IRVINE, Calif. — In 2020, going back to school has taken on a new meaning for a majority of students. But the halls of TVT Community Day School will soon be filled – at a social distance – with students.
“As good as distance learning is, there’s no substitute for having the students physically present on campus,” said Dr. Jeffrey Davis, Head of TVT.
On Thursday, the private, inclusive Jewish school in Irvine became one of 24 Orange County private schools to receive state waiver approval for in-person instruction for grades TK-6.
The county’s case rate was required to be less than 200 cases per 100,000 people for schools to be eligible for the waiver.
Prior to applying, TVT was required to publish a reopening plan, which Davis says the school had been working on for months. It included, among other things, a Health Advisory Committee, retrofitting like a number of thermal stations, and protocols that Davis says the school has the resources to be able to follow.
The school has 386 students in grades TK-6, and 665 students total.
“Most of our classes have about 11 or 12 students in there, all the desks are at least six feet apart, there’s a mask policy that everyone’s going to be wearing during the time, and we’ve hired additional staff to help out,” said Davis. “To do all this sort of stuff costs a lot of money, so not everybody’s able to do that because we’re bringing our students back for the full program. They’re not going to miss a beat.”
Los Alamitos Unified School District elementary schools, which are public, were also approved to reopen Thursday.
Acting County Health Officer, Dr. Clayton Chau, confirmed that August 19 was the county’s first day meeting all the state’s monitoring thresholds. He said for all schools and grade levels to return to in-person instruction, the county would have to continue the downward trend.
“Once Orange County has been off of the state’s monitoring list for 14 days, all in-person instruction can resume,” Chau said.
Alison Nightingale, Parent and Board Chair at TVT, had incoming third and fifth graders participate in an almost 300-student summer camp at the school, whereafter, the school says all staff were tested for COVID-19 and all results were negative.
She says she and her husband feel comfortable sending their kids back to TVT.
“I would not be a parent that would just want to throw my kids back into school with no regard for the safety of staff and children, said Nightingale. “I reviewed all of the safety protocols, I feel comfortable, I’m happy that we’ve actually gone through the dry run and the practice. And we’re ready as a family to go back to school.”
As Head of School, Dr. Davis says his number one priority is a safe environment. “We have left no stone unturned,” he said.