STAY HOME POLICY

1. Known Exposure Away from School --> See guidelines below.
2. Known Exposure at School --> Test To Stay with signed consent form
3. Potential Exposure Away from School (symptoms in the house, around a potential case, awaiting contact tracing) --> Please stay home until negative result of the other individual; OR Antigen test daily before coming to school
4. Symptomatic --> Stay home until a negative test result and improvement of symptoms. If positive, see below.
5. Positive Test Result With Symptoms --> See guidelines below.
6. Positive Test Result Without Symptoms --> See guidelines below.
   
   

COVID ISOLATION & QUARANTINE GUIDELINES

There have been several changes to the state’s quarantine and isolation guidelines over the last few weeks. In order to make things easier for families (and us) to understand, here are the protocols we will be following until we receive further guidance from the state. Please note that we are generally following VT DOH and CDC guidelines in these situations, except we are asking for additional testing (which we can help provide) at the end of the isolation or quarantine period. 

For students (and staff) who have tested positive and have no symptoms :

You may return to school after 5 full days if you have a negative antigen test on days four and five. To calculate the 5-day isolation period, day 0 is the day that the test is administered. 

• You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95 masks you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.

For students (and staff) who have tested positive and have symptoms of illness:

• You may return to school after 5 full days if:

 - you are fever-free for 24-hrs without fever-reducing medication;

 - your other symptoms have resolved;

 - and if you have a negative antigen test on days four and five.

(Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation​). To calculate the 5-day isolation period, day 0 is the first day of symptoms.

• You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95, you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.
• If you continue to have symptoms after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are symptom-free for 24 hours (no fever/no meds, no cough, etc.) and you have two negative antigen tests (24 hours apart) administered after symptoms have resolved. 
• Lastly, you may return to school if 10 days have passed since your symptoms started, you are fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine, and your symptoms have markedly improved.

For students (and staff) with off-campus exposures to do the following before returning:

• Reach out to the Vermont Department of Health Contact Tracing department to establish quarantine/isolation timelines, and also…
• Take (at least) two negative antigen tests performed 24 hours apart beginning no earlier than day 4. That means the second test should be no earlier than day 5. Day 0 is the last possible day of exposure. If the exposure is in the household, Day 0 is the last day of the infected individual's isolation period (see guidelines, on or after the first full day in which you were able to completely follow the isolation protocols further down the CDC page here.
• The exposed student will need to mask universally through day 10. That includes outdoor time and means they will not eat unmasked around their classmates, but in a separate location. High-quality, KN95 type masks are suggested for these situations, not cloth masks. If you don't have KN95 masks you should consider double protection with a surgical mask and a cloth mask over it or check in the office to see if we have extra KN95’s.

For on-campus exposures, we will continue to utilize the Test To Stay program though there are pending changes to schools’ roles in testing and tracing. We’ll inform the community when we have more information about these pending changes.

LEARNING SUPPORT DUE TO COVID

Elementary Students Too Ill to Be at School -->

1. Communicate absence with Krystal and classroom teacher
2. Rest, get well, stay in touch

Elementary Students Only Home Because of Our Stay Home Policies (above) -->

1. Communicate absence with Krystal and classroom teacher
2. Wait 24 hours for an email from the teacher about learning plans and materials.
3. Expect email from Emily Dunn for opportunities for extra support.

Middle School Students Too Ill to Be at School -->

1. Communicate absence with Krystal and classroom teacher
2. Rest, get well
3. Email all teachers about missed work when ready.

Middle School Students Only Home Because of Our Stay Home Policies (above) -->

1. Communicate absence with Krystal and advisor.
2. Wait for a friend to invite you to Google Meet for the day (sent during the first academic class of the day), call the office if any connection problems.
3. Check email regularly for communications from teachers; email teachers about any clarification needed.
4. Expect email from Emily Dunn for opportunities for extra support.



COVID RESPONSE TESTING

We are now able to offer PCR tests on-demand for students who are symptomatic or may have been exposed, even if those symptoms or exposure were contracted off-campus. This is separate from the Test-To-Stay program and the surveillance testing we do on Tuesdays. Please fill out this consent form if you want to have our PCR tests as an option along with the drive-through sites at local hospitals and providers. That consent form will also allow your child to participate in the test to stay program. We can have the tests overnighted to the CIC lab (the same lab we use for surveillance testing) and would anticipate results within 48 hours. These tests would be for students who have symptoms and need a test to return to school. With enough notice, we can make a drive-up test available and ship it the same day.