Dear Mountain Laurel Families:

First and foremost, we wish to thank you for your cooperation in helping make yesterday’s urgent early dismissal so quick, smooth, and effective. It only took 45 minutes for all children to be picked up or sent home on the bus. 

We acknowledge that you all had to leave work and home at a moment’s notice while also trying to process what this means for your family in the near future.

We too are in shock about the new turn this pandemic is taking when there is so much optimism about the vaccine rollout and the reopening of businesses and schools. Unfortunately, the infection rate in Ulster County has now increased 59% in 2 weeks - in part due to the increase in more contagious variants as had been predicted by our covid consultant would happen mid-March.
 
Today, we were very sad to inform the 2nd-grade parents that a student in their child’s class who was last on campus on 3/23, has now tested positive. All students in the 2nd-grade class now need to quarantine as well.

What is the difference between Isolation and Quarantine?

  • Quarantine keeps someone who might have been exposed to the virus away from others.

  • Isolation keeps someone who is infected with the virus away from others, even in their home.
With Spring Break around the corner for which many of us may have made hopeful plans, we need to remind our community to strictly abide by the quarantine requirements if their child was in a class with an infected child or travel guidelines as stipulated by the New York State Department of Health. While no longer required after April 1st, Quarantine After Domestic Travel is still advised as an added precaution.

Please, continue to inform us of any developments regarding CoVid infection in your family. Our aim is to be as transparent as possible while abiding by medical privacy laws which explicitly prohibit us from revealing the name of the infected individual.

During this time continued uncertainty and worry, please know we are here to support you as best we can.

With warm wishes,

The Administration