Chamisa Elementary School Is All In For COVID Safety

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on December 17, 2020
- 7:40 am

Chamisa Elementary School Tuesday on Meadow Lane in White Rock. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com

Officials from the New Mexico Public Education Department did a site check of Chamisa Elementary School recently.

“We passed with flying colors!” Principal Craig Washnok told members of the School Board at the Dec. 8 meeting.

Chamisa has fully implemented its hybrid education plan. While Los Alamos elementary schools have moved to the hybrid model, the middle and high school are still in the remote learning model.

Chamisa has 48 staff members and 206 students, Washnok said. Hybrid classes are all 50 percent capacity with two cohorts, Green and Gold (Chamisa’s colors).

Green attends in person Monday and Tuesday and Gold attends Thursday and Friday. When not in the classroom, students continue to learn in the online mode.

“Parents have to be co-teachers,” Washnok said. “The staff has done an amazing job—we have 99 percent attendance.”

The plan is quite complex. This is just part of it.

School cleaning routines

Classrooms are disinfected each day with Virex II spray. Each classroom has its own supply for custodians to utilize throughout the day.
Wednesday afternoon and Friday evenings, when no one is in attendance, the school is disinfected with a Clorox fogger.

Staff Training

Chamisa follows the Teacher Guide to LAPS Elementary Hybrid Learning as well as its own hybrid procedures.
Teachers do contract tracing and monitoring.
The staff is updated at bi-weekly Virtual Staff Meetings.
The school nurse keeps a spreadsheet with information received from parents and staff.

Social Distancing

Students take lunch and recess with their grade cohorts. There are separate zones on the playground for each cohort. Social distancing is practiced.
There are handwashing stations in each classroom that the students utilize after recess and lunch and any other time they wish.
The classrooms are set up for social distancing.
Pick up and drop off times are staggered.
An outdoor post office provides parents with a method for picking up or dropping off materials.

Chamisa does not neglect parents’ and students’ emotional well-being. Teachers speak with parents regularly and Chamisa has a number of classes and programs for parents.

Washnok reports that although math scores have dropped, reading scores continue to be high.

The district is working to improve remote learning in math, he said.

“We’re happy to have moved to the hybrid model,” Washnock said. “When students are here, they’re more focused. It’s great to see the enthusiasm of students to be in the classroom. The kids are adaptable. They take the rules in stride and they wear their masks.”