K-12 Schools – Post Pod Education Return to Learn Strategies

Back To School. It’s the phrase students have been dreading for decades. But, after a year of lockdown, both parents and kids are ready for a Return to Learn. While student safety is always at the forefront of administrators’ minds as they gear up for students to head back to school, this coming year’s safety precautions require a whole new set of guidelines.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, extra focus on student safety is the priority to ensure their return to learn is executed successfully and responsibly. K-12 educators are facing difficult decisions as they try to organize hybrid systems where students will be in school a couple days and eLearning from home the rest of the week.

In addition to pod learning, many K-12 schools have heeded the CDC’s advice and implemented new policies such as: students and faculty must wear masks at all times, plexiglass barriers between desks, increased cleaning procedures, and hand sanitizer available in all classrooms.

While the CDC recommends that everyone old enough receive the vaccine, not everyone will. With so many students not vaccinated, the spread of COVID-19 is still very much a reality. Harvard Health Publishing reported that recent studies regarding the presence of viral loads in infected children raised the concern that unvaccinated children, even those without symptoms, could readily spread the infection to others.

The CDC also suggests that schools test for COVID-19 to limit transmission and outbreaks, but the question remains: how do we reliably track a population that is always changing? Students may have traveled during their summer vacation and been exposed, parents may not be vaccinated making them possible carriers, and what students do outside of school and whether or not they follow guidelines cannot be controlled.

Additionally, testing has its own set of challenges: Who will administer the tests? Will it be done on campus? How can parents sign their consent if they aren’t present? How quickly will results be available? What happens if a student is exposed after taking their test? What happens if a student tests positive?

At 1health, we’ve thought through all of these questions and are proud to offer a comprehensive and innovative testing solution for schools and educational facilities as they return to learn. There’s absolutely no need to outsource to various vendors as our end-to-end service takes care of everything from administering tests to ensuring results are available immediately via our user-friendly client portal. 1health’s an all-in-one solution focuses on student safety so faculty and staff have more time to do what they do best—educate.

A year in lockdown took a toll on us all, but we’ve seen what a sense of community can do. We know that being social again and spending time with others will benefit everyone. 1health is dedicated to making the Return to Learn simpler, smoother, and safer. Community is a cure and we can help provide a safe community.