Coronavirus Update - Additional Resources

Greenhill Families,As the situation with coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, we wanted to send a follow-up communication to you with additional details and resources.What Greenhill Is Doing

• Our Director of Student Health Services is remaining in close contact with Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS), and we are continuing to follow their recommended protocols for reducing the spread of infection.

• We are reiterating proper handwashing techniques with our students and increasing the frequency of handwashing for our younger students. Additional hand sanitizing stations are on order and will be placed around campus as soon as they arrive.

• For our Preschool students, we are suspending our family-style dining with communal items like food vessels in the middle of the preschool dining tables. Instead, volunteers will be serving students.

• Custodial staff have been directed to prioritize cleaning common and high-traffic areas multiple times a day. In a normal situation, these areas would be cleaned once a day. Prioritized cleaning includes bathrooms, the lunchroom, common spaces, door handles, the emergency bar on doors, etc.

• Administrators are continuing to refine our plans for remote or distance learning should the school close as a result of the virus. If you have limited access to digital resources (internet access, printing capability, computing devices, etc.), please contact your child’s division head as soon as possible.

• We have established a website where we will provide ongoing Greenhill updates related to coronavirus and additional resources for you to reference.

What You Can Do at Home

• Continue to follow recommended basic prevention guidelines, like washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, avoiding touching your face, and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

• Keep sick children home when they are ill. Greenhill guidelines state that students must remain home if they have a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, and they must be free of those symptoms for 24 hours before returning to school.

• Ask your employer about how business will continue and what work-from-home policies will be during a pandemic.

• Consider preparing a space for your student to continue learning from home if one does not already exist.

• Consider what supplies you might need at home if you or your family become ill from the virus.

Upcoming Travel
The CDC has issued new guidance this week that requests that travelers self-quarantine for 14 days at home when returning to the US from areas with widespread, ongoing community spread (Level 3 travel health notice countries: currently China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.) You may read more about this guidance from the CDC here. If your spring break travel plans include an "Alert Level 2" location, we ask that you seriously consider your plans in the event that location is elevated to Level 3 status during your trip or after your trip concludes. We would ask that our families follow all CDC travel guidance to help reduce the spread of infection within our community.Supporting Children in Times of Uncertainty
We know that parental worries may impact our children, and it is important to remain calm and rational given that we know the chances of contracting the coronavirus are still low in our area. We also know that seeing and hearing news about the outbreak of COVID-19 may cause children to experience, stress, anxiety, and fear. Below are some resources to help you in supporting your child during times of uncertainty and to help you explain the coronavirus.National Association of School Psychologists: How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus
Childmind: Talking to Kids About Coronavirus
NPR: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
BrainPop Video about CoronavirusAvoiding Bias
Finally, we are very aware that anxiety can be heightened during such situations. We want to separate fact from rumor by relying on our health care experts: the local and federal agencies that are responsible for guiding us. As a community that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, we want to reiterate that any type of discrimination or profiling have no place in our community, and no parent or student should be targeted for any reason. Please reach out to me directly if you should hear of or feel you are a target of any of these behaviors.Greenhill will continue to monitor information about the coronavirus outbreak as we prepare for a potential outbreak in our community. Thank you for your commitment to keeping our community safe. If you have any questions, please send a message to ghinformation@greenhill.org, and your question will be routed appropriately.Sincerely,Lee J. Hark
Head of School