Dear Presbyterian School Community,
The health and safety of our entire school community is our highest priority. We are continuing to monitor the spread nationally and internationally of the Coronavirus COVID-19, and we are continuing to take our lead from state and local government along with advisories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the State Department, the local health department, and city emergency offices. It goes without saying that this is a very fluid situation that is constantly evolving, and we appreciate our community's patience as we keep you updated. At the bottom of this email, please pay close attention to the helpful links.
Travel
With Spring Break around the corner, we have received numerous questions about travel. We are asking all families and faculty to take extra precautions when traveling and to follow CDC guidelines. Prior to your travels, be sure to check CDC travel restrictions and notices. As this is a rapidly evolving situation, advisories could change overnight.
Following CDC guidelines for travelers returning to the United States from Level 2-3 Travel Health Notice countries, we are implementing protective measures for our community. Any family, faculty or staff member returning from a CDC Level 2-3 Travel Health Notice country should notify the School and self-isolate for a period of 14 days, returning only when symptom-free. Please communicate directly with your child's teacher and Division Head if you are planning a trip to a CDC Level 2-3 Travel Health Notice country. The School will work with families in quarantine circumstances to implement distance learning and will not count absences against the student.
School Attendance
As we navigate these unprecedented circumstances together, "perfect" school attendance is not our concern or goal. Should illness or any concern about respiratory disease symptoms present themselves in your family, please know the School will support your decision to keep your child(ren) at home. For the foreseeable future, Presbyterian School will excuse absences for any respiratory illness and work with students to make up missed assignments, tests, etc.
Preventive Health Action
The School is stressing the importance of hygiene, including the need for frequent hand washing, covering coughs or sneezes and staying home for illnesses. Classes are making and taking intentional extra time during the school day to ensure all students have frequent opportunities to wash their hands. School Nurse, Julie Brunson, is also spending extra time with all grade levels to discuss germ prevention with students.
The School and our Food Service Provider, ECI, are keeping up our Environmental Health Action Plan which includes frequent sanitation and daily cleaning of the facilities wiping surfaces, door handles, handrails, and other frequently used areas with disinfectant cleaner. Additionally, employees handling food are being directed to change the sanitized gloves regularly. All restrooms are cleaned twice a day. As occurs with all extended holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Break, there will be a deep cleaning of the School during Spring Break.
ECI is offering individual bottles of water available to students instead of the water pour stations. They are also suspending the self-service salad bar and preparing pre-packaged salads for purchase.
School Policies
I would like to call your attention to our School Policies as they relate to the health and wellbeing of our community. As is necessary from time to time, we have updated our School Handbook to reflect current or emerging circumstances. Please take a minute to re-familiarize yourself with our school policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please refer to our Monitoring the Coronavirus COVID-19 webpage on our school website for additional answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding our response to the Coronavirus COVID-19. In addition to Parent FAQ, the webpage details several resources from the CDC and WHO. It is our hope to provide parents with timely, effective, and data-driven communication to minimize fear and the dissemination of inaccurate information. Therefore, we are linking parents directly to expert and trusted officials who are the best sources of up-to-date information.
As the Head of this Christian school, I would be remiss in a communication such as this one if I did not ask you to join me in prayer—not only for those who are suffering with this particular virus but for those all over the world who are gripped with fear or worry because of it. As believers we are comforted with the knowledge that we are never alone in situations like this one...God is always with us. I hope we can all appreciate that this is uncharted territory for everyone, and we value your patience and partnership. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mark Carleton
Headmaster