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Mid-Summer Update

Fort Collins Montessori School • Jul 13, 2020

Online Only Learning Survey and Phases

We hope you are enjoying your summer with your families and are able to pass by the new campus to see all of the work being done. It’s coming together quite nicely and still on track.

While the construction continues, the staff at FCMS have continued to work diligently in preparation for any reality that the 2020-2021 school year may bring. The major component of this work has been preparing to implement the Montessori curriculum for in-person instruction with physical distancing and safety measures, a hybrid model or completely online.

An Online Only Learning Survey has been sent to all enrolled families to gauge interest in an online only learning option from FCMS.

It needs to be noted that enrollment in the Poudre School District’s Virtual online only platform does not allow dual enrollment in our program. This means any PSD Virtual enrollment will unenroll your child from FCMS. The FCMS survey will measure interest at this time in a completely online FCMS platform. Knowing the needs of our families will help us make sure to respond the best way possible.

Below we outline the phases again. We have removed Phase 2 due to this phase essentially being the same as Phase 1 for the majority of our students.

Phase 1—All online:

We purchased PowerSchool’s Schoology platform that will be used schoolwide. This program offers single sign-on, internal video conferencing program, organization for student work, assignments, correspondence with teachers and other students. The goal with this is to be able to offer this model in the event of a Phase 1 for all students or for families who are unable to send their children to school in-person regardless of the phase. Parent education will be provided to help our families navigate this model while working with Schoology.

Phase 3—Hybrid:

A hybrid model will consist of full days alternating with Friday being an online day for all students. This phase will depend largely on the number of students allowed in group sizes. If our classes are outside of these parameters, students will be organized alphabetically by the oldest sibling’s family name. Families with different family names will be on the same schedule as the oldest sibling. We will then alternate days of in-person instruction and online instruction using the Schoology platform.

Phase 4—In-person all day every day with health protocols:

This phase will largely look similar to a normal day at school pre-COVID-19. Students and staff will practice the best health practices according to Larimer County’s Health Department and Child Care Licensing. Materials will be either individualized or shared materials will be cleaned regularly according to current guidance.

New Building with Health Precautions Built-in

Fortunately, FCMS is able to build a brand-new space for our children. Although a majority of the decisions were made prior to COVID-19, many of our practices are very close to new recommendations.

One HVAC unit split between just two classrooms. Our building is designed with each classroom having a single toilet room and an ADA compliant toilet room that joins the next room. These rooms are on the same HVAC unit to mitigate circulation concerns and limit cross contamination. We are also looking into adding Ionizers to each unit as an added level of safety.
Classrooms have operational windows. This allows for increased circulation.
Large classrooms. The rooms are approximately 900 sf. This allows for children to physically distance themselves throughout the day.
Each room has an outside door connected to an outdoor environment. This allows children to continue to spread out and work outside.
No carpeting in classrooms.
Children have always eaten lunch either in their rooms or outside. This allows us to maximize safety for students during lunch time.
Approximately an acre of open space for children to work, play, etc. This is in addition to the two separate playgrounds for Elementary and Primary children.