area. We are also adding new tables for projects and mealtimes for individual students. A new shade structure is also being added over the existing deck.

The Stargazer class will be using the existing gazebo in the plaza as an outdoor learning space, and will also have new shade structures in the Stargazer play area between the middle school building and the Stargazer classroom. We are adding a new climbing structure, and more tables for outdoor learning.

Our Board of Directors and School Administration are carefully tracking COVID cases in Santa Fe and throughout the state. We will follow the Governor’s orders with respect to school closure/reopening. We are consulting with a medical infectious disease expert who is also helping us to evaluate the situation locally here in Santa Fe.

Some useful tools we are using to assess the current COVID situation are:

• Harvard Global Health Initiative Map
• Covid Act Now
• NM Department of Health Dashboard
• NM Department of Health Gating Criteria

The Governor has determined that until Labor Day elementary schools can be open in person for K-3rd grade students in groups of 5 students with 1 teacher, and for 1 on 1 learning for students with special needs. After Labor Day, the Governor’s plan is for schools to be able to open gradually starting with younger grades. 

For early childhood facilities, many of which have stayed open through the spring and summer with very low to no evidence of virus spread, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) has determined that facilities can continue operating with 10 students with 1-2 teachers. Our Unicorn Preschool/Pre-K program is licensed by ECECD.

Face masks are required to be used according to the Governor’s current health order, and ECECD has determined that everyone in a child care facility over the age of 2 must wear a properly fitted face covering.

Medical experts are in broad agreement that the proper use of face masks is one of the most important measures we can take to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While many parents and teachers have been concerned about children’s ability to wear masks properly, our experience with our summer camps both for preschool and middle school students was very encouraging. Students were cooperative with mask wearing, especially if their family had helped them practice mask wearing outside of school. 

Our teachers will use compassion and kindness, as well as positive reinforcement, to encourage students to be able to wear masks. It is a skill that we all are learning. 

Students will not wear masks when eating and napping, and we are also planning to have ways to have a “mask break” when students can be outdoors and appropriately distanced if they need to take a break from wearing their mask. 

Several classrooms are having new sinks installed in the classrooms, and all bathrooms are being equipped with touch-free items like paper towel dispensers. Hand sanitizer will also be available in every classroom and in every outdoor learning space, and students will have teacher instruction and supervision for effective handwashing and hand sanitizer application.

In the fall, a large portion of students’ school day will take place outdoors. Students will have access to individual work and play areas, such as portable chairs (called Crazy Creek chairs) with lap desks that can be set up anywhere, and tables with chairs/benches that allow students to maintain physical distancing while doing school work.

In our classrooms, class sizes of up to 10-12 students and a little rearranging of classroom furniture, allows for students to have individual work spaces while maintaining physical distancing.

For Bathroom use, we will avoid having students line up, instead allowing one student at a time to use a bathroom.

Teachers are developing fun games and activities that allow for students to remain physically distanced, and when the students are engaged in these games and activities they often don’t notice that they are distancing.

Our youngest students loved hanging out in the shade this summer, each with their own kiddie pool, filled with their books and other materials.

Teachers will work to consistently and kindly remind students to maintain distancing, and we also recognize that there are moments when distancing may not be fully possible. Students and teachers will be wearing masks, and the amount of time spent in closer proximity than 6 feet will be limited so that any potential for transmission would be minimized.

We have the tremendous benefit of having within our school community a Harvard University expert on indoor air quality (a grandfather of a current student.) We have been meeting with him and his colleagues to evaluate the indoor air quality of our classrooms and indoor spaces, and to develop a plan for improving our systems.

Fortunately, the layout of our campus with separate buildings means that every classroom has multiple windows that are all operable and can be open during the school day. New ceiling fans are being installed this summer, and portable air purifiers have been purchased for every classroom and office.

Our HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems are also being inspected and evaluated so that improvements can be made. 

Some good information on indoor air quality:

• On Point Podcast- How to Make Classrooms Safe for Learning in a Pandemic
• Schools for Health “Healthy Buildings” Report

For all classrooms that have compatible HVAC systems, we are installing MERV 13 filters, which are the filters recommended for COVID mitigation. Other classrooms that have a different type of HVAC system are having new filters installed (highest rated filters possible), and classrooms with swamp coolers are having the swamp coolers inspected and serviced.

Yes! At the recommendation of our indoor air quality consultants we have purchased portable air purifiers with HEPA filters for every classroom and office. These air purifiers are showing to help reduce coronavirus transmission through aerosol spread indoors. 

Most of our classrooms and outdoor learning spaces allow for physical distancing, making the use of plexiglass barriers unnecessary. 

We are using plexiglass dividers in our preschool through 2nd grade classes to support our phonics program.

Arrival and departure times for different classes are staggered this year to allow for fewer vehicles and people to be on campus at drop-off and pick-up time. 

We have spent the summer transforming our art room (the Blue Room) into a licensed preschool/pre-k classroom, allowing us to double the classroom spaces for our early childhood program. 

Our outdoor learning spaces will also be used for snack and lunch times for as long as the warmer temperatures permit.

Our school does not have a cafeteria or lunchroom where students from different classes mix.

Fortunately each class will have their own indoor and outdoor learning spaces, so different crews (cohorts) of students will not be using the same classrooms on a given school day. Older students will have their own cleaning kit and will have set times during the day to disinfect their personal work space. Younger kids in summer camp really enjoyed the responsibilities of scrubbing down their spaces with soapy water.

Teachers will disinfect high touch surfaces such as light switches, door handles, bathroom fixtures, etc., twice a day, before snack and lunch, and our professional cleaning crew will clean and disinfect at the end of every school day. A more comprehensive cleaning will take place Wednesdays and Fridays, between crews of students using classrooms.

Principal Todd Stiewing and Executive Director Perli Cunanan are our School Administration and are overseeing our school’s COVID transition team. All changes to school policy are approved by our Board of Directors, and are communicated to our school community by email, on our website, and also in virtual meetings with school families. Parents and community members with questions or concerns are encouraged to reach out to Todd or Perli at any time.