Dear Prince Avenue Parents,
As the nation monitors the spread of the new Coronavirus, COVID-19, please rest assured our school is taking calm, deliberate, precautionary measures in the event of any possible impact to our students, faculty, and staff. I want to update you on how we are monitoring the situation, relay our increased disinfecting procedures, provide recommendations on how to help minimize the spread of germs, and inform you of a new policy regarding travel to infected areas.
As always, the safety of our students at PACS remains our highest priority. To ensure sound and well-informed decision-making, we are monitoring global, national, and local health organizations, while consulting with local healthcare professionals. This includes following the guidelines and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the
US Department of State
, and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
.
We are also in close communication with our peer membership organizations that include the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), Georgia Independent School Association (GISA),
National Association of Independent Schools
(NAIS), and our local Oconee County Public Schools. In addition, other members of our administrative leadership team and I have been participating in COVID-19 webinar training with SAIS and GISA officials this week, and I will keep you updated on any changes to our policies or protocols that result from those ongoing conversations.
As part of our internal conversations, we are examining what our teaching and learning, student travel, and community gatherings at Prince would look like if an outbreak were to ever occur close to us in Athens. Of course, we are also assessing options to ensure educational continuity for our students in the event of an extended school closing.
As with cold and flu season, we are again enhancing our hygiene protocols with additional professional cleaning services to ensure that surfaces such as doors, door handles, faucets, desks, handrails, etcetera, are disinfected more frequently. I have communicated with the president of the cleaning company we contract with, and we reviewed the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) of the Bioesque Disinfectant they use, which is 99.9 percent effective against the human Coronavirus. We are doubling the application frequency of this product; if we have any emerging needs, we will evaluate them and adjust as necessary.
We want to remind you of the
CDC’s general recommendations
to help prevent the spread of any respiratory virus (like cold or flu and including COVID-19) and ask that you join the faculty and staff in reinforcing with students the importance of the following actions: wash their hands multiple times a day (both at home and school); sneeze or cough into the crook of their elbow or into a tissue that they throw away; and suspending the custom of handshaking and replace it with a “fist bump” that is already popular with young people.
For the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak, or until further notice, we ask for your cooperation with the following protocol:
If you are traveling to an area where either the State Department or the CDC has issued a Warning Level 3 or 4, or if you have been in contact with a traveler who has recently returned from these areas, please notify our point of contact, Mr. Kendall Eley, at
keley@princeave.org
. While it may be an unlikely scenario, PACS reserves the right to require a family member, student, or employee to remain away from school for up to 14 days from your date of contact. A physician’s release may be required before returning to school. The CDC’s incubation period can be found
HERE
.
Lastly, please remember that students take their emotional cues from us as adults. I encourage you to monitor your child's engagement in this topic and help him or her to understand what he or she is seeing and hearing. While I do not mean to diminish the significance of this health risk, it may be helpful to calm a child’s concerns about the size of the COVID-19 infected population relative to the flu (influenza) that strikes our nation each year. To date, we have six deaths from COVID-19 in the United States (and there will be more) compared to the roughly
18,000 people who die from the flu, ANNUALLY
, in our country as reported by the CDC.
This is an evolving and complex situation, and we will continue to follow the latest CDC updates for guidance on the most effective and sensible prevention measures for schools. I will keep you posted on any new developments or changes to our protocols as this situation unfolds. In the meantime, I thank you in advance for your calm, common-sense approach to this health concern as we partner with you to protect the health and safety of our students and employees.
Warm regards and in His service,
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Seth Hathaway, Ed.S.
Head of School
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