COVID-19 FAQs*

Here is a core list of protocols:

• Carpool only for drop-off and pick-up.
• No visitors during the school day.
• Screening during carpool and prior to lunch for students.
• Frequent regimen of hand-washing and respiratory etiquette throughout the day.
• We are following the CDC guidelines and asking that all students (age 2 & up) and faculty and staff wear a cloth face covering during their time at school. Masks must be worn during carpool for children age 2 and up, including all parents, faculty, and staff. All faculty and staff will be required to wear cloth masks all times while on campus. All students age 2 and up cloth masks must be worn. Masks will not be required during outdoor play. 
• Daily cleaning and sanitizing by maintenance staff.
• Frequent outdoor play and fresh air whenever possible.

Drop-off will look similar to what Levine has done in the past; however: drop off will be carpool only; adults will be wearing face masks; and no parent may enter the building with his/her child. Prior to leaving the vehicle, each student will be screened by a staff member, and there will be a hand-washing station that all will use before entering. We know this will all be new for students, but with the staff’s cheerful tone, upbeat décor and music, the drop-off experience will soon become expected and fun.

Each morning, before leaving for campus and morning carpool drop-off, please check your children for any symptoms -- fever, headache, fatigue, cough, etc. -- and keep all of your children home if you have even one child whose symptoms need to be addressed. Inform the school if you need to keep your children home for this reason, and we will be back in touch with you about next steps.

Also, here at school, faculty have been informed that we will be sending home all siblings of any student who is exhibiting symptoms during the school day, and they will all need to remain home until the matter is resolved.

Teachers will be monitoring snack time to make sure that no sharing of food takes place. Student tables and positioning at each table will be arranged in such a way as to assure separation. Following each snack time, tables will be cleaned and sanitized by staff.

All lunches will take place in the students' classrooms, the same hygiene and monitoring procedures will take place in lunch, as snack time. 

Social distancing will be practiced whenever possible throughout the school day including within the classrooms and hallways, especially during snack and lunch time when masks will not be worn. Each grade will remain with its cohort for programs throughout the day and there will be no large gatherings beyond the cohort. Signage has been placed throughout the building on the floors and walls to remind everyone to maintain social distancing. 

A cohort is a unit of students defined by each grade level in Early Childhood (Infants, Toddlers, Two’s Three’s, and Pre-K)  through 6th Grade.  7th and 8th Grade will be combined with each other for specific circumstances; however, just like in all K-8 classes, students will practice distance from each other within the classroom.

We are following the CDC guidelines and asking that all students (age 2 & up) and faculty and staff wear a cloth face covering during their time at school. Masks must be worn during carpool for children age 2 and up, including all parents, faculty, and staff. All faculty and staff will be required to wear cloth masks all times while on campus. All students age 2 and up cloth masks must be worn. Masks will not be required during outdoor play. 

Your child is welcome to wear a face shield in addition to their face masks, but cloth face masks are required on-campus, not face shields.

Children will not be wearing masks during nap time. The children will be distanced and spread out around the room.

Click HERE to view the document. 

Students will be randomly screened periodically throughout the day.

Yes, if there is a quarantine period for a group of students, we will pivot to our distance learning platform forthwith.

Parents will be sent a letter outlining best and safe practices for families to follow. The aim in this communication will be for all of us to accept and act on our responsibility to conduct ourselves according to the safeguards so that we can all return to school with the best chance for uniform health and readiness. Some examples include social distancing, wearing a mask when leaving the house, and asking families not to participate in large group gatherings. We are all in this together and the success and well-being of our school, our students, and our faculty and staff is dependent on the partnership of all of our families to follow these recommendations for all of us to stay healthy and safe.

Once our school begins in-person classes, families may decide whether to continue virtual learning. When they are ready to send their child(ren) back in person, they should contact the K8 Principal/EC Director to coordinate returning to campus.

We will divide our EC earlycare/aftercare by cluster. I.e. Infants will stay with infants, toddlers with toddlers, etc.

EC Class Sizes
Will be well under the criteria set by the State guidelines.

K8 Class Sizes
We plan to keep our student/teacher ratio at the same low number as always. The CDC guidelines call for one student per 45 sq. ft. and our school will be well under that number.

Our religious services will take place by cohort in small groups and will be outdoors whenever possible. For Shabbat services, we also plan to record various programs and provide live feed programs for our community, when feasible. 

The middle school staff is working on staggered transition times between classes and they are reviewing our locker usage. We will report back to parents before the start of in-person school.

Yes -- we will provide parent training for Schoology before the start of the school year. If you have more questions or need guidance on the K8 Schoology platform, please contact Louise Crain, Educational Technology Specialist. 

We do plan to administer ERB and MAP testing. We may need to push back the dates, of course. We will look at schedules when we are back on campus. For students who continue distance learning, we will look into options to administer these tests as well. 

- Middle School students will not change into P.E. uniforms.
- All students are required to wear masks. We will have designated areas for mask breaks.
- P.E. will be outside on all days, weather permitting.
- Students will be divided by class. When inside, we will use the gym divider. 
- Multiple sanitizing bottles spread throughout the gym and outside.
- All equipment will be sanitized after each use. When groups are sharing equipment, sanitation will be conducted during breaks.
- Students are required to bring water bottles. Water drinking fountains will be turned off.
- Students will engage in more running/calisthenic type workouts, in addition to skills and drills in sports.
- Students will play games and engage in challenges that require less peer-to-peer interaction.

Levine is prepared to offer virtual only for students who have opted for virtual since the outset of the school year, or who are home because of a COVID quarantine event or while awaiting test results. The virtual option will not be offered to students whose families go on vacation when Levine is in session. Virtual is also not an option for families who keep students home in preparation for an upcoming large gathering or party -- these large gatherings the school does not condone. Such a virtual hop-on/hop-off pattern is an extraordinary burden to our teachers and is a major distraction in the classroom. If a student is away on a vacation when Levine is in session, he/she can keep pace by following lessons and homework posted on Schoology. (as of 2.28.2022)

We are aware that as time goes on, children may need to stay home for various reasons including illness or suspected exposure or during the time in which the family is awaiting a test result.  Levine Academy is committed to ensuring that all of our students, regardless of their situation (in school, learning virtually, or out of school temporarily) are able to keep up with their schoolwork and remain part of our keep pace with the curriculum.  We encourage any student or staff member who is not feeling well to stay home in an abundance of caution to be sure that we minimize exposure to illness within our school.

As we all know, we do have about 15% of our students who currently learn virtually from home. These students are on a set, organized schedule with their individual teacher and the curriculum pace varies based on grade, subject, and learning levels.  Accordingly, teachers may advise an absent K8 student to continue with schoolwork posted on Schoology, instead of joining the virtual instruction. In any case, contacting your child’s teacher in any absence circumstance will be the best step to take. If any EC student is absent for more than a few days, parents should contact his/her teacher.

The distance learning for your child while they are home may look like any one of the following scenarios (or a combination of many) based on what can be arranged with the teacher and student, which grade/class they are in, and how long they will be away from school:

• They may be able to join some or all classes on live stream from the classroom.
• They may be able to join online learners for some or all of their zoom sessions.
• They may have a check in with the teacher for questions and pick up assignments at the front desk or access them through Schoology.

Our administrative team and our teachers are ready and willing to speak to each parent on an individual basis if their student needs to stay home for any amount of time due to an illness or exposure and work out a customized plan for their continued learning based on what will work within their class and for their situation.

As always, we are here to partner with you and ask for your understanding as each situation is individual and each class is different.

Levine recently acquired SWIVL Technology in order to pilot live streaming of classroom instruction. By October 1, we will have several classrooms and subjects implementing this technology; however, it will be several more weeks before more of our teachers will be using this technology, as we are monitoring our progress and continuing to train more teachers, steadily yet carefully. There will be limits to our ability to use SWIVL in a widespread manner, for a variety of reasons: for example, some subjects and/or lessons don’t translate well to live feed; and some of our families have signed our no publicity / no images document. Our teachers will be notifying families whenever there are changes in their virtual strategy.

Anyone who is absent for a short period of time will need to contact his/her teacher or advisor to learn the best way to continue with schoolwork. Students may be asked to follow assignments posted through Schoology or from special arrangements with the teachers. Teachers may assign students to the existing distance learning platform for longer absences.  All students who are assigned to a 14-day at-home quarantine will require a transition to distance learning.

Our learning plan for students who must be home for a short period of time remains fluid and will keep evolving as more teachers are trained on new technology, such as the new SWIVL live feed technology, and as more students return to in-class instruction. Like all the major private schools in the Dallas area, with whom our leadership team remains in close and frequent contact, we are experiencing a steep learning curve when it comes to meeting the needs of both short- and long-term distance learners. As we learn more from each other and become more adept in using our live feed technology, we will keep you informed regarding the best solutions to these short term absence situations.

Levine has established procedures to ensure students and staff who become sick at school or who arrive at school sick are sent home as soon as possible. We will keep anyone sick separate from well students and staff until the sick person can be sent home. Should any staff person or student or a staff member’s or student’s immediate family member have COVID-19, the school will immediately notify health officials. These officials will help administrators determine the best course of action for the school. Any students who were determined to have been in "close contact" with the person testing positive will be asked to stay home to quarantine for 14-days. In addition, the student or staff member who tested positive must quarantine for 10-days and may return to school if they are beyond 10-days of first experiencing symptoms, and they have had at least three consecutive days of being fever-free, and they are not experiencing any respiratory symptoms. These people who originally tested positive need not have a repeat test done, unless their physician orders such a test. Students who were in "close contact" with the person who tested positive may return after the 14-day quarantine period if they can also attest to all three conditions outlined above in italics.

Regarding Siblings, a simple way to understand our response protocol is:

• If an individual tests positive, he/she would be asked to quarantine for 10-days. And his/her entire family (all siblings) would be asked to quarantine for 14-days.
• If an individual has been exposed to someone with a positive case off-campus, only those individuals will be asked to quarantine for 14-days. Parents and teachers will be asked to monitor symptoms of siblings.

The custodial staff will be activated to clean and disinfect all affected areas of the school. The school will pivot to remote learning as soon as possible for those students who must remain home.

When a household member must get tested, then the children must remain home and cannot return until a negative result is obtained or following a full quarantine period of 14-days.

Anyone who has had "close contact" with someone with COVID-19 should stay home for 14-days after their last exposure to that person.

However, anyone who has had "close contact" with someone with COVID-19 and who:

• developed COVID-19 illness within the previous 3 months and
• has recovered and
• remains without COVID-19 symptoms (for example, cough, shortness of breath)

does not need to stay home.

Here are the testing and quarantine protocols as advanced by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC:

A child (or adult) with any COVID symptoms should be tested for COVID without delay.

However, an asymptomatic individual who has been exposed needs to quarantine for 14-days regardless of a negative COVID test.

If an asymptomatic individual with an exposure wants testing they should wait at least 4-days from the known exposure before getting tested.

The child, under these circumstances, must remain home until fully recovered from the cold or illness, with a doctor’s note necessary for return to campus.

The school is not restricting families from traveling; however, we advise families to avoid “hot spots” or “red zones” throughout the United States and abroad where COVID cases have spiked or are on the rise. Also, when it comes to traveling or engaging in any family activity, we ask that you continue to avoid large gatherings. Should you have any questions about your experience with large gatherings, or any concerns about where you have traveled, we would be happy to discuss with you whether a family quarantine ought to be enacted. 

Yes, the school will conduct screening each morning by taking the child’s temperature before the child exits the vehicle, and then again as warranted. A full screening each morning will include the staff member asking the parent whether anyone in the family exhibited symptoms in the previous 24 hours.

Families [here referencing, only unvaccinated family members] must quarantine for a full week following any international travel -- including to the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe or anywhere else, and we recommend testing toward the end of that quarantine week. For domestic travel, we ask families to abide by the same safety protocols that we have instituted here at school -- avoid large gatherings, wear masks in public, wash hands frequently, keep your distance from others. If families are unable to maintain these practices throughout travel, we then ask those families to quarantine for a full week upon return. We also want to share here that three go-to vacation states for those from North Texas -- these would be Florida, Oklahoma, and Idaho -- have no restrictions on masks, unlike Texas, California, Colorado, New York, and 31 other states, which have mandatory mask-wearing rules. If you are traveling to one of these states without restrictions, we ask you to continue to adhere to our school's issued protocols. (as of 4.26.2021)

Each student will use either hand sanitizer or conduct hand washing several times each day: When they arrive to school; every time they leave or enter a room; before and after they use the bathroom; before and after they eat; before and after they go outside.

Children who are running a fever (> 100 degrees) must stay at home for 72 hours and must have a doctor’s note before returning to school.  

Keep your child home if you, your child, or someone within your household any symptoms. Always err on the side of caution. Please contact the COVID Response Team and your EC Director, K8 Principal or Director of Jewish Life and Learning.

Regarding faculty and staff, we are looking into this possibility and will certainly pursue this should we find a firm who can accommodate our needs: pricing, reliability and quick turnaround.

Regarding students, schools are not authorized to conduct medical testing outside of approved testing such as vision and hearing exams.

We are following CDC guidelines on EPA-approved cleaning products in schools.

All of the air filters in the building have been replaced and cleaned before camp and will be replaced and cleaned once again before school. Windows are being upgraded in some areas of the building to allow teachers to open windows and some classrooms already have doors and windows which can be opened throughout the day. Whenever feasible, outdoor classroom spaces will be utilized for learning.

Please contact the COVID Response Team and your EC Director, K8 Principal or Director of Jewish Life and Learning whenever you have one of these situations:

• Keeping a child home because of illness.
• Keeping a child home because a member of the household is being tested for COVID and awaiting results.
• Keeping a child home because of a potential exposure to a positive case.
• When a school family member tests positive—this would be any household member: the student, a sibling, a parent, any relative or person living in the household.

You may also wish to share travel plans; family activity plans that may pose risk; or any after-school or weekend teams or activities you are considering for your child.

Yes, you will be contacted by a member of the school’s COVID Response Team.  These team members will help you to determine those in your family who are potentially exposed and will help you understand any quarantine requirements that may result from exposure or infection. Our COVID Response Team members will also be in contact with County Health Officials, who will help us with contact tracing and lead us to make quarantine decisions.

If a member of our campus community—student, teacher or staff member—tests positive, we will report this fact to the entire school, but in keeping with HIPAA requirements, we will not disclose any names. We will communicate with the full community only after we have spoken with the county health officials and with all families who must quarantine.

We will be sending communication about carpool with a directional map and instructions closer to the start of school.

Parents, with masks on, will remove the babies from the car and teachers will then take the children and their belongings into the building. Children old enough to exit the car without parent assistance will exit the car with the teachers.

At any time during aftercare, you will be able to pull up to the front entrance and call Dana Shidlofsky, Director of Extend Care and Educare. Dana will bring your child out to your car.

Morning and afternoon carpool will be at the same time as usual. We ask our parents to be patient as we begin this new format, implementing all of our health screening in the morning to ensure the safety of all of our students, faculty, and staff.

Because school closures can pose a burden for many of our early childhood families and because we recognize there are limits to the effectiveness of distance learning for Early Childhood children, we have instituted a new refund policy: Should Levine need to close down the entire school for a period longer than two weeks, the school will begin refunding our EC families at a rate of 70% of the tuition after an initial two week closure period.

The refund policy will apply only in a situation of a school-wide closure. Regarding an EC section closing down for two weeks because of a positive COVID-19 case, the refund policy would not apply; however, we ask those families needing tuition assistance to contact our business office in cases where multiple quarantine periods pose financial hardship.

The EC school refund policy only applies when the entire school must close for more than two weeks. Families may seek tuition assistance through the business office should they experience financial hardships due to multiple quarantine periods.

The tuition rate is the same, whether your child is here on campus in the EC program or if your child is at home for distance learning. The school must keep full tuition in force in order to keep our faculty in place throughout the year and ready for the time when your child returns to campus.