December 29, 2021
Dear Columbus Academy Families,
We know many of you have questions about classes resuming on our campus after the winter break. The recent increase in COVID cases caused by the Omicron variant in Central Ohio and around the nation is certainly concerning, and we are monitoring those numbers as well as those in our own community very closely.
At this point, mask-wearing while indoors, social distancing and vaccinations/boosters allow us to safely return to in-person classes on Monday, January 3, 2022. Anyone coming to campus must be completely asymptomatic, and any students or faculty/staff who exhibit even mild cold symptoms need to stay home and receive a negative COVID test before returning.
Our nurses are happy to provide BinaxNow COVID-19 test kits to any Academy students or faculty/staff who are exhibiting symptoms or had a known exposure to someone who tested positive. Due to limited supply, though, we ask that these rapid tests only be used for students and faculty/staff. Also, please note that the FDA has extended the expiration dates on test kits for an additional three months in case you already have some at home (click here for details).
If you or someone in your household tests positive, the CDC has updated the recommended isolation and quarantine period to five days, if asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others (click here for announcement). In order to return to Columbus Academy’s campus or any school events, the person who tested positive must then test negative after those five days before receiving clearance from our nurses to return. This is required to let us know that the person’s viral load will not be a concern, especially during lunch or playing sports when unmasked and around others.
To protect our community and our ability to offer in-person learning, we ask all who are able to get vaccinated and boosted as recommended by the CDC. Since we require our students’ health records be kept up to date, we need all parents to check their children’s vaccine status in FinalForms. To do so, log in here, select the “Update Forms” button and then click on “COVID-19 Vaccine Information” to enter the dates. Boosters now can and should be added there as well.
It is imperative that families do this so that we can make decisions based on accurate data and analytics when we consider returning safely to a more normal environment on campus.
Should your children or anyone in your households begin to show any flu-like symptoms, please contact our school nurses Beckie Hoagland and Janet Fireman by emailing them at nurse@columbusacademy.org or calling them directly at 614-509-2234 (school office), 614-332-2764 (Beckie’s mobile phone) or 614-496-9591 (Janet’s mobile phone).
Also, if you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to share those directly with our nurses by replying back to this message or contacting them at the address and phone numbers above. More information, including the campus dashboard for current positive cases, can be found on our COVID-19 Information Page.
Sincerely,
COVID Response Team
Erich Hunker ’81, Assistant Head of School for Development and External Relations
Beckie Hoagland, School Nurse
Janet Fireman, School Nurse
Harland Young, Director of Buildings and Grounds
