Health Policy Update: August, 2023

Since the beginning of our return to in-person operations in August of 2020, we have managed to offer close and meaningful care to children while keeping the health and well-being of every community member (students, teachers, and their families) at the forefront. Every staff member has been vaccinated and boosted, as per our policy, since the vaccines became available to adults in early 2021. All ECE participants must be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to attend our programs. This has been our policy since the vaccine became available for this age group.

While vaccines are a key component of our plans, they will not replace other safety measures:

• students who stay home or are sent home with respiratory, GI, or febrile symptoms are required to test for COVID-19 at home (24 hours after symptom cessation) before returning to school.

• students who test positive for COVID-19 can return to school if aysmptomatic AND testing negative by antigen test AFTER day 5 of the initial positive test. Parents should confirm (by Brightwheel) that they have administered an antigen test and the result was negative. No picture needed—we will take your word in good faith. If 10 days has passed from the initial positive test and the child is asymptomatic, they are welcome to return to school.

• all families who have a positive case of COVID-19 in the household must notify school as soon as is feasible. If we believe a class has been exposed, we will make specific recommendations for antigen testing of the group.

• Families should communicate to the school if their child has been diagnosed with any of the following diseases so that proper precautions can be taken:

  • RSV

  • Norovirus

  • HFMD

  • Influenza

  • Whooping Cough (pertussis)

  • 5th Disease

We are so grateful for this opportunity to protect your family, our beloved ECE teachers, and the broader communities we live and work in.