Response
As we approach the first day of school for the 2021-2022 school year, we continue to closely monitor public health information and make deliberate and informed decisions in order to protect the physical and social-emotional well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and extended community. Given the fluid and ever-evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, circumstances are constantly changing and require great flexibility, patience, and creativity, both on and off campus. Ongoing vigilance is exceedingly important, including but not limited to mask-wearing, physical distancing, and hygiene. This page will be updated as we receive more information from the Government of Manitoba.
The health and safety of our community is our highest priority. Iqra School has made significant investments to ensure enhanced health and safety measures for in–person classes, each playing a part of our overall risk reduction strategy. Scroll down to see a list of safety measures that are in place.
Mask Requirement:
All students, faculty, and staff are provided with face masks regularly, and they must wear them in any common spaces. Virtually every space is considered a common space—including small study rooms, corridors, and restrooms. Mask–wearing will be the expected norm and strictly enforced. Students who are in Nursery to Grade 3 are not required to wear masks, however we highly encourage it.
Reducing Density
Reducing the density of shared spaces helps facilitate successful social distancing. In classrooms, we will maintain at least six feet between students. Classrooms have been reconfigured to allow for distancing. This includes the removal of unnecessary furniture such as shared tables, bookshelves, and more. Dismissal times are staggered to further reduce density.
Traffic patterns have been established to help maintain physical distancing in corridors and other well–trafficked areas.
Students pray their dhuhr salah together in their respective homeroom classes. On Friday, most classes pray Jummah salah in their respective classes, while a specific classroom is invited into the gym to watch the Khutbah live. The Jummah prayer is streamed to enable students in their classrooms to watch the sermon live through the televisions placed in their respective classrooms.
Visiting Campus:
Visitors to campus are strictly limited until further notice. The Admissions Office will only be allowing private tours for families interested in applying. All visitors will be required to follow safety protocols.
Safety Measures
Plexiglass sneeze guards have been installed on student’s desks to provide a greater level of security and comfort.
New furniture has been purchased to better accommodate social distancing protocols.
Every person on campus is required to correctly wear a face mask. (Students in grades 3 and below are not required to, however it is highly encouraged.)
Physical distancing (minimum 6 feet) for any on-campus activities, including those held outdoors.
Water dispensers have been upgraded to touchless models equipped with sensors to ensure students are able to refill their water bottles contact-free.
We have increased daily maintenance of both campuses, which includes routine and multiple-time-daily cleaning of high-touch surfaces and high-traffic areas. Classrooms are equipped with cleaning supplies and gloves for teachers to wipe-down surfaces as required, and teachers will be trained in appropriate cleaning, sanitization, and disinfection protocols for classroom supplies.
Students and staff will wash hands or use hand sanitizer frequently. This includes before and after moving into new spaces or activities, before and after eating, after bathroom use, before and after praying, and whenever else necessary. Teachers regularly reinforce best practices for handwashing. In addition, hand sanitizer stations are placed in each classroom and throughout the building.
Larger gathering places such as computer labs are either closed to personal student use or have been repurposed as needed, following both physical distancing and maximum capacity guidelines.
Iqra School has evaluated all supplies that students use throughout the day and removed, ordered duplicate materials, and developed sanitizing and cleaning procedures in line with public health guidance around cleaning or avoiding shared supplies.
In an effort to reduce mixing of students, different groups of students will be assigned different entry and exit doorways. There is signage throughout the buildings to indicate everything from where to stand to which direction to walk in the hallways, as well as reminders to wear a mask and directions on how to wash hands and practice respiratory hygiene.