Dear Jeanite Community:
I hope that you are staying safe and are still finding ways to safely celebrate the holidays with family. As you are aware, NYC is in the midst of a Covid surge. Many members of our community have self reported positive Covid results over the holiday break. Even though vaccinations DO STILL REDUCE the risk of severe illness, we are seeing that the omicron variant is breaking through and causing Covid infection. The Omicron variant has proven to be EXTREMELY contagious. Therefore, we are making the following changes and updates to the school schedule and our safety protocols. We hope these adjustments will allow the teaching and learning to continue in the safest manner possible. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY.
Please note that we will be going REMOTE the week of January 4th- January 7th. We will return to in person learning on Monday January 10th. See below for updated schedule and guidelines.
CALENDAR UPDATES:
MONDAY JANUARY 3rd: SCHOOL HOLIDAY / SCHOOL CLOSED
TUESDAY JANUARY 4th: ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING- NO MEETS:
On Tuesday, teachers will POST assignments on Google Classroom. However, there will be NO CLASS MEETS.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 5th- FRIDAY JANUARY 7th REMOTE LEARNING:
Students will attend classes REMOTELY. We will follow the normal letter day schedule for each of these days.
MONDAY JANUARY 10th: RETURN TO IN PERSON LEARNING
We will return to in person learning on Monday January 10th. Because testing is difficult to access, and because test results are taking a significant amount of time to come back, WE ARE NOT REQUIRING A NEGATIVE TEST RESULT FOR STUDENTS TO RETURN TO SCHOOL. However, students who have tested POSITIVE must still follow all quarantine guidelines. See below for quarantine guidelines.
COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS/ UPDATED GUIDANCE:
WEEKLY COVID TESTING/ VACCINATIONS:
Vaccinations and regular Covid testing have proven to be the MOST effective ways to keep schools open! GET VACCINATED, GET BOOSTED IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE AND GET TESTED! Please be sure that you have submitted the Consent Forms and required Documents for FREE WEEKLY COVID TESTING of our Jeanites by TUESDAY JANUARY 4th. A reminder that the weekly testing is done via a cheek swab NOT a nasal swab. We are hopeful to get our weekly testing program up and running when we return to in person learning. However, we cannot start testing until we have these forms. If you have not YET submitted these forms, please use the link to the FORM below.
MASKS:
All persons MUST wear masks in the building when we return. At a minimum, we will be requiring a surgical mask. Cloth masks have proven inadequate at stopping the spread.
QUARANTINE:
Even though the CDC has revised quarantine guidelines, we have yet to hear from the Archdiocese regarding updated guidance. Therefore, those who have tested positive, CAN NOT return to school until TEN days after the onset of symptoms OR TEN days after a positive Covid test result. When possible, students should return to school after the TEN days with a negative test result and a note from their doctor saying they are able to return to school.
REMINDER: A person who is vaccinated and boosted DOES NOT NEED TO ISOLATE if exposed to Covid. These persons should wear a mask, monitor for symptoms, and test 3-5 days after exposure BUT can still come to school. NO STUDENT should come to school if they are sick or are experiencing symptoms of Covid 19.
REMOTE LEARNING OPTION (STUDENTS):
Due to the spread of the virus, even amongst vaccinated persons, students who test positive for Covid-19 or who have symptoms of Covid-19 and are awaiting test results will be allowed to attend school remotely until their quarantine period is over. Students will have to submit a positive test result in order to learn remotely. Hopefully this remote option will limit the loss of learning for those students and still keep the majority of students in the building. We still believe that there is NO SUBSTITUTE for in person learning. Therefore, only students who have tested positive or are awaiting test results for Covid-19 will be allowed to learn remotely.
Vaccinations, mask wearing, social distancing, and proper hygiene have proven to work and keep us safe! Long term remote learning is NOT beneficial to our students, therefore, we will be IN PERSON starting January 10th for the vast majority of our students.
Once again, I thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation. We have been able to keep school open for learning this year because of you, and your cooperation with our safety protocols and guidelines. Please continue to check your email regularly as there may be updates to the reopening plan. I know this is a difficult and frustrating time but we are hoping we can weather the storm with these modifications and with the implementation of weekly testing. PLEASE, once again, fill out the Consent forms for FREE TESTING of your Jeanite if you have not done so already. It is essential that we are testing weekly to keep our school open for in person learning.
Reach out with any questions or concerns. Please note that I may not be able to answer your questions immediately. However, we will do our best to get back to you by Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Happy New Year! Stay Safe!
Dan Linehan
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Daniel Linehan
Assistant Principal of Student Affairs
Dean of Students
St. Jean Baptiste High School
New York, New York