Sanitizing and Cleaning Your Classroom

Overview

Setting Up Your Classroom

• Prepare a schedule for hand-washing/sanitizing.
• Place hand sanitizer in key locations in the classroom (e.g., near door, teacher's desk) and building (e.g., entryways, bathrooms)
• Teach students proper hand-washing and hand sanitizing procedures.
  • Plain soap is preferable to antibacterial soap.
  • Students under age 6 should only use hand sanitizer with adult supervision.

• Ensure each student has their own supplies. Maintain separation of individual students’ belongings.
• Provide disposable disinfectant wipes for individuals to use before using shared objects. Place items in storage that are difficult to sanitize between uses.

Developing New Practices Focused on Safety

• Educate staff and students to:
• Use smiles, waves, and thumbs-up instead of hugs, handshakes, and high-fives.
• Avoid sharing food, drinks, or utensils.
• Determine how frequently various surfaces will need to be cleaned, including manipulatives (e.g., toys, equipment).
• Develop a protocol for classroom/school cleaning and disinfecting when a positive COVID-19 case (student or staff) is identified.

Reflection Points

• Which hand cleanings will be done with soap (e.g., after using the bathroom) compared to with hand sanitizer (e.g., entering the school/classroom)? If soap and water can’t be accessed without bathroom crowding, provide hand sanitizer for hand-washing.
• Are there enough custodians to implement our ideal cleaning protocol? If not, can we use staff and students to help with the cleaning?
• What are the budget implications of providing supplies for each child? Can supplies be donated?
• Are families asked to provide materials? If so, develop a process for purchasing and allocating supplies to families most in need (e.g., qualifying for free/reduced lunch).

Ideas

• Hold a Zoom webinar to educate parents and students on new hand-washing protocols.
• To efficiently sanitize students’ hands as they enter school, try the “assembly line” method: funnel children through a line and have a staff member squirt hand sanitizer into their hands as they pass by.
• Provide each student with a box or a bag for their supplies.
• Set up loaner computers for a student for the whole day and sanitize after school.
• Consider going “paperless” as developmentally appropriate.
• Part of students’ daily chores can include cleaning.

Starting-Point Tools

The following resources offer starting points for educators to implement strong hygiene practices in school for themselves, their students, and their classrooms. These comprise of practitioner toolkits, videos, documents, articles, and more to provide actionable next steps.

• How to Prepare and Care For Your Classroom (PDF checklist)