December 30, 2022
When it comes to finding the right school, parents don’t just consider the quality of their education programs, and faculties, and support the community. They also look for the hygiene and cleanliness of the school environment.
Do you know that more than 22 million school days are lost every year due to the common cold or flu? It’s because schools are the breeding grounds for viruses and germs. The premises accumulate dirt from shoes, spilled drinks and foods, papers, plastics, and other forms of waste. So, kids tend to get sick often if schools are not cleaned regularly, which results in higher absenteeism.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic episode made us more aware of maintaining hygiene in school buildings! Considering the huge size of the school buildings that accommodate hundreds of kids and plenty of staff, it is necessary to clean and disinfect every corner of your school properly.
However, keeping schools clean is not just the job of janitors. While they can do the basic tasks like mopping the floors and dusting benches, what about cleaning the entire school premises, which includes staircases, terraces, playgrounds, toilets, canteen, and libraries? You need a professional school cleaning services provider to deeply and optimally clean every area of your school and ensure a hygienic environment for the students.
If you are the owner of a school and need some valuable guidance on keeping the school buildings and premises clean, this blog is for you! Here’s a list of the 19 tips on how to keep your school clean with the help of your students and teachers. Check them out.
Keeping school neat and clean is a daunting task for the janitors! They may not be able to clean enough to ensure absolute hygiene of the place and prevent infections or illnesses in kids. That is why some professional intervention is necessary. Professional cleaners use efficient methods and modern cleaning materials to make the school look pristine with germ-kill protection.
However, you also need to maintain the cleanliness of your school in simple ways, sometimes involving the students, teachers, and other staff. Here are a few useful school cleaning tips to keep in mind.
Your school is a big place! There are classrooms, teachers’ rooms, halls, entryways, restrooms, canteens, dormitories, playing grounds, exits, parking, and administrative buildings. Each of the places should be cleaned frequently to maintain the sanitation of your school and the health of students and teachers.
Apart from these basic places, you also need to clean the various furniture and structures, including desks, benches, boards, library racks, students’ lockers, cabinets, sports and gym equipment, and kitchen and canteen items.
It is quite possible to forget one or the other thing and leave them unclean. So, it is wise to create a thorough cleaning checklist. Follow it when you start the cleaning process by hiring experts. They use efficient cleaning innovations, such as robotic vaccums, to make the process easier. Also, you should prepare your school cleaning checklist systematically. For instance, keep the cleaning of classes and classroom furnishings in adjacent steps. Library and laboratories should be the next.
Then, keep the step for cleaning the halls and playgrounds in the last stage. Also, do not forget to include cleaning of windows and doors along with the other basic furniture of the schools.
A crucial tip is to educate the students about cleanliness and hygiene is the little steps to keep the classroom clean. It is their next safe abode after home and so they should understand the importance of keeping it clean. Besides, it is also the place they hang out with several other children.
By making the classrooms, restrooms, canteen, or any other place dirty, they will expose others to different health risks. So, you need to make your students realize this.
You can help your students understand the significance of maintaining the cleanliness of their school by practicing some regular cleaning habits. When they are taught separately about practices for keeping the school clean, they will know! Some of the good cleaning habits that every school must build in their kids are throwing waste on trash cans, wiping feet on mats before entering class, putting books or materials in place after using them, and keeping recyclable wastes separately.
Inform the students and their parents about your cleanliness policy and make them follow your rules. Most schools have a clean management program that they conduct regularly to make kids aware of their cleaning habits and hygiene practices. Also, it is your job to update them about new cleaning practices.
You should include tips for sanitization and disinfection of desks and tables after the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were one of the common places of contamination during that time. Hence, health organizations provided specific guidelines for cleaning the schools that will help to prevent the spread of viruses among the students and staff.
One pro tip for cleaning the school is to start with the classrooms, one at a time. It's important to have cleaning plan or a classroom cleaning checklist before you start. To make the cleaning job more comprehensive, talk to the teachers and janitors. Ask them to do the basic tasks in the classrooms, teachers’ lounge, and common places.
For instance, they can set aside an hour every week, when they can organize the classroom items and tidy up the desks, lockers, and shelves. Also, ask the teachers or staff to wash their coffee mugs or wipe away the food or drink spills on the tables.
Creating awareness about general cleanliness is also required at the basic level. From lower-level housekeeping staff and faculty members to teachers and the principal; everyone should maintain a good hygiene level in the school. If all of them are serious about cleanliness, you can ensure a perfect learning environment. You can then keep the teachers and children healthy, improve their children’s productivity, and make them perform better academically.
To keep your classroom clean and safe at the same time, free it from bacteria or germs! For that, you need to apply various deep cleaning methods, such as disinfecting and sanitization. Many will say that cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitization mean the same thing but they are not.
Cleaning implies removing visible dirt, stain, dust particles, or other impurities from the surfaces like floors, desks, tables, and chairs. Generally, cleaning is done using a mild detergent, water, or soapy solution. Cleaning makes the surfaces look shiny and pristine.
Disinfecting is spraying chemical solutions on surfaces or objects to make them free of germs and bacteria. It is done after cleaning. Sanitization, on the other hand, is the use of alcohol-based solutions which is sprayed on surfaces to ensure the killing of a maximum number of germs. It is especially recommended as a public health standard that lowers the risk of contagious viruses like COVID-19 spreading.
This is one of the most effective tips for keeping schools clean. A school comprises more than one building, multiple floors, and many sections. To clean the entire premises in one cleaning session, section off the school buildings. Make a cleaning plan for each of the sections and go ahead one by one.
For instance, you need the first plan to clean the classrooms, libraries, teachers’ lounge, and principle room which are priority areas of the school. Then, you need another plan for cleaning restrooms, hallways, assembly halls, and canteens which are areas with higher footfalls.
For playgrounds, roofs, entryways, and parking, a separate plan that involves dusting and cleaning techniques outdoors is required.
Regularly cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces or objects is a must for schools to assure the health and safety of their student and staff. This tip has become a pivotal cleaning tip for preventing the spread of infection during the flu or cold season.
The surfaces of floors, desks, and objects are the main areas where bacteria or viruses stay for a long time. They propagate in air and light and so, the next person touching the same surface or objects get infected. So, disinfecting them regularly will prevent the spread of infections and keep students and teachers healthier.
Apart from the surfaces of tables, chairs, and desks, what else you need to clean and disinfect daily are door knobs, learning equipment, playing items, countertops, switches, library equipment, and cabinet handles.
The canteen has the maximum footfall in the entire school and also gets the dirtiest. Children, especially kids spill drinks or drop food particles accidentally on the tables and floors while eating. If not cleaned, they will not only cause stains but also make the canteen smelly.
Thus, you need to train the students with cleanliness conduct in the canteen. They should always clean the table before leaving. They should remove the packets, foil papers, balled-up napkins, coke cans, milk cartons, glasses, sachets, spoons, peels, and other food waste from the table.
Most schools keep artwork, science objects, models, or dioramas to help in the learning of their students. Since they are the items put on display and not touched at all, they tend to collect dust with time. Hence, cleaning the display items should be a part of your school cleaning checklist so that they do not get damaged by collecting layers of dust particles.
While most of the display items are fragile and are made of sensitive materials, you should just wipe off the dust or rub them gently with a water-based solution. Avoid making scratches or stains on them which can make your display items look shoddy. Display items also include trophies, mementos, and medals that are placed in the hallways or assembly halls. You should clean them carefully with a soft rub, without making them lose their shine.
Different solutions and products are used for cleaning every place and corner of the school buildings. Some of the essential cleaning supplies needed are floor mops, rubber gloves, trash bags, detergents, disinfects and sanitizers, beach cleaners, feather dusters, and toilet brushes. Gather all these cleaning essentials before starting your school cleaning procedure.
You should take extra care while using the cleaning products like beach cleaners or toilet cleaners because they are toxic and can harm the skin. In no way, you can afford to harm the health of janitors or staff who takes the responsibility of keeping your school premises clean.
So, guide your janitors to pay close attention to the instructions provided on the cleaning materials. You should also encourage them to wear masks and gloves while cleaning.
This is one of the crucial cleanliness practices that you should teach your children. You should ask them to put recyclable wastes like paper, cardboard boxes, book covers, empty pens, etc. into separate bins.
Keep the bins at different places in the school, including the classrooms, toilets, gym, activity rooms, hallways, exits, etc. Both teachers and students should be asked to use the bins.
The bins must be emptied regularly so that students and teachers know whatever waste they put in is taken away for recycling. You can make them aware of your recycling practices by showing them fresh recycled items or products later on.
A maximum of dirt on the floors come from everyone’s shoes. A good way to prevent the floors of the class to get dirty is placing door mats. Ask students as well as the teachers to build the habit of wiping their feet before entering the class. Big door mats should be provided outside the assembly halls, libraries, canteens, and other common places.
There are special techniques to clean the mats. Generally, they are cleaned completely and restored to the previous forms by vacuum. However, make sure to clean the door mats regularly, as they can turn shabby and cause a bad smell after accumulating too much dirt or grime.
Keeping things organized is also a part of the cleaning task, whether it is a public place or a resident! You should ask your students and teachers to keep the things in the right place after using them. It makes your school look ordered and also, prevents losing any items.
This is a very crucial tip for keeping schools clean as every corner or place is occupied with essential stuff. Especially, the students and teachers should keep things organized in libraries, activity rooms, and laboratories. The items in these rooms are common learning materials, playing equipment, musical instruments, and artwork.
So, everyone should use them carefully and keep them in the appropriate place so that the next person can easily find them and use them.
Recycling is also considered one of the top school facility cleaning tips because it helps reduce the amount of waste generated from school buildings. You can promote the recycling of basic items that are made of paper, glass, and plastic. Make the teachers support your decision to recycle waste. They will then educate the students about your recycling program and encourage them.
You should keep recycling bins at places that are within the reach of your students. Teachers should educate the children about the difference between recyclable and non-recyclable wastes. They must be able to identify plastic waste, glass waste, and paper waste.
With a successful recycling program in your school premises, you can reduce the amount of solid trash going to the landfill. So, it reduces your cleaning costs and at the same time, keeps your school campus clean.
This is one of the core responsibilities of the school management for keeping schools clean. Everything should be kept in a perfectly organized way, whether it is classroom furniture, art and craft items, playing equipment, books, stationery, and other educational items.
Keeping items organized makes it easy to maintain the cleanliness of your school. Otherwise, you have to first clear the clutter and organize the items before cleaning, which is time-consuming.
When everything is organized, it helps the teachers and students to find an item fast. But, when things are disorganized, teachers or students can easily misplace or lose any valuable item. Moreover, when they cannot find an important thing, they are likely to search for it in hurry, which will create a further mess in the place.
Regularly disinfecting all the surfaces in your school is essential for ensuring the health and safety of your students, teachers, and other staff. This has become a mandatory cleaning practice after the COVID-19 outbreak. Disinfecting the surfaces became essential to reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses on the premises, and hence, sicknesses among the school occupants.
Disinfecting can be a tedious process when the school campus is huge. So, break the task among groups. Teachers should take the responsibility of disinfecting the surfaces and objects in classrooms such as doorknobs, chairs, benches, desks, learning tools, toys, computer screens, and so on.
The janitors must be responsible for disinfecting toilets, sinks, canteens, kitchens, and other common areas. Also, they should make sure to use fresh cleaning supplies like gloves every time while disinfecting for personal hygiene and safety.
Considering the populace that the school accommodates every day, it is necessary to clean schools every day. Moreover, the kids create clutter on the floors, unintentionally spill foods or drinks while eating, and make the toilets dirty after use. Therefore, if you skip cleaning your school a single day, it doubles your task the next day.
Even if it is not possible to clean the whole school premises every day, make sure to clean the classrooms, activity rooms, teachers’ lounge, kitchen, and bathrooms daily
Cleaning day events for everyone will serve two purposes! Firstly, it will help you to clean your school campus thoroughly, and secondly, it makes the students aware of the importance of cleanliness. The principal or head of the administration should take responsibility for a cleaning event. They should encourage everyone, including students, teachers, staff, and parents to be a part of the event. Set cleaning guidelines and a thorough cleaning checklist for the event day.
Before the day of the event, make the participants aware of your guidelines and checklist to ensure their proactive participation. Gather all your cleaning supplies including rubber gloves, trash cans, dusters, and janitorial uniforms.
Spread the word about your cleaning event during assemblies to gather a maximum number of participants. Organize groups and assign certain cleaning responsibilities to each of the groups. You can arrange snacks or refreshments at the end of the day to create some cheerful moments!
Typically, the janitors know how to take care of your school building and every corner or place of your school. Due to the huge amount of cleaning tasks the janitors are required to do, most schools see higher turnover rates of their janitors. Fortunately, there’s a cost-effective and feasible solution to this! You can hire a professional cleaning company.
Most professional cleaning companies provide school cleaning services on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can also hire them before any special events to deep clean your school buildings and premises.
They have trained cleaners with experience in cleaning schools, commercial buildings, and different community places. They will use specific techniques and cleaning materials to clean your school, making it a healthier and safer place for learning.
Cleanliness plays a greater role in making your school a successful educational faculty and student community. Aside from cleaning the most visible places like classrooms, hallways, and teachers’ rooms, the whole school campus has to be deep cleaned frequently to ensure the hygiene of students and faculty members.
Besides, cleanliness boosts the productivity of the students. It also makes the administration of school premises easier. It builds positive habits in the students who become conscious and try to help with little actions to keep the school clean. The little steps to keep the classroom clean by every student count and will reduce the workload of the janitors to some extent.
Here are some of the key facts that demonstrate the importance of how to maintain cleanliness in school.
The school environment has a huge influence on the learning experience and academic performance of the students. That’s why cleaner and hygienic schools tend to produce more creditable students than schools with the dirty environment. Children feel discomfort or nausea when they spend hours in a shabby environment. They find it difficult to concentrate and that affects their overall learning experience.
Unclean and unkempt schools also breed bacteria and germs, which make the kids sick. They remain absent from school often which affects their productivity and academic performance. So, it can be said that the grades of students or the graduation success rate of your school might drop if cleanliness is not maintained.
Cleaner schools mean healthier teachers and healthier teachers are productive assets of the school. Common flu or cold spreads rapidly in the school environment where students and teachers come in frequent contact with each other. By regularly cleaning your schools and disinfecting the surfaces, you can prevent the spread of viruses from one person to another.
When teachers don’t fall ill, it means fewer sick days or leaves. They can take the lessons uninterruptedly as planned and make students learn at a continuous pace. So, when the teachers do not take too many breaks because they remain healthy, it raises their productivity and makes the learning process smooth and absorbing for the students.
When you deep clean the school premises, disinfect the surfaces and maintain a sanitary classroom environment, it boosts the health of the students and teachers. It prevents the spread of contagious diseases and so the chances of students or teachers becoming ill lessen.
This makes your school environment a healthy abode for the students and a safer workplace for the teachers.
Cleaner schools ensure higher attendance every day and minimal absenteeism among the teachers. This ensures that your school outperforms other institutes in terms of graduation success.
An unkempt school environment has dust, grime, or filth over surfaces and objects. Some of these include allergens that cause rash, itchiness, and skin diseases. Too much dust in the room or surfaces can also cause breathing problems. Without using masks, anyone could inhale the dust particles that will affect their lungs or respiratory system. Thus, you can put the students and employees of your school at risk of skin allergies and sickness.
Keeping the school premises and rooms free from dust is crucial for preventing health risks for students or teachers who have asthma. Dust can aggravate asthma symptoms. Similarly, it triggers allergic reactions in persons with lower immunity levels. Also, if the corners of the rooms and walls are not dusted and cleaned regularly, they develop mold.
This happens especially during cold and humid conditions. Mold or mildew also causes allergic reactions and breathing problems. Besides, they can make your school premises look old and shoddy, just opposite to what a healthy school environment must look like!
Parents always hope that the school management or administration department know how to take care of your school cleanliness. So, when they see that the school is regularly cleaned and well-maintained, it instills a positive sentiment and encouragement in them. They seek to involve and be a part of the school during all co-curricular programs and events.
The positive parental involvement also comes from the demonstration of management’s commitment to maintaining cleanliness. They want to appreciate and support the management by being a part of every school program, annual day, or event.
Also, they show interest during the cleaning day event. They like to participate in the event with the teachers and students to back the school’s unified effort to build a clean and unkempt environment.
Various learning equipment and scientific objects used by teachers can lose their longevity. They are made of metals like iron, copper, etc. which easily get rust with time. If not cleaned regularly, they will not only look time-worn and unprofessional but will also become non-functional.
Most of the equipment and learning items are found in the laboratories and activity rooms. School labs have various types of glass equipment, which lose their shine and need to be replaced. The musical tools and gym equipment will stop working if you do not clean them regularly. So, you have to buy the equipment frequently and that involves extra expenses for the school management.
Children tend to develop their habits from what they see regularly. When surrounded by a clean school environment where everyone practices hygiene, the kids gradually realize the importance of cleanliness.
They understand the need to keep their own homes and school desks clean. A messy, shabby, or cluttered classroom will also make the students feel sloppy and lazy. They need a perfect cheerful environment where they can concentrate and learn better. A clean classroom ensures that!
When the students are always provided with extra-tidy classrooms, desks, entryways, halls, canteens, or restrooms, they feel the necessity to keep their homes clean in a similar way. They will avoid cluttering items on the floors and keep desks organized.
They will remember to practice basic cleaning habits like throwing trash in bins and wiping the table after eating. To further instill good habits, you can involve them in daily cleaning chores, like dusting the books and learning objects, organizing the lockers, wiping the desks, and clearing up the mess after a project.
Keeping schools clean is not only necessary for maintaining sanitation and the health of occupants. There is also an aesthetic reason associated with it. A clean school looks posh and pristine, which students can take pride in. The teachers and other faculty members also feel happy by seeing the students proud of their institution. This further encourages them to promote cleanliness practices and good hygiene habits.
When the students develop a sense of pride in their school, the administration considers cleanliness as a priority in the school management program. They will hire professional cleaners to deep clean the school campus at frequent intervals! The teachers and parents will be also interested in organizing the cleaning day events and helping the students to keep up their pride and honor.
You need to clean your school regularly to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff and that is the the little steps to keep the classroom clean. Being a densely populated place, it tends to get more dirt, grime, or dust every day from the shoes. Besides, children are not too conscious and tend to clutter things. They make classrooms dirty with their miscellaneous learning and playing activities. All these general reasons make it necessary to hire professional school cleaning services for keeping schools clean.
Whether your school is large or small, engaging the cleaning experts will make sure every corner is free from dirt or bacteria. It’s only when the environment is top-notch clean, you can take pride in your educational institution and provide a safe learning experience to the students.
Get help from professional cleaning experts on how to keep your school clean at Sterling Cleaning Services in NYC, which provides the highest quality cleaning services at affordable prices. Our trained experts are equipped to clean schools, offices, and various commercial facilities ensuring maximum satisfaction of the clients.
Our cleaners use the most efficient techniques to deep clean various places and items on school premises. We promise to make your school environment magically clean to make your students and teachers proud of their institute.
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