Friday, January 21, 2022
Friday, January 14, 2022
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
COVID-19 Protocols and Safety Updates
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Extended UHS Community:
We wanted to keep you updated and informed about some of our shifts at UHS, particularly as a number of people have reached out about safety and precautionary measures after 25 cases of COVID-19 were identified over the past four days. We hope that this letter will provide you with some clarity and comfort, even though we know many are anxious about the developments of the pandemic, whether it is the extension of the mask mandate or the prevalence of the Omicron variant.
A podcast with this information can be heard here: https://anchor.fm/uxbridgehighschool/episodes/Spartan-Podcast--January-11-e1cqevb
Pausing Athletics
Earlier today, we communicated with winter track and cheerleading, indicating that we have paused team activities until Thursday. We will make a decision on Wednesday as to resuming activities, since we will be examining data trends to ensure that in-team transmission can be prevented. Please keep in mind that we follow state protocols. That means that close contacts on teams who are not vaccinated will either have to test-and-stay, with parental consent, or quarantine.
For athletes who test positive, we do have a return-to-play protocol that our athletic trainer and athletic director will communicate with individual student-athletes. We do this to ensure that primary care physicians and medical professionals are supporting the student-athletes before they return to competition.
Reconfiguring Lunch
We had our first day of lunch reconfiguration on Monday. This is one step we have taken to help mitigate the spread of the virus in school, since lunch was the time period when students were unmasked for longer periods of time than a simple or casual mask break. For students who return to school on day 6 following a five-day isolation period for illness, we will have them eat in the auditorium as well, away from others, since we do not yet have data on the transmissibility of the virus, though CDC protocol indicates that students can return to school if masked at all times on day 6. (It is impossible to be masked while eating!)
Today’s lunch reconfiguration went well, and we appreciate how flexible and responsible our students have been. Again, we will be attempting to adjust at the end of the month.
Symptom Management
While we recognize that the symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to that of the common cold, influenza, bronchitis, and seasonal allergies, it is very important that families contact the school nurse and/or primary care provider immediately when symptoms appear. Unfortunately, due to the contagious nature of the current COVID-19 omicron variant, symptoms appear quickly and are transmissible sooner than previous variants, based on medical observation and data. As a result, sometimes individuals are spreading the virus while thinking they have a simple common cold or allergies, both of which can be managed. Again, with questions, we ask you to reach out before making assumptions. Finally, if students are presenting any symptoms, they should not come to school.
Class Contacts and Learning
Our staff has kept students spaced at least three and up to six feet apart during class time, which assists us greatly with close contacts and contact tracing. Students have been mostly compliant with mask wearing over these past two weeks, since returning from the holiday break. Fortunately, for the vast majority of the past two years, in-school transmission has been extremely rare.
For students who are absent, teachers are still utilizing Google Classroom for posting classwork, which will enable students to stay current. Some teachers may be available for office hours or conferencing, and all teachers access email and Google Classroom throughout the day, for students who may have questions about work that is posted. We understand that some students are anxious about missing work, and we will work to ensure that makeup procedures are manageable. At the same time, we want students to focus on their health if ill, and we also know that some students have had some chronic medical challenges as a result of COVID-19. We are ready to support regardless of the situation.
The one area where we do not have flexibility is with respect to remote learning. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education no longer approves remote learning for any kind of time-on-learning, which means virtual days cannot take the place of school, even for inclement weather. We will do our best to continue to staff classes as best we can, and, fortunately, we have been able to maintain our schedule without significant changes over the past several days.
Some of the medical professionals with whom we consult have indicated that the plateau of the “spike” may already be upon us, or at least occurring within the next ten days. The pace of the descent from this recent spike is a little less clear in looking at trends from Great Britain and South Africa, but we are hopeful that the worst will soon be behind us.
We appreciate your continued support, flexibility, and cooperation.
Michael D. Rubin, Principal
Uxbridge High School