Each student is assigned to a pod which serves as their class group for the year. Pods are smaller than our typical class size to ensure appropriate physical distancing upon our return to the school building; depending on the square footage of each classroom, pods range in size from 6-17 students. To encourage consistency for students, families and teachers, pod assignments remain the same in Virtual VCS as they will be in the building. 

A cohort is a cluster of grade-level pods. In Kindergarten and 1st Grade there are two cohorts in each grade, comprised of two or three pods each. In 2nd-8th Grade, cohort is synonymous with grade-level; there is one cohort per grade, comprised of two to four pods each.

Cohort leaders are the teachers who teach all the pods within a given cohort, dividing up the subject areas among them and working together as Homeroom Teachers for the entire cohort. For example, there are four pods in the 2nd Grade and all of those pods are taught by the same small group of teachers. Each of those teachers teaches one subject area to each pod within the cohort: Social Studies, ELA, Math and Arts.

Cohort leaders (two to four for each cohort) will share the Homeroom Teacher role, all caring for and monitoring the progress of each student. Students will spend significant time with all of their teachers each week, including during Morning Meeting, social times and departmentalized academic classes, ensuring a strong connection between the students and their small group of teachers. All of the cohort leaders will know each child well and be able to speak to families about the child’s social-emotional growth, as well as the child’s progress in the teacher’s subject area.

Parents can contact an individual cohort leader directly or communicate with their child’s group of cohort leaders through a shared email address.
 

Pod placement takes into consideration many factors to create a dynamic and balanced group of learners. Each child’s placement is a very individualized process, taking into account social connections; academic strengths; areas of growth; student collaboration style; opportunities for leadership; and physical, social, emotional and cognitive growth. We want our pods to be a social environment where individual students build on old relationships and create new ones.

Giving children time to adjust to their new class grouping is a natural part of the start-of-school process, and our teachers are skilled at helping children form bonds and friendships with each other. However, should concerns arise on either the family’s or the school’s part regarding a child’s placement, all parties will come together to discuss the best plan for moving forward. In rare cases, children do move classes, although it is far more typical that children settle happily into their group.
 

While ultimately that decision rests with each family, the school does encourage parents to consider how their child works best. For example, where will a child work most comfortably? Is being with a friend helpful or a challenge?

During Orientation, students will be introduced to their new classmates and teachers through one-on-one virtual visits with classroom teachers; small group meetings; whole cohort gatherings with specials (Art, Music, World Languages, Technology, Physical Education); and separate meetings with the school’s Guidance Counselor (K-8th Grade) and Tech Department (6th-8th Grade). New students will be assigned “class buddies” and new parents are encouraged to reach out to the school’s administration and their “parent partners” for additional support.

While big, in-person gatherings are on hold for the foreseeable future, we look forward to redesigning our beloved events in Virtual VCS. Assemblies, performances and community meetings will all still occur. Similarly, building connections between the grades continues to be important: our Book Buddies program will continue across all grades, as will Big Buddies/Little Buddies between Kindergarten and 8th Graders and the 5th Grade-7th Grade Bridge Program.
 

While play takes on a different shape in Virtual VCS, it remains an important part of every student’s day. From the community time before Morning Meeting, to playing a game in Reading or creating a collage in Art, these are all different forms of play. A Social Studies teacher may ask children to bring a favorite building material to the screen in a Kindergarten group, have children film silly skits in 2nd Grade Spanish, work “alongside” a partner in a live 3rd or 4th Grade class or play games during US Advisory.
 
Our virtual Physical Education program puts an emphasis on fun and play for all students. Our talented staff get students up and moving, creating at-home obstacle courses, learning new dance moves or lifting weights with everyday objects.
 

All courses were redesigned and optimized to move into the virtual world. A move to distance learning creates a need to alter the pacing of curriculum. Our teachers are skilled at strategically breaking curriculum into manageable “chunks”; aligning lessons to essential knowledge and skills; and designing meaningful and authentic assessments that focus on application and transfer of skills. 

Our “live” classes are designed to engage children, and students will be guided through their work during class time. Parents or caregivers of our youngest students will likely need to lend a hand helping the child gather materials and settle into their workspace. Initially, young children may also need help using their device, although we anticipate increasing autonomy in all of these areas.

Just like in the classroom, children need extra assistance as they become familiar with routines. Teachers will be modeling these routines as well, guiding students through how to use a particular platform or holding materials up on the screen so students can ensure they have what they need. In order to accurately monitor each child’s academic progress, we ask that children complete work without adult intervention – beyond occasional redirecting – as much as possible.
 

The structure of Virtual VCS ensures that all students are seen, heard and engaged. Our classes will be smaller; all teachers engaged in professional development this summer to strengthen their distance learning pedagogy; a core group of teachers will work with each grade; Distance Learning Coordinators will be closely monitoring student engagement, along with the teachers; and our Guidance Team is poised to support as needed.

Students will focus on self and social awareness as well as self-management and conflict resolution, learning different ways to express a range of emotions and understand that each individual has different ways of handling things like stress and grief. They will have an opportunity to consistently meet with the school counselor to practice different mindfulness techniques, and to have individual meetings with the school psychologist on an as-needed basis. 

Aside from the homework we typically assign in 3rd-8th Grade, all work will be synchronous. Students will complete classwork during their Zoom sessions and time between sessions will be used to offer individual or small group attention as needed.

Our live class structure promotes the same active, real-time assessment that occurs in the building. During class time, children will be actively engaged with their assignments, and teachers will be there virtually alongside them to monitor progress and respond to students’ thinking and work. K-4th Grade students will submit assignments via Seesaw and all grades will use Google Classroom. These tech platforms streamline and organize material, collecting student work into a digital portfolio that allows for long-term assessment across the semester. Teachers will also use after-class Zoom time to meet with students individually or in small groups to answer questions and provide extra support.
 
As always, communication between teachers and families is vital and encouraged. The school will reach out to parents with any concerns and encourage parents to do the same. Additionally, the Guidance Team is available to support students, families and teachers. Bi-annual Parent-Teacher Conferences and Progress Reports will continue to communicate progress, with check-ins along the way.
 

Please email support@vcsnyc.org if you need assistance troubleshooting your VCS-loaned equipment, resetting a password or have any other tech-related questions. The Tech Team works tirelessly to provide assistance to all help requests as quickly as possible.

During any time a student is in Virtual VCS, or when school is not physically open, there will be an adjustment made for the cost of lunch.  

To ease the transition back into in-person learning, students will spend two days prior to their return to school continuing to learn from home while staff teach from their classrooms. Following that shift, students will have one day of in-person Orientation, when students will be in the building practicing health and safety protocols.  

Each pod will arrive between 8:20-9:15 a.m. to their assigned door. After having their "green light" Magnus app status verified, they will be sent upstairs with the directive to head directly to their classroom, with staff on hand to help younger students.

Dismissal will be staggered and families will pick up their Lower School children outside of the same door they used for arrival. Upper School students will be free to travel home independently after dismissal. Click here for the VCS Arrival & Dismissal Procedures.

Families can arrive at their convenience throughout the arrival window. Children must, however, enter through their assigned door. Teachers will be ready to welcome students into the classroom starting at 8:20 a.m.; Morning Meeting will begin at 9:15. We ask that all children arrive within that time frame. Click here for the VCS Arrival & Dismissal Procedures.

Between Drop-off and 9:15 a.m., students will relax, socialize and play in the classroom. This is time for children to settle in for the day and spend time with peers and their teacher. At 9:15 a.m. the Pod will start Morning Meeting, followed by an academic class. 

It is unlikely that pods will change when we transition back into the building, although small changes might occur depending on how many families remain in distance learning.

Parents and caregivers may contact any teacher with questions about that teacher’s class. Cohort Leaders are also available to discuss a child’s social-emotional development. 

Yes, K-2nd Grade students will have Reading Group. Reading Group will take place in the Pod to which your child is assigned, allowing for group and individual instruction. Our Reading Specialist, Sacha Dent, will collaborate with our Pod teachers to design top-notch curricula, select the best instructional materials and assess and know each child’s reading skills. 
 
Whether virtual or in-person, instruction is always centered on five main components of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, fluency and vocabulary. Children who are identified as needing reading support will work with the Reading Specialist either during their pod’s scheduled reading time or during an additional time.
 

In an effort to minimize exposure for both students and faculty, a small number of classes, such as P.E., Music and World Languages - as well as Upper School electives and Performing Arts Classes - will remain on Zoom after we return to the building.

Families are asked to bring their children's VCS-issued materials to school with them on our first day. Devices will travel to and from school daily for students in 3rd-8th Grade, and remain at school for students in K-2nd Grade.

Snacks and boxed lunches will be delivered to the classrooms, with snack time occurring twice a day. There will be a variety of both hot and cold food options, with attention paid to allergens, vegan and gluten free, etc. Families will use the NutriSlice app to make their meal choices. 

To protect children with allergies, we do not allow any outside food in the building. 

Play is an important part of every young student’s day. From the community time they have before Morning Meeting, to playing a game in Reading or creating a collage in Art, these are all different forms of play. While play takes on a different shape while physically distanced, it is ever present. Children naturally want to create and play and teachers will create space for this in their classes. Two children might be building with blocks at their tables, with a teacher asking questions and creating opportunities for the rich dialogue and imaginative exchange that play creates.  

The element of student voice and choice are also important elements of play, and are easily brought into the classroom. As routines are established and the year unfolds, teachers will begin to offer students more choices in their learning. Even from early on, choices offered during transitions from one class to the next (“Do you plan on building during our break, reading or drawing?”) give students agency and build play and joy into the day. 
 

Students will have daily recess and other physical movement breaks, utilizing the Rooftop and Pier 40. 

Upper School students will have the opportunity to participate in three affinity groups: Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Power of Women (POW!) and Students of Color Support (SOCS). In addition to these three affinity groups, we will also be starting a chapter of Students Organizing Against Racism (SOAR). The Student Advisory Board (SAB) will also be active. Students have the opportunity to start a new club by submitting a mission statement and designating a leader and at least one other member. Affinity groups and clubs will meet via Zoom during the school day. 

Teachers will incorporate the four main social justice domains - identity, diversity, justice and action – into the curriculum in every subject area, and each class will work to create an inclusive and brave learning space. These brave spaces teach students how to live their lives authentically, honoring the boundaries they create about how they want to be treated and how they would like to see others to be treated. Students will also practice what to say or do when they experience or witness instances of bias.  
 
In teaching diversity, social justice, antiracism and anti-bias, the main focus for students in K-4th Grade will be in celebrating differences and encouraging students to be kind and welcoming to all, resulting in a shared sense of belonging. The main focus for 5th-8th Grade students will be in finding creative solutions to inequitable policies and practices in the school and in society. They will begin to more closely analyze whose stories are usually told in books, in movies and in society in general, and to assess whether or not community service activities could be considered white saviorism.
 

All after school activities - including AfterSchool courses, Study Center, the Instrument Lesson Program, the Upper School Radio Play and Upper School drop-in courses, will continue to be offered via Zoom, with the exception of PlayGroup. 

Starting October 5th, both Study Center and Virtual Playgroup will shift from 3:30-5:00 p.m. to 4:30-6:30 p.m. 

Playgroup will run online at this new time until October 19th, when it will return to its normal time of 3:30-5:00 p.m. and shift to an in-person, registration-only program for families with essential needs. You will receive more details about how to register for in-person PlayGroup prior to its launch. 
 

Once classes resume in the school building, any student who chooses to remain in distance learning will participate in the class from their location via Zoom. Classrooms will be set up with a Meeting Owl camera, which provides a 360-degree view, reacts to sound and focuses on whoever is speaking, so remote learners will be able to see and hear their teachers, peers and classroom, as well as be seen and heard. Screen-sharing via Zoom will allow students to see Smartboard presentations and to follow along with classroom activities. Students working remotely will engage in group work using the devices in use in the classroom, and will be able to get help from teachers and ask questions in the same way. 
 

Families who remain in distance learning following our return to school will continue to have the same DLC(s) available to them to provide one-on-one support, serve as a liaison with the school and answer any questions they may have. 

Yes, you may opt to switch to distance learning at any point in the year.

If your family has taken a leave of absence - or decides to remain in remote learning after our return to the building in October - we ask that you remain on leave or continue in distance learning until the conclusion of Winter Break in January. Those who do not opt to return in January will be asked to remain on leave or continue in distance learning for the rest of the school year.  

While big, in-person gatherings are on hold for the foreseeable future, we look forward to redesigning our beloved events to be held safely via livestream in the classrooms. Assemblies, performances and community meetings will all still occur. Similarly, building connections between the grades continues to be an important part of our community. Our Book Buddies program will continue across all grades in a virtual format, as will our special Kindergarten-8th Grade Buddies and our 5th Grade-7th Grade Bridge Program.

The experience of remote learners will be closely aligned with that of in-person learners. Students who remain virtual will not only share in the activities of the classroom in real time, but will meet with in-person learners in virtual after school programs, clubs and more. Effort will be made to include remote learners in any classroom experience - for example, providing notice regarding cupcake days so parents can purchase their remote learner a cupcake if they choose.

In K-2nd Grade, children will have Music with Kristina for one third of the year. In the 3rd-5th Grade, students will study Music with Jeannette all year. In the Upper School, students are enrolled in a quarterly rotation of Performing Arts Classes including Dance, Theater, Recording and Composition. Our Music teachers will creatively use digital software and individual instruments to engage students in their Music classes. 

Yes, members of the Guidance team and other administrators will be observing classes, either from the doorway of the classrooms or most likely, on Zoom, to ensure all students are equally engaged in class activities.

Students will be asked to take their devices home each day for charging. Each teacher will indicate other materials that may need to go home should a student need to stay home. Per usual, if a child is sick, we do not expect them to complete work until they are feeling better. 

Wednesday's Orientation will be a full day of school for both in-person and remote learners. When Orientation focuses on in-person students learning and reviewing new school routines and safety protocols, remote learners will be told they can sign off or complete independent work.

For this first week, Brock will provide extra lunches in case people have missed the deadline for ordering.

Yes, the remote learners will be projected on the Smart board, so the teacher and students in the classroom can see and hear them. The teacher will share slides and other websites in Google Classroom for remote learners to access on their own; at other times, teachers will share their screens on Zoom.

All prescription and OTC medications are managed through the Nurse’s Office. Please contact one of them at nurse@vcs-nyc.org. 

Teachers have already begun forming bonds with their students and will create warm, welcoming classroom spaces. Should you feel your child will have particular difficulty maintaining physical separation, please contact a member of the Guidance Team.

Students will be able to go to the bathroom as needed at designated bathrooms on the floor on which their classroom is located. Signage outside of the bathroom will indicate where children should wait, physically distanced, if the stalls are occupied. All bathrooms are now all-gender, except for the bathrooms in the cafeteria.

All students and staff are asked to be tested for COVID-19 by Monday, October 12th. Testing is accessible at urgent care clinics, with primary care physicians, and also via at-home testing. We have partnered with a lab called Phosphorus, which offers at-home PCR saliva tests. Please decide upon the route you are most comfortable taking to get your child tested. If testing your child presents a financial hardship, please be in touch with Leslie Johnson for assistance. Beyond this initial testing, VCS will supply future PCR testing for staff and students at randomized intervals.

Staff and students will use the Magnus Health Screening app to complete a daily health screening by 7:15 a.m. each morning. This screening will consist of a temperature check and a series of wellness questions, as well as information regarding any recent travel. Once the screening is completed, the app will indicate whether you are approved to enter the school building or should remain home; if there are any gray areas and medical input is required, a Nurse will be available in the mornings to discuss this with you. 

Daily health screenings are required for all students and staff, and admission to the school building is contingent upon their completion. 
 

No. please complete the Daily Health Screening starting the first morning of school - Wednesday, October 7th. In order for a child to attend school, the daily check-in on Magnus must be completed by 7:15 a.m. 

There will not be at-school screenings for students or staff. The same questions that are asked in the Magnus Daily Health screening will also be asked of the limited number of visitors allowed in the building. 

Each classroom will be equipped with a sink or handwashing station and handwashing time will be built into the daily schedule (upon school arrival, before snack, and before lunch). Students will wash hands at additional intervals during the day as the teacher deems necessary. 

All staff will be required to wear masks while in the building. Staff in private offices may remove their masks, but no other individuals are allowed in that space. In shared offices, masks must be worn. All staff are encouraged to keep windows open whenever possible.
                        
Teachers will be required to wear masks in the classroom but may utilize a face shield when more than 6 feet away from students. Once that 6 foot barrier is broken, teachers must use a mask. KN95 masks are available to teachers if they prefer to use that instead of a cloth mask.
 

All students will be required to wear masks while in the building. Masks should be cloth, snug and vent-free. If a student needs a mask break, they may request one from a teacher, and a location in the classroom near a window will be available for that purpose. Students will also remove their masks for lunch, when desk shields will be utilized and social distancing will be maintained.

Students will have the opportunity to move beyond the recommended distance from others to independently stand by an open window and take a mask break for a few minutes. There will be plexiglass barriers in the mask break area. Their other mask break will occur during lunch when they will have plexiglass barriers around their desks. 

Paper bags will be provided to all classrooms so students can store their mask during lunch and will be disposed of at the end of each day.

No other types of face coverings are allowed as they are not as effective as masks. 

Yes, parents are asked to provide their children with at least five masks, one for each school day. These masks should be washed regularly and assessed so that they fit your child properly.

Additional masks will be kept at school should any staff or student forget their mask or lose a mask during the day.
 

Any illness will be evaluated by the Nurse and an isolation room will be utilized. If a student is determined to have a fever of 100.0 or more and/or other symptoms such as headache, cough or loss of smell, the student will be sent home. A staff member will escort the child to a designated entrance to meet their parent for pick-up; parents will not enter the building.

Students sent home with symptoms of COVID-19 must obtain a physician evaluation and a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school. A note from the physician is necessary to establish a diagnosis. 
 

The student or staff member can return to school with a physician-documented diagnosis and symptom resolution including no fever for 48 hours without medication.

Staff will be assessed by the Nurse in the same manner as students. Any illness will be evaluated in the isolation room and if it is determined that there is a fever of 100.0 or more, or the presence of other symptoms such as headache, cough or loss of smell or taste, the staff member will be sent home immediately. As with students, physician evaluation and COVID-19 testing for symptoms is required before returning to work.

The parent must quarantine for 14 days upon return. Unless that parent isolates from their immediate family members, those family members must also quarantine. The link to the NYS advisory list is available at www.coronavirus.health.ny.gov.

In general, if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, that person’s entire Cohort will shift to distance learning for 14 days from their last exposure. If a student tests positive who has siblings in the school, those siblings will be asked to quarantine as well. 

If someone at school tests positive they may be contacted by the NYC DOH contact tracing team. The more likely scenario is that someone at school who tests positive notifies the Nurse’s Office and we will initiate contact with the families of students in the particular Pod or Cohort that is affected. The school may work in conjunction with the DOH to ensure that everyone exposed has been contacted and referred for testing.

If the person has received a negative COVID-19 test they may return to school after being symptom and fever free for 48 hours (without medication), and with a medical clearance from the doctor.

That student must quarantine for 10 days from the date of the test. 

If more than two Cohorts are required to quarantine due to positive cases this would necessitate a return to distance learning.

Yes, windows will be open in classrooms. Additionally, an air filtration system has been installed in each classroom.