LDFDS Back To School Plan
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LDFDS
The Lorraine D. Foster Day School
“This is the most depressing image I’ve ever drawn” … Victoria (LDFDS student)
Dec 16, 2021
December 16, 2021
Dear Families:
I am writing to inform you that one of our student’s family member tested positive for COVID-19. The student was last in School (in-person) yesterday and will remain home to quarantine until we return from winter break. The family member became ill Saturday evening (12/11/2021) and was tested yesterday (12/16/21) when he became feverish. He tested positive.
Given this level of exposure, The CDC protocol for our school community is the following:
“People who are fully vaccinated do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms. However, fully vaccinated people should get tested 5-7 days after their exposure, even if they don’t have symptoms and wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until their test result is negative.”
The student was in school (in-person) on the following dates in December: 12/1,2,6, 7, 8, 9, (13 sent home for not feeling well at 9:45), 16).
We will be asking that all students and staff have a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test
and provide us with documentation of the test results before returning to in-person learning on January 6, 2021. Please follow the recommendations of your physician or CDC guidelines to choose a test date that is most likely to represent the most reliable information regarding your child’s health at the time that they return. Remember, a negative test at one point in time is only that… a snapshot of that point in time. A person could become infected at any point after being tested which makes the wearing of masks, social distancing and utilizing good judgement about where we go, what we do and who we spend time with critical!
We may also require a second test within two weeks of returning. That decision will be based on the conditions we are facing when we return…in our school community and in the community at large. We cannot predict but we can be prepared to adjust our thinking and actions to fit the current reality and continue to do everything we can to keep ourselves and others as safe as possible.
To clarify, at this time, when we request that a student (or staff member) be tested we only accept the results of a PCR test, not of a rapid test!
Please refer to the following CDC link for further information and/or clarification.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html
Stay smart and stay safe.
Best,
Dominique
Lorraine D. Foster Day School, as presented in our Return to School Plan (RSP), began the school year on Wednesday September 2, 2020 through Distance Learning (DL). I think we learned a great deal between the March closing and the opening of School this fall: our staff worked diligently this summer to get ourselves up to speed and we are extremely proud of the program we are providing. We are offering a full five-day live program which includes all academic areas, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), art and physical education as well as resource room and extra-curricular activities. We are actively working with each student and family during and after school to support emotional concerns and issues and to communicate with all service providers. Attendance has been quite good and the response of parents and guardians positive and supportive.
The staff delivered all needed materials (instructional, art and physical education) personally to each family.
If conditions allow, LDFDS is prepared to offer in-person instruction on Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning the week of October 19th. Our decision will be predicated on the current state of the pandemic at the time as presented by the appropriate agencies and experts in the public health community. LDFDS reserves the right to factor in, as part of our decision to open or return to full-time DL, circumstances specific to our school and community. We will continue to offer our current five-day distance learning program in real time.
The building HVAC system has been evaluated, inspected and outfitted with new filters. We are currently waiting for MERV 13 filters which are back ordered. We have upgraded our internet in order to provide optimal streaming for the students continuing with DL. Each desk is outfitted with plastic tri-fold screens. All of our students are now equipped with the technology necessary to access the on-line program.
All students and staff will be required to wear a mask for the entire time they are in the building with the exception of lunch and snack-times. We will provide frequent mask breaks outside following social distancing etiquette and are prepared to hold as many classes as possible outside, weather permitting.
Strict morning safety protocols will be observed as students enter the building (temperature checks, hand-washing) as well as throughout the day, with particular attention to bathroom use.
As families know and have agreed to, a designated adult will be called immediately for any student who refuses to follow safety protocols and will receive their instruction through DL until a plan can be developed for return. As stated multiple times, Lorraine D. Foster Day School is unwilling to compromise the safety of its community as a result of students who endanger others by refusing to cooperate. Distance Learning which will mirror instruction, in real time, is always an alternative option.
Before re-opening, we will host an orientation both on-line and in person. I invite you to check our website http://ldfds.com/ . We have added a COVID-19 section.
Thank you for your support and please, let’s work together to keep ourselves, those we love and all our brothers and sisters on this planet healthy.
Dominique
Indoor Aerosol Transmission of CoVid19
“How is it that six months into a respiratory pandemic, we are still doing so little to mitigate airborne transmission?”
We Need To Talk About Ventilation by Zeynep Tufecki. (Click on the link to read. Use your browser “back “ button to return.).
Dr. Fauci on Science
“Science is an iterative, self-correcting process. When you’re involved with a static situation that doesn’t change, then the scientific facts and what you use as evidence to make decisions and policy recommendations shouldn’t change much at all. But when you’re dealing with a moving target, an evolving pandemic with which we’ve never had any prior experience, you’ve got to make decisions and recommendations based on the data and the evidence that you have at any given time. But as the situation evolves, so too will the evidence. So too will the data. And you need to be humble enough and flexible enough to change things based on what the latest data and evidence are. That is interpreted by some people as “Science is wrong, they’re changing their minds, they’re fooling us.” No. What you’re doing is you’re being flexible enough as you learn more and more to make the data and the evidence drive your recommendations.”
School Reopening Update
Lorraine D. Foster Day School will implement its submitted plan as described (see LDFDS Back To School Plan below), but has opted to provide all instruction through its Distance Learning Plan through September 2020 based on the following:
· Lack of information regarding how summer vacation behavior will impact the infection rate.
· Serious national debate by qualified professionals and experts regarding the wisdom of safely opening schools at this point in time.
Additionally, we cannot ensure that the work that we have contracted to be done based on CSDE requirements and recommendation can be completed in time and that PPE can be procured and arrive in time for the scheduled opening.
We will reassess this decision based on the conditions at the end of September.
