Dear Parents,
In everything we do, the safety of our students and staff is our top concern. In light of that, we want to share an important message about the coronavirus (COVID-19) illness.
If you follow the news, you are aware that the COVID-19 Coronavirus is rapidly spreading in the world and in the US now with confirmed cases in Washington State, California, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York and Florida. At this time there are no confirmed cases in Maryland, Virginia or DC.
We are not medical experts and have to rely on guidance from local, regional and international public health officials. We have therefore made the determination to follow the recommendations issued by the
CDC
. We will adapt our procedures as health conditions change and the guidance issued is updated for our specific area by the
Montgomery County Health Department
. Additionally, as a member school of the AEFE network, we will also factor in the guidelines received from the
AEFE
.
Given the fast pace of the virus spreading, things are changing by the minute and we have created a
dedicated response team
that will convene daily to adjust our policy accordingly.
At this point,
our efforts have two objectives
:
- implementing prevention measures and
- refining an emergency plan in case the school has to close for an extended period of time.
1. Reinforce Education and Prevention
Prevention is key to preventing contamination.
- Our school nurse has prepared a presentation to educate the students and bring their attention to a few basic preventative measures like washing their hands several times a day with soap and water, sneezing or coughing in their sleeve, staying home in case of fever, etc.
- Our teachers are fully involved in making prevention procedures part of the class routine.
- We will send a separate reminder of those basic precautions to the community.
- Signs have been posted on bathroom doors and in other common gathering areas, like cafeterias, to remind students of the precautionary measures.
- We will continue to follow CDC guidelines for routine environmental cleaning.
- All our bus seats and grab bars are disinfected daily using antibacterial wipes.
We are asking parents to help in the effort to minimize the spread of this type of virus by having your family follow the recommendations from the CDC, which are the same ones that everyone should practice during flu season:
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available;
- Cover your nose and mouth: When coughing or sneezing cover with a tissue or by using your sleeve or elbow;
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth;
- Routinely clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces;
- Get your flu shot – it’s never too late;
- Stay home when sick and don’t return to school or work for at least 24 hours of being fever-free without the use of medication.
Additionally, as announced in our message from last week, and updated based on current conditions,
we ask students who have visited high risk areas (Level 3 or 4 regions as defined by the CDC and/or guidance from the AEFE) to return to school only after a 14-day period has elapsed following their return to the US.
At present, the list of regions is as follows: China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, South Korea, Lombardy and Veneto and Emilie-Romagne in Italy, Iran, and the regions of France of l’Oise, la Balme Haute Savoie, Morbihan.
2. Emergency plan in case of extended closing
I want to assure you that our school is in a good position to continue classes in case of an extended closing. We are a Google school and our internet bandwidth is large enough to support the intense projected use. Also,
- Students already have access to digital tools for learning. Students grades 6 through 9 have an iPad with downloaded digital textbooks. Students grades 3 through 5 will be allowed to take their iPad home as it contains their digital books as well. All students grades 3 through 12 have a Google account. High school students have devices that they can use at home. All students with digital books are able to access them on the web or via an app on a mobile device.
- Teachers have tech tools available for teaching. Our IT team will provide the necessary support to teachers to take full advantage of the available technology like Google Hangouts/Meet for virtual study groups and classes and Google Classroom for homework distribution, collection, and assessment.
- Instruction will continue for students. School directors will be working with our teachers to organize the week work, with lectures and follow up sessions in all subjects.
- School-Family partnership will be essential. Some work may require the use of a computer and/or device, our IT team will therefore need to assess our parents’ and teachers readiness through a short survey: Click here to answer it.
My final word will be about the risk related to traveling during the upcoming 2-week long Spring Break (April 18th to May 3rd). With 80+ different nationalities, our community is truly international and we anticipate travel destinations around the world during breaks. While it is a personal decision, I want to be clear that the school will continue to implement quarantine protocols as applicable at the time of your return from any affected area. (Current quarantine periods are 14 days after visiting an affected region designated level 3 or 4 by the CDC or after having been exposed to someone sick with COVID-19. These are subject to change as the situation develops.) The
Baccalauréat
exams start on May 12th, and I will therefore encourage the 11th and 12th grade students to exercise caution in their travel plans.
Thank you for your commitment to the health and well-being of our Rochambeau community. We will continue to communicate our ongoing efforts regarding the coronavirus. To that effect, you can consult the
homepage of our website
.
