Q. Will there be an open house at Waconia High School?

A. Waconia High School will hold an Open House on Wednesday, August 26, from 3:30 to 7:30 pm.  The Open House is ONLY for incoming 9th graders and students in grades 10-12 who are new to the district.

The schedule is:

9th graders and new students with the last name A-K, 3:30 - 5:30

9th graders and new students with the last name L-Z, 5:30 - 7:30

Open House Goals:

  • Self Tours and Exploration of the building
  • Locating classrooms based on their individual schedules
  • Locating common spaces (commons, lunch area, gyms, auditorium, main office, nurse, music suites, etc. )
  • Quick Face to Face Meet and Greet with all or most teachers

Open House Expectations:

  • At home COVID screening prior to coming on-site
  • Masks will be required.
  • Social Distancing Expectations of 6 Ft.
  • We are recommending 1 Adult parent/guardian and no siblings to minimize the number of people on-site. (understandable this may not work for some and it should not prevent attendance)
  • Questions on building safety protocols should be done through electronic means on the website or through email after reviewing published protocols and answers to common questions on the ISD 110 website.  
  • PLEASE adhere to coming during the assigned time as much as possible. 

What Open House Is Not:

  • There will not be time to have a lengthy conference with teachers.
  • There will not be locker combination practice- students will not have assigned lockers.
  • Parents will not be completing forms and paying fees. They are, or will be, all online.
  • Parking fees for Trimester One have been WAIVED

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Q. What will the first week look like for hybrid learning students at the High School?

A. First week pattern for students 9-12:

Tuesday, Sept. 8th- B Group Students (L-Z)

Wednesday, Sept. 9th- A Group Students (A-K)

Thursday, Sept. 10th- A Group Students (A-K)

Friday, Sept. 11- B Group Students (L-Z)

Brief Rationale:

Each group has two days with the four day week.

Each group will be able to attend "A" day and "B" day classes in the first week

B Group (L-Z) is typically Tuesdays and Fridays.

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Q. Will high school students be able to switch from an A rotation to a B rotation? 

A. All students will need to start the school year on their assigned days. If you want to switch days, you will need to contact your building principal in writing (email) with your request and the rational for the change. A list of requests will be kept and after we get into the school year, we will evaluate the requests. Depending upon the number of requests and how classes/programs are balanced, a request may be approved.

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Q. Why did you set up the A/B rotation the way you did? Wouldn't it be better to go AA on Monday and Tuesday and BB on Thursday and Friday? 

A. We were concerned about the large break in seeing the students; there would be a five day break between seeing students in an AA-Wed-BB schedule. We also felt strongly that seeing students more regularly would help maintain a sense of schedule, accountability, and promote learning.  When we received the assurance that the building and public spaces could be cleaned and sanitized each day, we felt more confident in moving ahead with a plan that we felt was educationally more sound and could reduce the chance of students falling between the cracks.

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Q. Even though our last name puts us in the "A" rotation, are we able to switch to the "B" if that works better for our family? 

A. All students will need to start the school year on their assigned days. I will add your name to the list of parents/students asking for a change. A list of requests will be kept and after we get into the school year, we will evaluate each of the requests. Depending upon the number of requests and how classes/programs are balanced, a request may be approved.

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Q. Do you have a date when a majority of the decisions will have been made? 

A. We are updating parents on the planning process weekly and we expect to have a majority of the initial protocols ready by August 24th. If the Covid-19 numbers in Carver County stay relatively consistent, ISD 110 will open the school year on September 8th in the models we have been communicating. Kindergarten starts on September 10th. 

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Q. What happens when a student or staff tests positive for Covid-19? 

A. When we get notification of a positive COVID-19 case in either a student or staff member: 

  • The district will follow the recommendations of the MN Dept. of Health and Local Public Health  
  • Work with public health to communicate with families and staff in the school/building where there is a positive case
  • Work with public health to contact all students and/or staff who were in close contact with a person who has a confirmed case
  • Continue to monitor symptoms of students and staff
  • Send students and staff home if they become ill at school
  • Continue to provide important health information to families
  • Conduct additional cleaning

The district will not provide personally identifiable information of an infected person or immediately close schools for one case, but will work with public health to conduct case investigation, surveillance and safety and health guidance.

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Q. Will the district be offering Covid-19 testing? 

A. At this time, we do not anticipate conducting testing, however, we will work with public health around the area of testing. 

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Q. How will A/B students be split? 

A. For students in grades 7-12, students will be divided A-K and L-Z. A-K students will be on campus Monday and Thursday. L-Z students will be on campus Tuesday and Friday. 

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Q. When will we be informed of bus assignments if our children will be riding the bus? 

A. Koch Bus is working on routing right now with information gathered in the recent parent survey. Their hope is to send bus information out on August 19th. They will then update people with changes after the first mailing. 

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Q. How will locker assignments be handled? 

A. We are not planning on assigning lockers. We will be asking students to keep everything they need in a backpack. This is meant to prevent congregating of students and also limit the amount of items that are touched. 

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Q. Will their be high school band, choir and show choir?

A. These discussions are being held and a decision has not yet been made as of Monday, August 10. 

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Q. What will you be using to clean the schools?

A. We are using a Hillyard product called "Non-Acid Restroom Disinfectant/Cleaner 19". This is very effective against the Covid-19 virus. We will use the same product to mist the rooms. Learn more about Non-Acid Restroom Disinfectant/Cleaner 19

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Q. What happens if a student or staff gets something other than Covid?

A. We will follow the Minnesota Department of Health's Exclusionary Guidelines. If a student receives a medical diagnosis other than Covid-19, such as strep throat, the district will follow the exclusionary guidelines for that specific diagnosis. View MDH Decision Tree

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Q. Where will students eat lunch?

A. Students will have lunch in the commons area while practicing proper social distancing. 

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Q. What will special education look like for students? 

A. An outline is being developed for delivery of special education services in hybrid and distance learning models. When special education staff return to work, they will be communicating with individual families regarding the plan for their students. 

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Q. How will tech classes at the high school be handled since they are such hands-on learning?

A. In a hybrid or distance learning model, some departments and areas are more affected than others. The departments that provide hands-on learning opportunities are the most challenging in a hybrid or distance learning model. We will do our best to provide quality learning opportunities for our students in all of our departments and courses. In a hybrid schedule, we will have more opportunities than in a distance learning model. However, please know the learning opportunities provided in some of these courses will be impacted greater than others. 

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Q. With the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year being moved by a week, will the school year be extended by a week in the spring?

A. The last day of school in the spring of 2021 has not changed. View Updated 2020-2021 Academic Calendar

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Q. How will lunch be distributed? 

A. Meals will be packaged in the main kitchen, then transferred to a serving line for grab ‘n go service - students will be instructed to social distance while going through the line, they will enter their personal identification number at the point of sale which will be sanitized between each student & the cashier will enter charges on the meal system.

Meals can be purchased for Distance Learning students. Purchase Distance Learning Meals 

We will not be serving "hot" food in our to-go meals this fall. There are too many limitations on our ability to maintain the meal quality of a hot meal and meals will be cold or warm. All of which will fall into safe food handling practices. 

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Q. Can students bring home lunches?

A. Students will be allowed to bring home lunches. 

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