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Dear Headwaters Community,
APH has updated their risk assessment for Austin on their
website
to
elevated
"due to the growing evidence of person-to-person spread in the United States." APH also noted that no positive test results have been received by Austin Public Health as of Tuesday, March 10 at 12 p.m.
With Spring Break around the corner, we encourage our community to carefully consider travel plans.
International Travel
Following guidance from the CDC, we ask that you avoid personal travel to CDC Warning Level 3 areas
(currently
China
,
Iran
,
Italy
, and
South Korea
) and Alert Level 2 areas (
Japan
)
. Please take precautions and regularly monitor the COVID-19-related
CDC Travel Health Notices
.
Families who do travel to one of these countries over Spring Break or have plans to do so,
should contact campus administration and will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The self-quarantine days will be counted as excused absences.
Domestic Travel
There are no domestic travel warnings at this time. However, recommendations and restrictions may change while you are traveling.
We will continue to monitor any potential domestic travel restrictions. We encourage you to stay informed of any government-issued statements pertinent to your travel destinations or current locations. We recommend following the
CDC Travelers' Health page
.
Cruise Ship Travel
According to the
U.S. Department of State
, "U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. The
CDC
notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment." If you plan to travel by cruise ship, we ask you to self-quarantine. You may also refer to the
CDC Travelers' Health page about Cruise Ship Travel
for more detailed information on risks and other important information.
Upon Returning to School for All Students
Per our
Student and Family Handbook
, please ensure students do not have or have recently had a fever of 100F or higher before returning to school. Students must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication.
Again,
if your family travels to a Level 2/Level 3 country or
if you travel on a cruise ship,
we expect that you inform your program director as soon as possible and self-quarantine for 14 days.
If you need to request extended leave from school for any other reason, please contact your program director to discuss reasonable accommodations.
Potential Closures
W
e will follow recommendations from local authorities regarding school closures, and we will follow suit if AISD were to announce a district closure.
We will use our emergency communications systems (including text, email, social media, and our website) to keep you informed. On each campus, our academic teams are working on remote learning strategies and practices. Our goal would be to continue scaffolded educational opportunities for our students throughout any campus closures.
We urge all families to remind students to bring home any necessary materials, backpacks, jackets, lost & found items, etc. before Spring Break.
Continuing Preventative Measures
The best action each of us can take at this time is to continue following the recommendations of public health officials. This includes cleaning hands regularly and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. The CDC also recommends taking steps to protect others like staying home if you are sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and cleaning/disinfecting.
See steps to prevent illness here.
At school, students have been asking questions about this virus. Our guides have worked to provide developmentally appropriate answers.
As a reminder, this
page on our website
has updates, answers to FAQs, past communications, and more. As well,
our cross-campus COVID-19 workgroup introduced in our last email continues to monitor information, updates, and weigh in on decisions related to COVID-19. Please send questions, suggestions, or concerns to this group by emailing
health@headwaters.org
.
Take care,
Ted
Ted Graf
Head of School
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