January 7, 2021
 
Dear Columbus Academy Families,

Happy New Year?

It clearly will be a while before we can put certain aspects of 2020 in the rearview mirror, and yesterday’s images of smashed glass, hate symbols and armed intrusion on the United States Capitol underscore the work ahead for our democracy and its people.

Core to that work is education, the armor of a well-informed citizenry. Not only is education freeing – independence is an entity that cannot be taken away – it is also an inoculation for demagoguery by creating a public that, because of what it knows and how it thinks, is the cornerstone to democratic values and faith in civil discourse.

So while we write to you as a school about COVID-19 disclosures and other wearisome topics of school right now, please know how genuinely we remain committed to our highest ideals of our mission to develop and sustain a community of thoughtful, responsible, capable and confident citizens eager to engage in a pluralistic and ever-changing world.

Warmly,

Melissa Soderberg
Head of School
From our COVID Response Team:

Thank you, again, for your good help and support during our first semester in adhering to our Community Expectations which have allowed us to hold school successfully.

Please be advised of two changes directly related to our mitigation efforts toward COVID-19 and our communications of positive tests or cases we are required to inform you about per the mandate from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).

First, we are changing the number of questions you are required to answer each day on the SchoolPass app from six to four. Specifically, and to align more closely with CDC and ODH recommendations to provide a more complete picture of community testing and infection issues, the questions center around important data needed in respect to travel, contact with those who are positive for COVID-19 and pending COVID test results. We have also grouped together the possible symptoms of COVID-19 into one question and are asking if you have any one of the symptoms, you and your children are to stay home and not come to campus.

Also, rather than sending email notifications about every positive test result in our community, we are moving to a dashboard that will be updated daily and will reflect any and all active cases. This dashboard can be found here on our website, along with the rest of the school's COVID-19 resources and communications. A reminder about the link and dashboard will be included in our Viking Voice newsletters going forward as well.

Above all and with this change, rest assured that our mitigation efforts – from the wearing of masks, social distancing, handwashing and sanitization, cleaning of all spaces, air filtration systems, contact tracing, quarantining and continuing education of all things COVID – will continue to be as robust as ever and as they have been.

In the coming days, we hope to finalize and announce another free COVID-19 testing date offered by PrimaryOne Health for our community, so you can expect to receive those details from us soon.

The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff is our number one priority, and we take our collective roles seriously. We want to hear from you and are always ready, willing and able to answer your questions so please feel free to contact us.

If you have any questions or concerns related to COVID-19 and your family’s health, please contact our school nurses at nurse@columbusacademy.org or call their mobile numbers, which are 614-332-2764 for Beckie Hoagland and 614-496-9591 for Janet Fireman.

Let's make this first semester of 2021 a great one and a safe one for all of us.

Sincerely,

COVID Response Team
Erich Hunker ’81, Assistant Head of School for Development and External Relations
Beckie Hoagland, School Nurse
Janet Fireman, School Nurse
Doug Bennett, Director of Facilities and Grounds
Tim Williams, Director of Campus Safety and Security