Dear JKHA/RKYHS Families,
As you are likely aware, with the Omicron variant there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Covid cases across the United States and in our region specifically.
In response to the uptick, we are revising our protocols to Covid’s more recent impact on our community. Please note that these changes are in response to the dramatic rise in cases and we will continue to revise our policies based on changing dynamic of reality.
Covid-19 Positive Household Policy:
Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, December 28th (or Wednesday, December 29th if child care needs to be arranged), all students-vaccinated and unvaccinated- who are members of a Covid-positive household, must remain at home and will have access to remote learning for all their classes (please see the link for the required duration of quarantine). The JKHA/RKYHS Test–to-Stay protocol obviates the need for quarantine for most non-household exposures. We will continue to screen saliva samples in school to mitigate the spread.
Pending Results:
Students awaiting a PCR result must learn remotely until a negative PCR result can be verified. Additionally, if a surveillance pool screen indicates a potentially positive student in the pool, students within the pool will be required to take a PCR test and must learn remotely until a negative test is presented. Test results should be sent to results@jkha.org.
Symptomatic Students:
Students should remain at home if they have any Covid symptoms and can return to school only with a negative PCR result. Symptomatic students will have access to remote learning while awaiting results and should contact their divisional office to be permitted to Zoom.
New CDC Guidelines:
We are studying the new CDC guidelines and will communicate with you about our position regarding adopting them in whole or in part in the near future.
Partnership:
In order to maintain the academic integrity of our program, we ask for your support in the following ways:
If you have a student or family member who is positive, please email that information directly to results@jkha.org and your child’s divisional head, who will then provide your family with Zoom access.
Zoom is a window into the classroom; teachers will direct instruction to students in the physical classroom, as opposed to the hybrid teaching of last year.
Understand that our nurses and administration are working around the clock to meet the needs of our school families; they will get back to you as soon as they are able to.
We know that these are trying times that bring unique and real challenges to each and every family. While school emails alerting our school community to Covid cases are always unsettling, it’s important to bear in mind that the number of people who are Covid positive, in relation to our overall population, is actually quite small. Please consider the overall population of the school when receiving updates.
We assure you that we will continue to do everything in our power to mitigate risks and maintain the academic excellence that is a hallmark of the JKHA/RKYHS program. Our state-of-the-art pool screening protocol is an effective and highly accurate mitigation tool to prevent the spread of Covid and should be a source of succor and comfort for our community. Screening is intended to detect positive cases before they are infectious to others.
We care about all of our students and families, and we will work diligently to keep all of us safe within our community.
We wish our students, faculty, and families good health.
Eliezer E. Rubin
