Dear FVS Community, 
 
On Friday, we welcomed our final group of boarding students to campus as a part of the staged, quarantine and testing protocol outlined in our COVID-19 plan, FVS Rising. Students were tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and have been in quarantine since then awaiting test results. 
 
Earlier today, we learned that one of the students who arrived and was tested on Friday is positive for COVID-19. We then immediately activated our response plan in partnership with the El Paso County Department of Health, which includes the following.

  • Moving the student to a space that allows for isolation, assessing their health, and communicating with the student’s family. The student is asymptomatic and feels well. 
  • Convening our COVID-19 response team.
  • Immediately closing down and sanitizing the spaces in the residence hall that the student has occupied and where they have spent time, including the bathrooms and common areas. 
  • Contact tracing all students and employees with whom the infected student had interactions, and moving anyone with risk of exposure into quarantine following guidance from the El Paso County Department of Health. 
  • Sanitizing the spaces occupied and used by those moved to quarantine. 
 
It is important to remember that our return to school testing and quarantine protocols were purpose-built for this situation and designed to mitigate risk during the period of time between testing and receiving results. 
 
While in quarantine:
  • All students have been required to wear a mask at all times while around others. This helps protect them from exposure, but also reduces the risk of transmission if they are infected. 
  • The health center has administered daily health and wellness checks for all students. 
  • Students have been assigned to single-occupancy rooms where they sleep and eat all meals. Students are not permitted in each other’s rooms. 
  • Enhanced, physical distancing, hand washing, and proper hygiene have been emphasized. 
 
I am sure that this news will generate a number of questions and perhaps some concern, which is understandable. And while we can’t control how we feel about something, we can control how we respond. If this creates fear, anxiety, or uncertainty, I encourage you to follow our community guideposts and seek to understand by leading with questions, assuming the best in others, and leveraging any discomfort you might feel as motivation to follow the precautionary protocols that are proven to reduce the risk of exposure and spread. This we can do, and this we must do, together. 
 
Thank you all for the good work that you’ve done thus far, and for your continued commitment to our community. Should you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me, and in the meantime, stay safe, take care and be well. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
William Webb
Head of School 
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
6155 Fountain Valley School Road 
Colorado Springs, CO 80911