School cleanliness is vital to creating an optimal learning environment for children and faculty—this sentiment is even more relevant in our modern, post-pandemic world! As an educator or administrator, you must craft best practices and procedures to provide a clean school for your students. Read on to learn helpful tips for maintaining an effective school-wide sanitation system.
Divide and Conquer
Schools are large properties with many rooms, zones, and sections. Furthermore, each area often serves a specific function (conducting experiments, storing gym clothes and equipment, and more). These rooms demand certain cleaning processes and procedures. Consider splitting your school into cleaning zones to save time and effort. The cleaning zone plans allow custodial staff to divide and conquer, encouraging more productivity and better sanitation results!
Prioritize School Restrooms
Once you divide up your school property into different cleaning zones, it’s time to tackle the most problematic area on campus: restrooms. A heavy population of students and faculty can quickly turn a clean bathroom into an unwelcoming, hazardous environment. Most importantly, you must prevent bathroom odors by removing the source of these fragrances with odor digesters and other abrasive chemical cleaning products. Additionally, consider installing automated fixtures—such as sensor-activated hand dryers, soap dispensers, and sink faucets—to reduce cross-contamination across common surfaces and the spread of illness throughout your school.
Hire Excellent Custodial Staff Members
School custodial staff are perhaps the most important element of a solid cleaning system. Students and faculty would operate in far less sanitary learning environments across the country without their tireless efforts and daily responsibilities. However, it’s essential that you find and hire the very best custodial staff to ensure a productive and successful team. Some desirable traits for employable custodians include supreme trustworthiness, reliability, problem-solving, organization, and time management. Furthermore, you can require potential candidates to have some experience with and knowledge of commercial chemical cleaning products and procedures.
Get Everyone Involved
Despite the presence of custodial staff, school cleanliness is no one-person operation. Rather, getting everyone involved in your preferred cleaning practices and procedures is important, from faculty to students. Spread awareness concerning the importance of school cleanliness to reinforce proper hygiene behaviors throughout the student body. Encourage students and staff to always take good care of their immediate area, whether that be a workstation, restroom, or classroom.
Understanding how to provide a clean school for your students ensures better health and productivity throughout the institution. Consider hiring a professional cleaning company with access to more powerful equipment and chemicals for more severe hygienic complications.
