Reminder: Updated Covid Information
Within recent weeks the Connecticut Department of Health (DPH) and the State Department of Education (SDE) have released updated guidance regarding Covid exposures, quarantines, and return to play guidelines. We wanted to take a moment to share some updates and reiterate our policies here at Saint James School.
Exposures – At School
Parents will continue to be notified by email when there is a positive case within their child’s classroom. For older grades (5-8), both homerooms will be notified since students intermingle throughout the day for some subjects. Due to the mitigation strategies in place at school, students/staff will not be required to quarantine.
Exposures – Outside School (or during Extra Curricular Activities)
Exposures outside of school will necessitate the following protocols:
*Unvaccinated (or partially vaccinated) individuals who are exposed to a Covid-positive individual outside the school setting must quarantine for a minimum of 5 days after the last date of exposure and then take a Covid test on Day 5 of their quarantine. If the individual is negative and remains asymptomatic after Day 5, the individual may return to school but must be masked at all times through Day 10.
*When the exposed individual cannot be isolated from the positive case (such as when there is a household exposure), then the quarantine for the exposed person extends to 10 days. If the exposed person remains asymptomatic at the end of 10 days, a negative Covid test (taken on day 10) must be emailed to Mrs. Vignati prior to returning to school.
*Students and staff will need to be cleared by the school nurse before returning to the classroom.
*Fully vaccinated individuals who are exposed to a positive case of Covid are not required to quarantine as long as they remain asymptomatic. If there is a household exposure, however, (parent, sibling, etc.), the situation must be discussed with the school nurse prior to the student returning to the classroom regardless of vaccination status.
You can view a chart of the above information here
Positive Covid Cases
*If a student or staff member tests positive for Covid, they should isolate for at least 5 days, beginning the day after the test was taken. Students may not return to school until they are fever free for at least 24 hours (without medicine) and other symptoms have significantly improved.
*Please email a picture of the positive test (if using a home test kit) or the documented test result (if test is through a healthcare provider) to Mrs. Vignati.
*Students and staff will need to be cleared by the school nurse before returning to the classroom.
Home Tests
Saint James School will accept home tests to indicate Covid-positive or negative results. Please take a picture of the test result and the box indicating the brand of test. These photos should be sent via email to the school nurse (jvignati@mpspride.org). Indicate the date the test was taken and the individual that took the test.
Extracurricular Activity Reminder
Please remember students may not participate in any school-sponsored extracurricular activities while in quarantine.
Return-to-Play after COVID-19 Infection
Although the symptoms and disease course of Covid in younger people appear on average to be somewhat milder than those of older individuals, there is the potential, and documented cases, of severe disease complications in people of all ages. The long-term health effects and impacts on organ systems function resulting from even mild or asymptomatic Covid disease is still unknown, although there have been some studies implicating blood clotting and cardiac effects as potentially under-recognized longer-term impacts.
As such, the Archdiocese of Hartford is requiring that all youth athletes ages 12+ (and strongly encouraging all athletes younger than 12) receive a health screening and clearance letter from their healthcare provider prior to resuming athletic activities (extracurricular sports) after recovering from Covid. The Post-Covid athletic health screening and a phased approach to a return to athletic activities should incorporate the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) guidance for Return to Sports and Physical Activity.
Clearance from your child’s pediatrician should be emailed to Mrs. Zorger (bzorger@saintjamesschool.net) or Faxed to the school office at (860) 649-6462.
