Keeping our Community Healthy this School Year |
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New Health Protocols for Back-to-School 2021 |
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Summer is often a time for many of us to slow down (a bit) and relax (a bit), and begin the Fall and the next school year with renewed energy (a lot!). I write today with warm summer greetings and also to provide some critical information for all students, families, faculty and staff about our new enhanced health protocols for the start of the school year.
Throughout the past 18 months, our school’s plans have been guided by the instructions and health metrics published by our national, state and local health agencies. This approach will continue throughout the school year ahead.
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We understand and value the in-class experience for students at all levels. Therefore, our health protocols are designed to support these goals for all students:
- In-person instruction;
- Full-time hours;
- Access to extracurricular sports and other programs;
- School bus and shuttle service; and
- Healthy and safe environment for learning.
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- 😷 Face Masks: Mask wearing will continue to be required on campus, regardless of vaccination status. This applies to students, faculty and staff while indoors and is a recommended practice while outdoors.
- 🌡️ Illness: Individuals who are sick may not come to campus. Symptoms of illness include (but are not limited to) any ONE of the following: fever of 100.4 or higher, sore throat, cough, difficulty breathing, diarrhea or vomiting, new onset of severe headache, or new loss of taste or smell. Click for more information
- ✈️Travel Instructions: Individuals who are not fully vaccinated and return from international OR domestic travel must comply with a 10-day quarantine OR Negative COVID-19 test results from a PCR test administered 3 - 5 days after travel is complete AND a 7-day quarantine period (even if test results are negative). Click here for more information
- 💉 Vaccines: COVID-19 vaccines are required by the start of school for all faculty and staff, and will be required for students age 12+ once the FDA has issued “full authorization” of this vaccine. Click here for more information.
- ↔️ Physical Distancing: Space between student desks will be maximized. While we will aim to provide 6 feet of distance where possible, a minimum of 3 feet distance will be maintained in between student desks.
- 💨 Air purifiers: All classrooms are equipped with air purifiers and air flow will be increased with open doors and windows.
- 🧼 Hygiene and sanitizing practices: Frequent hand washing, hand sanitizer stations, and facility cleaning with specialized sanitizing equipment will continue.
- 🚌 School Buses: All persons on board wear face masks and sit in assigned seats.
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What is changing - and why |
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As we start to return to pre-pandemic campus capacity, we will be welcoming more students on campus in Fall 2021 than in 2020 and some of the physical distancing measures will be changed, including reducing the spaces between student desks from 6 ft minimum to 3 ft minimum. At the same time, we see that health conditions continue to evolve quickly due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 Delta variant. Local and national COVID-19 transmission rates have been rapidly increasing over the last few weeks and are now at the highest level since January 2021.
For 2021-2022 we will continue to utilize a “layered” approach of strategies to protect the health of our community. In addition to the strategies noted above that will be continued (masks, hygiene, etc.), we will be implementing a COVID-19 testing program for students, faculty and staff. In the context of the current health conditions, we believe regular COVID-19 testing enhances our commitment to the health and safety of all members of our school community.
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The process of routine testing is recommended by the Maryland Department of Health and Maryland State Department of Education as an effective tool in risk mitigation for schools. Rochambeau will therefore be participating in a testing program established by the State of Maryland for private and public schools to make routine COVID-19 screening testing. |
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Throughout the last school year we had considered various testing options but this program and this moment is a good fit for our school because of several factors:
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Accurate rapid results: The specific antigen tests will be using have 99% sensitivity and most results are available in 24 hours or less. This quick-turnaround makes it more effective for the school to conduct contact tracing and limit exposures at school.
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A “turn-key” program: The medical administration of testing and reporting will be managed by a professional medical partner who has been reviewed and vetted by the State of Maryland.
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Cost-effective: There is no out-of-pocket expense for families and no requirement for health insurance.
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Flexibility: As a school we can change the testing program frequency, location, or anything else as we believe best suits the needs of our school community.
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Convenience: Testing will be conducted on campus on designated days/times.
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We have interviewed several medical groups who can provide testing options and have selected Capital Diagnostics for their extensive COVID-19 testing experience over the past 18 months, including a majority of the independent schools in our region. Additionally, they have experience working with very young children, like our Maternelle students. Capital Diagnostics has been vetted by the State of Maryland as an approved testing provider.
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Participation in this testing program is required
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However, families have the choice not to participate in on-campus testing and may obtain testing through another healthcare provider and provide us with the results. Students whose medical condition or religious objection prevent testing participation should speak with us for required exception documentation. |
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Testing will begin 3 days before the start of the school year. |
In order to begin the school year in as safe a manner as possible for all of our community members, we require COVID-19 test results conducted within the 3 days before the start of school.
- ALL students, faculty and staff will be required to undergo testing, regardless of their vaccination status.
- On-campus testing will be available on Friday, August 27 from 8 am - 4 pm at the Forest Road Campus. No appointment is required. Information regarding testing registration will be provided soon.
- Persons who wish to obtain testing (either PCR or Antigen) through another healthcare provider may do so. Instructions will be provided to upload your test results.
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Weekly Testing Schedule - Current Plan |
Testing will be conducted on Fridays on a weekly basis on each campus, though there are specificities for some of our student, teacher and staff groups.
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August 27: Testing available 8 am - 4 pm at the Forest Road campus. (Documented negative COVID-19 test results are required before admission to campus for the start of school, but families who prefer to obtain a PCR or Antigen test from their own healthcare provider may do so between August 27 and 29.)
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September 3 and 10: Testing is required for all students, faculty and staff, regardless of vaccination status. On-campus testing available, off-campus testing if you choose.
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Starting September 17: Persons who are fully vaccinated do not need to continue weekly testing. Students at the Maternelle (TPS - GS) will move to testing every 2 weeks rather than weekly testing.
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High School Varsity and other Mixed Grade Level Sports and activities: Weekly testing is required for all participants in mixed grade level sports or activities, regardless of vaccination status. (Team coaches, teachers, club animators, or other school staff will provide direction to the students involved in these activities.)
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Test results will be reviewed weekly by our school. While we believe the plan and schedule for testing outlined above will meet the needs of our community, we will continuously monitor the situation. If we observe increases or decreases in positive test results within our community, or a significant change to the local health conditions, we may adjust the frequency or scope of testing.
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On testing days, our partners at Capital Diagnostics have worked with us to implement a plan to adapt to the needs of our students.
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Maternelle and young elementary students (TPS - 3rd grade): We anticipate testing to be conducted inside the classrooms by a small team of trained, vetted healthcare professionals. They will be particularly attentive to providing a calm and reassuring atmosphere for these young students.
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Older elementary students and secondary students (4th - 12th grade): We anticipate a designated testing area on campus where students will come by class and/or appointment to meet with a small team of trained, vetted healthcare professionals.
- Testing is quick and should take about 15 min per class
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Impact of Vaccination Status and Testing. |
Students, faculty and staff who are not fully vaccinated will be required to participate in testing on a weekly basis. Persons who are fully vaccinated (CDC definition) may not be required to undergo weekly testing after September 10th unless they are participating in specific extra-curricular activities on campus with mixed grade level participants (some sports teams, some performance groups - your coach or teacher will inform you as needed about these requirements).
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Test Info and Lab processing |
Capital Diagnostics staff members will administer real-time RT-PCR tests (“PerkinElmer® New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit). These will be administered by anterior nasal swab which has been well tolerated by patients, including very young children. The samples will be tested as part of a small 5-sample “pool” of patients, which means several samples will be analyzed together. In the event of a positive result from the pooled sample, the individual samples will be re-tested individually to determine the positive case(s). In all cases, results will be provided individually. |
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All test results will be communicated directly to each family as well as to the school and the county health department (as legally required). Each family will have access to a Patient Registration portal where they may review the status of their test(s) each week.
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Positive Test Results - Protocols: Students, faculty or staff members who receive a positive test result will follow the health guidelines already in place from the Maryland Department of Health. All persons regardless of vaccination status must remain at home, in quarantine, and may return to school after 10 days as long as they are fever free and symptoms of illness have improved. Persons who have tested positive will not continue in the weekly school testing program for 90 days.
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Close Contact of a person with Positive Test Result: The outcome here is very case specific and we will consult with the Health Department for guidance. If contact tracing concludes there has been a “close contact” with a person who has tested positive, persons who are not fully vaccinated may need to quarantine for 14 days. Fully vaccinated close contacts are not generally required to quarantine, but this will be determined in consultation with the Health Department. You may refer to the Maryland “Decision Aid” guide here.
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How will we support students impacted by COVID-19 |
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Our goal for the 2021-2022 school is to provide learning opportunities for our students that are meaningful and safe. We acknowledge that the guidance from the CDC stresses the importance of in-person learning for students, and we also recognize that in the current health context, students may be required to quarantine at home due to COVID-19 related circumstances. Additionally, the health pandemic has led to some barriers for persons entering the US due to visa-related issues.
We have therefore developed Contingency Plans to provide Remote Learning Support for students in these two specific circumstances:
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COVID-19 related quarantine times due to COVID-19 (1) exposure, (2) positive test result, or (3) illness.
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Travel restriction to the US related to immigration status (e.g. visa processing).
The precise structure will vary depending on the circumstances and will be communicated directly with families when the need arises. Remote Learning Support is designed to meet the needs of students who are temporarily away from on-campus instruction due to a COVID-19 related circumstance and may vary somewhat depending on the needs of the students (e.g. grade level, language proficiency, etc.).
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For Primary Grades (MS - 5th/CM2) |
- Classwork and assignments will be provided for students to complete independently (frequently using Seesaw).
- These young students may require parental support to help structure at-home learning times.
- Online meetings with a teacher, typically 30 - 60 minutes per day. We will aim to schedule these sessions during typical school hours, though some sessions may need to take place after 3:30 pm.
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For Secondary Grades (6th/6e- 12th/Tle) |
- Classes will be broadcasted live for students to view online. This will be available for nearly all classes, but may not be possible for some (ex. Physical Education).
- Course assignments and class materials will be provided to students electronically.
- Assignments and exams are expected to be completed. Teachers will collect and correct assignments and will review for students' mastery of the subject. Assignments completed while online will be graded but will not be counted into the student's course grades.
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Remote support in the 1st week of school - August 30, 2021
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All students on campus starting from the 1st day of school must comply with school policies in these critical areas:
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Travel Instructions: Individuals who are not fully vaccinated and return from international OR domestic travel must comply with a 10-day quarantine OR Negative COVID-19 test results from a PCR test administered 3 - 5 days after travel is complete AND a 7-day quarantine period (even if test results are negative). Click here for more information.
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Illness: Individuals who are sick may not come to campus. Symptoms of illness include (but are not limited to) any ONE of the following: fever of 100.4 or higher, sore throat, cough, difficulty breathing, diarrhea or vomiting, new onset of severe headache, or new loss of taste or smell. Click for more information.
If you anticipate that your child will not be able to comply with the post-travel quarantine timing OR if you anticipate that your family’s travel to the US will be delayed due to visa processing or other immigration related delays, please inform us as soon as possible so we can put a plan in place to support your family. The earlier we receive your response, the more likely we can begin Remote Learning Support on the first day of school. Please use this online form to explain your circumstances.
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Family Registration for the Testing Program: All families will be receiving a separate message from the school with a link and specific instructions to create a patient account with Capital Diagnostics.
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Testing before the 1st Day of School: You will receive instructions for testing procedures on August 27 as well as instructions for where to upload results of testing from another healthcare provider.
- Over the next week all families will receive more Back to School information, including updates on drop-off and pick-up procedures, Bus routes, Book orders, Registration for after school activities, and more.
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I appreciate your attention to this important update and thank you for your cooperation. Though we have surely learned that it is difficult to predict how the health conditions will necessitate changes for our school community, I am confident that we can work together as one community to support one another in the school year ahead. Whether you are a returning family or faculty member, or whether you are new to our school, there will surely be a warm welcome waiting for you on August 30 when we open our doors for the 2021-2022 school year.
Kind regards,
Hélène Fabre, Executive Director
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