Thank you families for continuing the challenging work of screening your children each morning to ensure that we all do our best to keep our school community healthy and COVID free. Please continue to review the symptoms for which to keep your children home. Also, please remember that fever-reducing medication, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil) will treat and mask a fever, and that students should be fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours before returning to school. If you have not returned your screening contract, please do. If you need another one, or a copy to keep at home, please contact your school nurse.
We work closely with the Vermont Department of Health to keep our community healthy. The VDOH conducts necessary contract tracing for positive cases by phone call. Please pick up the phone if the VDOH is calling you. Please call the VDOH back as soon as possible if you receive a message from them.
In-person learning is immensely valuable for the academic, social and mental health of our students and school community. As we approach fall and winter school vacations, please partner with us to prioritize remaining in-person in school. Please plan thoughtfully and with the health of our school community in mind. It’s hard to balance the desire to celebrate the holidays or vacation time with loved ones and the growing risk of COVID-19 infection. Travel and gathering increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19, so please think about how you can make your holiday and vacation plans safer.
Make safety a priority for your family and take these steps:
- Decide if the risk is worth it for your family,
- Plan to have a safe trip or gathering, remain flexible and get your flu shot and
- Quarantine when you return.
You can celebrate the holidays and vacation time, but like other aspects of our lives right now, they will likely look different. Take extra precautions when attending or hosting an event and insist that people wear masks, keep gatherings small, and cancel if anybody in your family or group is sick.
If people are coming to visit you:
- Tell your visitors about the Vermont requirements for quarantining. They will need to quarantine at the place they are staying for 14 days. Or they can quarantine for 7 days, get a COVID-19 test, and end their quarantine after receiving a negative test result. (Check the Health Department website in advance for testing availability). Visitors can also complete these quarantine options in their home state if they are driving to Vermont in their personal vehicle.
- If you are hosting travelers under quarantine in your home, you do not also need to quarantine. But if you’re sharing space, you should stay at least 6 feet from the people under quarantine. People under quarantine should wear a mask in common spaces. They should eat in separate spaces and use separate bathrooms. Be sure to disinfect commonly touched surfaces, and check yourself for symptoms for 14 days.
- Discuss your expectations for visitors during their stay. Will people wear masks, stay 6-feet apart, keep the gatherings small?
- Ask your visitors to get a flu shot two weeks before they arrive.
The ACCD Map is no longer in effect per the governor’s press conference on 11/10/20. All travelers who go outside of Vermont’s borders are expected to quarantine upon their return.
Vermont public health officials, University of Vermont infectious disease experts, and local pediatricians HIGHLY discourage travel over the upcoming vacation time and holidays, and advise minimizing the size of all gatherings. Please consider that your personal choice to travel may impact more than just you and your own family members.
More information can be found on the Health Department website and you can email with questions: AHS.VDHPublicCommunication@vermont.gov
Please also don’t hesitate to call or email your school nurse with any questions.
Thank you for your care and thoughtfulness this season!
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