Emily Hays Photo
King/Robinson security officer Tamara Boyd opens box of water bottles.
When King/Robinson elementary schoolers return to their classrooms on Tuesday — and find the fountains dry — each student will have a water bottle with their name on it.
The Regional Water Authority (RWA) dropped off over 500 water bottles to the International Baccalaureate-focused magnet school on Friday morning to help students adjust to the new rules of pandemic school.
Starting on Tuesday, pre‑K through third-grade students will have the option of attending in-person classes four days a week. Fourth and fifth-grade students have the option of in-person classes twice a week. Some students with disabilities, as well as English learners in the “New Arrivals” program, will also have in-person options.
It will mark the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that students at most pre-K‑5 schools in town learn in-person in the classroom.
One of the new, Covid-era safety measures is that water fountains are turned off. Students will need to bring a water bottle to school.
“It’s going to be different for students. We wanted to help them fill up their water in a sustainable way. This way, they’re not bringing disposable, plastic water bottles to school. It’s good for the kids and good for the environment,” said RWA spokesperson Kate Rayner.
Principal Joseph Johnson chats with RWA spokesperson Kate Rayner.
The idea first came from then-third-grade teacher Rachel Battino, who contacted the water authority prior to the cancelled November school reopening. She asked whether RWA had any extra water bottles lying around and whether they would be willing to donate them to help students adjust to the new normal.
Battino has since moved on from King/Robinson and taken a job as a literacy coach at Benjamin Jepson Magnet School. However, the gift she engineered for the school remains.
School staff plan to divide up the six boxes of water bottles by classroom, so each class has one bottle per student. They are still figuring out whether students should keep them at school or bring them back and forth from home. Administrators don’t want students to keep their water bottles in their backpacks with their computers, where a leak could fry the whole device.
The Big Day
King/Robinson Principal Joseph H. Johnson has spent the past few weeks double-checking classroom technology and cleaning supply levels.
He learned around the same time as the rest of the district — right before New Year’s Eve — that schools would reopen on Jan. 19. His school was ready for the planned November reopening, so he hasn’t had to do much, he said.
Reopening schools during the pandemic has remained a controversial topic. The New Haven teachers’ union opposes reopening on Jan. 19 and recently signed a joint letter with parent and community groups asking the district to delay in-person learning until there are unified answers to common staff and family questions.
Johnson has clear answers to many of those questions laid out in a presentation he gave at two virtual parent forums last week. The school has also posted snapshots of what class will look like for each grade scheduled to attend in-person on Tuesday.
Students will start arriving by car and bus on Tuesday morning at a few different entrances around the building. Parents are not allowed to get out of their cars. Instead, staff will escort the students to the school doors.
Students will stay in one classroom all day, to minimize traffic in the hallways. Elective and specialized teachers will move between classrooms while students stay put.
Most students will eat their breakfasts and lunches in their classrooms. A small number of students, based on grade level, will be allowed to eat in the cafeteria.
There are plans to clean bathrooms three times a day and disinfect door knobs and railings regularly. Johnson said that he has enough custodians working in the building to handle those tasks.
“It’s been months now. I understand that there’s anxiety and angst still, and I feel that too,” Johnson said.
Johnson is looking forward to seeing the benefits of students and teachers reconnecting with each other in person on Tuesday.
“There is a nourishment of spirit that comes with that,” he said.
Michelle Romanelli has taken on Battino’s former role as the chair of the Sunshine Committee, which handles staff climate. Romanelli said that she feels good about reopening. At the same time, she has been planning treats, like candy and hot chocolate, to help teachers and other staff members with the anxiety they are feeling right now.
It’s a reminder that “we all have each others’ backs,” Romanelli said.
