On Monday, 21 September ICS opened its doors to students for the first time since school closure began in mid March. Two days after, on 23 September we welcomed our youngest learners in EY2 - EY4.
It was a week filled with mixed emotions; joy, excitement and apprehension as parents and students said their goodbyes and students walked through the campus gates wearing masks.
Parents, students and teachers were phenomenal in following the health and safety protocols with families arriving at their designated entry gates for drop off and pick up. Students were maintaining their physical distance in line ups, while walking around campus and in the halls, while our faculty and staff were on standby ready to give reminders when anyone got a little too close. Overall, things ran smoothly.
Our Campus Playbook proved to be a true guiding document and blueprint for what our campus health and safety protocols would look like. Our success implementing those protocols this week is a testament to the level of dedication and commitment of our faculty and staff, and ICS community as a whole as we were able to follow the procedures outlined in the playbook with minimal deviations.
“I was prepared for the worst. I thought it would be chaotic but fortunately, things are going smooth. Everyone is settling down, teachers are happy, kids are so excited. The fact that this has been above my expectations is such a relief.” Eyerusalem Kifle, ES Coach
It’s important to keep in mind that our plan is flexible and adaptable and may change regularly to adapt to changing circumstances.
As an added bonus, students were noticeably happy to be on campus with their friends and see their teachers. While some were seemingly easy going about being on campus during the pandemic, others expressed their concerns.
“Although we’re really happy to be here it’s scary at the same time. We hope this will eventually all go away and this won’t be the new normal forever. ” Ruth & Blen, G11 Student
Our Continuous Learning Program online has also started strong this week, as our virtual learners from EY4 - G12 connect with their teachers and their peers online.
“Our virtual learners are getting used to the new platform. We have established a morning meeting scheduled to kick-off our day. Most importantly, children are excitedly sharing their stories. For the coming week, we are planning for some virtual-socialization. They will have the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.” - Ivana Bagini, EY4 Teacher