Re-Opening

Dear Parents/Guardians, Faculty, Students, and Staff of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Academy:

The Academy Board of Directors has contracted with Perrotta Consulting LLC to review and assist in implementing our COVID-19 Operating Plan that will meet and address the challenges associated with the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Perrotta Consulting LLC studied the present public health crisis since its onset and developed a systematic approach to addressing COVID-19 threats while meeting the highest operational standard possible, based on Department of Homeland Security principles and pandemic threat mitigation practices used across public and private sectors and across the globe. They have successfully reopened many organizations in the greater New York area and will be spending the next few weeks working with St. Gregory Catholic Academy and many other schools, to implement the safest operating procedures and physical threat mitigation technologies available, in order to provide the highest standard of safety for children, families and faculty. We are also confident that through these enhanced mitigation procedures, Perrotta Consulting LLC will be able to safely return all students to the classroom five days a week, so long as schools are permitted to reopen in New York State.

Over the next few weeks, Perrotta Consulting LLC will be working constantly with the faculty and staff at St. Gregory Catholic Academy to develop and implement specialized procedural and physical changes to ensure the highest standard of safety for all teachers and students. The following are the first major changes that will be immediately implemented at the start of the school year:

• Temperature screening procedures for every student, teacher, and staff member entering the school.

• Full decontamination of each classroom using EPA certified disinfectantors, that are completely safe for children, at the conclusion of each school day. The Diocese of Brooklyn will deep clean each classroom and hallway in our building around August 26, 2020. The Academy has purchased two fogging machines (and appropriate safe cleaning solutions) to “fog” the building at the end of each day.

• Mandating all teachers and students arrive wearing a face covering, and not permitting anyone in Kindergarten and above to remove their face covering unless six feet of distance is maintained.

• Implementing hand sanitizing stations throughout the building.

• Implementing social distancing procedures and changes to traffic flow patterns in the building.

• Training all faculty and staff in COVID-19 cleaning procedures, protocols, and syndromic surveillance.

• Advising on the Academy’s COVID-19 Operation and Threat Mitigation Plan.

• Keeping children in small cohorts that will not comingle.

St. Gregory the Great Catholic Academy recognizes its new public health obligation and the countless challenges we will need to overcome in order to provide the safest achievable environment for your children and our school faculty. We will be working with Perrotta Consulting LLC regarding the changing conditions of the COVID-19 Pandemic and government and Diocesan guidelines which require constant updates and changes to procedures and policies this school year and into the future.

Members of the Academy administration and faculty will be meeting regularly with Perrotta Consulting LLC to discuss changes based on pandemic conditions, student and teacher needs, and government/Diocesan guidelines. Perrotta Consulting LLC will also be communicating regularly with parents and students about changes in our procedures.

Meeting our new public health obligation is not just a matter of procedural planning and workspace changes. Due to the interconnected risks associated with COVID-19, coordinated and individual responsibility of staff, students and families at St. Gregory Catholic Academy will be essential. We look forward to continued partnership with St. Gregory Catholic Academy and helping your child(ren) and our faculty and staff safely return to the classroom.