Riverside Monday Memo

TUESDAY MEMO

Kindergarteners Arden and Cassius did some stretching this afternoon after lunch.

Greetings!

Today marks the halfway point of the 21-22 school year, and the start of the second semester.

Please see Roy's note below about what we need most from our supportive community right now.

Happy Monday,

Nelia

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NOTES

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ROY

I wanted to give you an update on where we’re at with the current surge in cases. First and foremost, when we read about the dire effects of widespread school closings on young people and we see local schools unable to keep their doors open, we are deeply grateful to have a community that is so supportive of our health and safety guidelines and we feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to participate in something as meaningful as keeping our Riverside students safely in-person through such trying times. It is an amazing fact that thanks to the diligence of our families and the Herculean efforts of our teachers, we’ve had fewer than 10 days total since August 2020 in which any small group of students has had to stay home, and we’ve never had to shut down the entire school.

Having said that, I think it is important for the community to know that the last few weeks have been significantly more difficult for the staff than any period over the last two years. We don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon. I understand that the last few weeks have also been extremely challenging for many families. What I’m asking for is some grace over the next few weeks around some of the normal issues you’d expect prompt attention on. Our full efforts and energy will be focused on keeping our doors safely open for the kids and providing them with the very best experience we can. Simply put, that has some staff working at a level that is not sustainable right now. Your support in being patient with the changing guidelines, keeping your child(ren) home if there is any question, and understanding the conditions faculty and staff are working under will go a long way toward lightening the load right now, and that will better allow us to focus on the critically important task at hand. Thanks to all of you, we had an amazing 20-21 school year, and I know this community well enough to say confidently that we will make it through the current wave in much the same way.

UPDATES: COVID PROTOCOLS AT SCHOOL

We couldn’t be any prouder of how supportive the community has been of all the protocols we’ve enacted over the last year and a half. The care and caution shown by Riverside families along with close adherence to the school’s health policies have directly resulted in us keeping our doors open for in-person education. Any conversation with a parent or teacher from a school that has not been able to keep its doors open will quickly reveal how critically important it is for us to keep our kids in-person and full-time. The best way to ensure we can continue to do that is for us all to be as safe as possible.

Based on the higher rates, we are going to make some further adjustments to what happens during the school day, at least until we can get back outside more often.

We are now spacing students at 3’ when seated during classes (this involves very few disruptions to current space uses or daily routines). We’ll monitor group work and recess settings and make adjustments as necessary.
We’ve moved about half of the middle schoolers’ materials out of the cubby room to reduce the number of students in that room between classes.
We have installed additional filtration in every classroom on campus (portable HEPA filters, provided by the state of Vermont). That is in addition to our current built-in systems, which run continually, and the portable MERV 13 filters we distributed in December.
We are making use of lunch groups to provide opportunities for mixed-age (within the same pod) interactions. These pre-arranged lunch groups will also allow us to ensure better spacing and contact tracing during unmasked indoor eating time. Many grades will continue to eat outside unless it is raining or it is too cold.
We are now participating in Vermont’s PCR response testing program (see below for more information on that)
We are continuing our stay-home policy from last semester: if someone is sick in the household, please get them tested and keep your child home until you know the results. If the sick individual is a Riverside sibling, you can take advantage of the response testing explained below instead of trying to find a drive-up site.
We are continuing to participate in the Test-To-Stay program, meaning students who may have been exposed on campus may continue to attend through their isolation period if they take rapid antigen tests in the morning before school.

COVID RESPONSE TESTING

We are now able to offer PCR tests on-demand for students who are symptomatic or may have been exposed, even if those symptoms or exposure were contracted off-campus. This is separate from the Test-To-Stay program and the surveillance testing we do on Tuesdays. Please fill out this consent form if you want to have our PCR tests as an option along with the drive-through sites at local hospitals and providers. That consent form will also allow your child to participate in the test to stay program. We can have the tests overnighted to the CIC lab (the same lab we use for surveillance testing) and would anticipate results within 48 hours. These tests would be for students who have symptoms and need a test to return to school. With enough notice, we can make a drive-up test available and ship it the same day.

STAY HOME POLICY REVIEW

COVID ISOLATION & QUARANTINE GUIDELINES

There have been several changes to the state’s quarantine and isolation guidelines over the last few weeks. In order to make things easier for families (and us) to understand, here are the protocols we will be following until we receive further guidance from the state. Please note that we are generally following VT DOH and CDC guidelines in these situations, except we are asking for additional testing (which we can help provide) at the end of the isolation or quarantine period.

For students (and staff) who have tested positive and have no symptoms :

You may return to school after 5 full days if you have a negative antigen test on days four and five. To calculate the 5-day isolation period, day 0 is the day that the test is administered.

You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95 masks you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.

For students (and staff) who have tested positive and have symptoms of illness:

You may return to school after 5 full days if:

- you are fever-free for 24-hrs without fever-reducing medication;

- your other symptoms have resolved;

- and if you have a negative antigen test on days four and five.

(Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation). To calculate the 5-day isolation period, day 0 is the first day of symptoms.

You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95, you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.
If you continue to have symptoms after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are symptom-free for 24 hours (no fever/no meds, no cough, etc.) and you have two negative antigen tests (24 hours apart) administered after symptoms have resolved.
Lastly, you may return to school if 10 days have passed since your symptoms started, you are fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine, and your symptoms have markedly improved.

For students (and staff) with off-campus exposures to do the following before returning:

Reach out to the Vermont Department of Health Contact Tracing department to establish quarantine/isolation timelines, and also…
Take (at least) two negative antigen tests performed 24 hours apart beginning no earlier than day 4. That means the second test should be no earlier than day 5. Day 0 is the last possible day of exposure. If the exposure is in the household, Day 0 is the last day of the infected individual's isolation period (see guidelines, on or after the first full day in which you were able to completely follow the isolation protocols further down the CDC page here.
The exposed student will need to mask universally through day 10. That includes outdoor time and means they will not eat unmasked around their classmates, but in a separate location. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95 masks you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.

For on-campus exposures, we will continue to utilize the Test To Stay program though there are pending changes to schools’ roles in testing and tracing. We’ll inform the community when we have more information about these pending changes.

LEARNING SUPPORT DUE TO COVID

SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

Please remember to pick up x-country skiers at 3:15 and downhill skiers and riders at 3:30 this Friday. We go skiing only in part to practice sliding on snow, but even more to practice independence and responsibility, organization and ownership, time management, problem-solving and self-advocacy, and patient leadership.

Parents at Home: Please take this opportunity to help your child develop greater independence, we'd be grateful and they would grow more if they can practice at home:

packing and organizing their gear
learning to put on their own boots
telling and estimating time
knowing after-ski pick-up/afternoon plans

Parents at Pick Up: Please help your children to be sure they say goodbye and check out with Allee (K-5th grade downstairs) or Peter (6-8th grade upstairs) when they leave (unless you've given permission for them to ski unsupervised until 4:00 directly to Nelia).

Help Needed: we need more adults to help our elementary students. If you can come for at least two dates (Jan 14, 21, 28, Feb 4, 11, Mar 4), please email Nelia and she will be in touch with further questions and orientation.

WINTER FINE ARTS

Our celebration of music and studio arts will be virtual, with images and recordings of the students efforts shared digitally. Those will be sent out to families soon, and will be pre-recorded, not live.

PIZZA CHARGES

Beginning February 2, the cost of pizza will go up to $2/slice.

MILK CRATES

If your child was learning remotely and picked up materials from our porch in a milk crate, please return that crate to us on the porch. If you have any extra milk crates you can donate, we could make good use of them as we regularly prepare lots of materials for students to pick up.

TUITION VOUCHERS

Families in choice towns: please look for the tuition voucher forms sent out by your district in the mail and return them either to Krystal or directly as instructed on the form, ASAP. Only when that paperwork is complete will we get tuition payments from the district.

PARENT BOOK CLUB

To those of you who requested them, Nelia will get your books to you this week, and a charge will be on your school store account. At our first meeting on Monday, January 31, 5:00, we will discuss Sections 1 (introduction) and 2 ("Maya Method"). Other meeting dates will be Tuesday, February 15 and Wednesday, March 2.

All Riverside parents are welcome to attend, even if they haven't read the book. It would be helpful to let Nelia or Amanda know that you will join them, so they can plan accordingly.

COVID VACCINATION BOOSTER CLINIC

Please email Krystal if you are interested in having your 12-15 year old get a booster shot at a clinic here at Riverside soon, which would be hosted by NVRH if we get enough interest in participation. It must be at least 5 months since the student's second shot.

CHESS CLUB

Chess Club will meet this Wednesday. K-2nd graders will be in Allee's room with cookies made by Laila's father Aaron; and 3-5th graders will be in Hanna's room from 3:00-3:45. 6-8th graders will meet in Hanna's room from 3:45-4:45.