Health & Safety Plan

Ancillae-Assumpta Academy recognizes that the ideal teaching and learning environment is one in which students and teachers can interact with each other face-to-face. We also recognize the vital importance of creating a campus environment that addresses the health and safety concerns of our students, faculty, and staff. Our Health and Safety Plan seeks to do both, providing a roadmap for our community to follow in the months ahead.

This Health and Safety Plan represents the thoughtful work of the Academy’s Pandemic Response Task Force, using guidance from the CDC, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab, and local health agencies. The Task Force worked in cross-functional teams to study the educational and operational implications of COVID-19 for the Academy, defining objectives, prioritizing student and community health and wellness, ensuring the quality and substance of the educational experiences of students, and promoting the long-term viability of the Academy.

The Academy has implemented this Health and Safety Plan to specifically address, respond to, and limit the spread of COVID-19 in our school community. There are no strategies that can completely eliminate transmission risk within a school population. The goal is to keep transmission as low as possible to safely continue school activities. This Health and Safety Plan will serve as the guidelines for all activities.  Remaining mission-driven, community-centered, and data-informed will ensure the quality and high standards of our whole-child approach to instruction.  

The plan details protocols for planning, cleaning, safety, hygiene, monitoring, training, and communication. The best prevention is through avoidance, therefore the four primary ways of promoting the health and safety of our school community are: (1) face masks/social distancing, (2) good personal hygiene, (3) regular cleaning of touched surfaces, and (4) daily self-administered health screenings for all students and employees. The re-opening plan makes use of all available spaces on our ten-acre campus and utilizes a cohort model to limit interactions among groups of students and staff. This plan reflects our current knowledge; given the dynamic nature of the pandemic, this plan may change to adapt to changing conditions and recommendations.

The Academy’s plan is based on a philosophy, a three-pillared approach intended to guide our decisions throughout this school year: mission-driven, community-centered, and data-informed with student health as our compass. By anchoring our ongoing decisions in these three intertwined principles we will remain pliable to bend with changing circumstances while offering our students the calming continuity they need and deserve.   

As a mission-driven community, the Academy will, as it always has, educate with love and for love. As a community-centered organization, Ancillae’s choices will reflect its concern for protecting all of our community members: students, their families, our faculty and staff. And as a data-informed school, with our mission foremost in our minds, we are prepared for both on campus and remote learning. The safety and health of our students, faculty, staff, and families will lead how and where we learn and operate. Remaining mission-driven, community-centered, and data-informed will ensure the quality and high standards of our instruction.   

The success of the Academy’s plan for a healthy and safe reopening requires all stakeholders to be prepared with the necessary knowledge and skills to implement the plan as intended.

Protocols