Bringing US Together

myUS

Bringing US Together

This page was last updated on Monday, October 19 at 10:46am.
Please check back often as information can change.

Our Guiding Principles

Helping ensure the health, safety, and wellness of the US community
Fulfilling the US mission by providing an outstanding educational experience.

While University School is obviously not immune to the challenges of COVID-19, we are most fortunate that we have an enormously talented team of dedicated educators. We have been working tirelessly to prepare for the upcoming school year. We are sensitive to new information and ready to adapt, always. Our current plans are byproducts of months of collaborative care, thought, and deliberation in coordination with and adherence to national, state, and authorities; public health experts' guidance; and medical professionals' advice.

RETURNING TO SCHOOL, ON-SITE OR ONLINE

We recognize the challenge of these times for all in our community, and we strive to keep our community as connected as we can.

Faculty, staff, and administration are working to return students and teachers to campus as fully and safely as possible. Doing so will depend more than ever before on our partnership as educators and parents. As the start of school approaches, we will share additional aspects of school life in this “new normal,” and our alignment is of paramount importance to the school’s safe – and successful – operation as we all move forward together.
We have proceeded with planning for a return to school five days a week for each student enrolled at US, but we recognize that some US students’ own or families’ circumstances might necessitate online learning. For our and your planning purposes, we will ask that such families commit to a duration – by trimester in the lower and middle schools, by semester in the upper school – of online learning.

SAFETY STARTS AT HOME

What we do often we do well. Many of the best practices for mitigating risk are well established, and must also be established well outside of school. In addition, we have updated our school illness policy to provide specific information as it pertains to Sars-COV-2/COVID-19: UNIVERSITY SCHOOL ILLNESS POLICY.

1. Every US student from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 must routinize the three Ws, at home as well as at school:

List of 3 items.

Wash

We must all wash our hands often. Hand hygiene remains vital to combating the virus.
Wear

We must all wear face coverings at school and outside of the home, especially when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Watch

Perhaps one of our tougher challenges, given the intimacy of our school environment, watching our distance is absolutely crucial.

2. Symptom assessments are essential, including:

List of 6 items.

Fever

100.0 F or higher
Shortness of Breath
Cough
Sore Throat
GI Problems

Nausea, Vomiting, or Diarrhea
Loss of Taste/Smell

3. While the school will be conducting daily temperature screenings for everyone who frequents campus, families are required to perform symptom assessments at home beforehand. We are finalizing assessment questionnaires as we look to the start of the year, and expect they will be incorporated into our online platform. Students’ whose checklists are incomplete will not be allowed into school.

4. Anyone, student or staff, who is sick has to stay home.

5. Anyone who is sick at school will be sent home.

6. Families should be aware of and adhere to the weekly updated State of Ohio travel advisory.

SAFEGUARDS AT SCHOOL

US is committed to providing layers of protection to mitigate risk.

List of 5 items.

Face Coverings Required

As previously announced, face coverings are required of all on campus.
Hygiene

As hand hygiene is prioritized, the school has added scores of additional safeguards.
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1. Sanitizing stations are positioned throughout campus, including but not limited to all classrooms, restrooms, and points of entry.
2. Every restroom has been equipped with touchless technologies – sinks, urinals, toilets, paper towel dispensers, and toe-pulls.
3. A number of water fountains have been disabled and/or removed; in their place, we have added additional sinks for hand washing.
4. Adjustments to our scheduling will assist in diffusing student and staff use of restrooms on campus during the school day.
Physical Distancing

Physical distancing must be maintained.
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1. We have adjusted both our physical plants and our daily schedules to ensure that students and staff can maintain the full recommended 6-foot distance.
2. In certain places where physical distance might be more challenging to maintain (e.g., our receptionist stations), plexiglass barriers have also been installed.
3. We have redoubled our efforts to clean, sanitize, and disinfect our facilities.
- Contact surfaces will be treated during the school day and at transition times, as well as between school days.
- Our housekeeping personnel will be increased.
- We will add an additional day-shift of operation.
Air Filtration Systems

We have evaluated and calibrated our air-handling (HVAC) systems on both campuses.
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1. We are availing our facilities of fresh air whenever possible.
2. We have upgraded our air filtration systems with a sophisticated state-of-the-art, ozone-free technology and the first air purification system to test SARS-CoV-2, achieving a 99.4% reduction of the surface strain within 30 minutes.
3. We are equipping spaces with additional HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filtration systems.
4. We are achieving recommended values for MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) at 13 and HEPA at 0.3 microns.
Guests

Only students and school personnel are permitted in school buildings at this time.

Get Prepared

Learn all about our new school procedures and best practices designed to help us mitigate spread.

Wearing a Mask

Entering School

Lunch Procedures

Daily Screening

Sanitizing Spaces

Hydrating Safely

IN THE EVENT OF EXPOSURE

In the event of an exposure or suspected exposure of a staff member, student, or household member of a staff member or student, we will coordinate with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health on the appropriate next steps.

Anyone testing positive for COVID-19 is isolated at home and receives a call from their county/city of residence’s health department with instructions on how to keep themselves and their family safe.
During that call, the health department acquire a list of close personal contacts (persons who were within a 6-foot physical distancing for more than 10 minutes). The department then reaches out to those case contacts with quarantine information.
Anyone exhibiting symptoms should contact their primary care provider and depending on their access to care, they will be given testing instructions.
As with strep throat and influenza in years prior, community members would be alerted within 24 hours of a COVID-19 diagnosis.

DISTANCE LEARNING CONTINGENCIES

Should it become necessary, University School is ready to pivot to entirely online operations. Our Distance Learning Task Force, as shared previously, has been active since the spring, and the school has invested considerably in growing our capacity in this area. With many lessons learned these past few months, including extensive feedback from our stakeholders, we are also planning our current divisional schedules with this possibility in mind.

Additional Guidelines

List of 4 frequently asked questions.

Transportation
Bus transportation will meet or excede State pandemic mandates.
- Masks are mandatory on the bus for all students, regardless of grade.
- Students are responsible for providing their own masks.
- Temperatures will be taken before students board the buses.
- Physical distancing will be observed with a maximum of 1 student per seat (with the exception that siblings may sit together on one seat). There are 24 seats on a large bus.
- Bus cleaning procedures will be documented and meet State guidelines.
Lunches

We have invested in additional equipment that will allow us to deliver hot lunches throughout the Shaker and Hunting Valley campuses, and our schedules will facilitate these to be delivered in small settings with physical distancing.
Visitors

Outside visitors to the building will be strictly limited. All visitors will undergo symptom and temperature screening upon arrival and will be required to wear a face covering. Unfortunately, parents will not be permitted in the school building. Parent events including Curriculum Night, parent coffees, parent conferences, and individual parent meetings will occur virtually. Outside tutors will not be permitted to tutor students on campus.
Assemblies

All assemblies will be virtual for the foreseeable future and streamed to smaller spaces.

Division Details

Parents can log in to myUS at the links below for division-specific back-to-school information such as schedules, protocols, handbooks, and more.

Enhanced Cleaning Protocols

List of 2 items.

Air Filtration

We have upgraded our air filtration systems with Global Plasma Solutions, a sophisticated ozone-free technology and the first air purification system to test SARS-CoV-2, achieving a 99.4% reduction of the surface strain within 30 minutes. The system uses proprietary needlepoint bipolar ionization to inactivate SARS-CoV-2.
Cleaners

We have installed a ChlorKing HYPOGEN, an on-site generator optimized to produce Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl). The system converts salt, water, weak acid and electricity into an effective, safe and powerful green solution that is unusually efficient in eliminating viruses, and is up to 100 times more efficient at killing microbial pathogens than chlorine bleach. HOCI is approved by the EPA and listed by the CDC as a disinfectant against SARS-CoV-2.

Patrick T. Gallagher, Head of School

As we think about how our students will one day look back on this time, however, we might also do well to anticipate what they might say of what they saw from us and in us: not only patience and flexibility, once again, but also resourcefulness, compassion, sensitivity, and grit.

Shaker Heights Campus

20701 Brantley Road
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
JUNIOR K – GRADE 8
Phone: 216-321-8260

Hunting Valley Campus

2785 SOM Center Road
Hunting Valley, Ohio 44022
GRADES 9 – 12
Phone: 216-831-2200

University School serves over 850 boys in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 on two campuses in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. The School’s mission is to inspire boys of promise to become young men of character who lead and serve. Dedicated faculty, rigorous curriculum, and experiential programs foster intellectual, physical, creative, and moral excellence. University School is a diverse and inclusive community where each boy is known and loved.