Covid-19 Updates:

12/27/2021

 

Covid policy update 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I am grateful for everyone’s support and patience as we navigate this pandemic. I have updated our Covid policies to reflect the current surge as well as county guidelines and regulations. Keep in mind these are fluid and may change again.

 

IMPORTANT: Please make sure you add your cell phone number to your Brightwheel account and have alerts on. This is the best way for us to communicate with you, and we want to make sure you receive COVID alerts (and other important info) without any delays.

 

IMPORTANT: We are required to follow the Pasadena and Los Angeles Health department guidelines and policies. I understand that the CDC has very different guidelines they published this week, however, those do not apply to our school. We answer to Community Care Licensing and until they send out new policies/guidelines we must follow the local Health Departments.

 

All the best,

 

Chana

 

Masking:

• Please continue to wear a mask and bring your child to school wearing a mask, even the youngest children. It sets a great precedent for the day when they arrive wearing them. Our youngest students still do not master wearing them all day, however we will encourage and support this skill at their individual pace. As per our licensing analyst who came to visit on 12/21/2021 we are in compliance with mask mandates and they, State Licensing, understand the challenge it poses for many young children to wear a mask all day. 

 

Pods:

• We will keep the classrooms as separate as possible in indoor spaces. Teddies and Koalas remain as one pod. If we need to combine groups we will pair the Coyotes with the Giraffes and the Pandas with the Butterflies. During morning drop off from 7:30AM to 8:50AM we will, weather permitting, be outdoors. Only in the event that it rains will we be indoors during that time. Please send your child in adequate clothing so they can be outside comfortably. In the event that it rains, we will split the children up in the assigned pods above, or separate them out in the classrooms if we have adequate staffing. 

• During the PM hours from 3PM to 5PM we will remain outdoors and separate the classrooms as much as possible.

• Children who do not nap: We will combine these children outdoors and will do our best to have them spread out so that exposure is eliminated. If it rains the children who do not nap, will take turns in Wohlman hall, the classroom next to the Panda room (we use this room for Yoga) and in the Library (Office).  

• We will keep these policies in place until further notice.

 

If anyone in your household has immediate exposure to someone who tested positive for Covid:

• Let Chana know immediately by texting her. Do NOT post to Brightwheel. 

• Keep your child home until test results have been completed for your household.

• If exposure was removed more than once, for example, your co-worker's spouse tested positive, but the coworker did not get tested or test results were not in yet, you do not need to notify us. We will no longer communicate these types of scenarios as per guidelines.

 

If anyone in your household tests positive for Covid:

• Let Chana know immediately by texting her. Do NOT post on Brightwheel.

• Child must stay home for 10 days to quarantine (even if their test is negative) 

• If your child's test is negative, the class does not need to close for 10 days. The room will NOT be closed while awaiting test results of the child. 

• If the child’s test is positive, the class needs to be quarantined for 10 days. The child who tested positive can return to school after a minimum of 10 days and must be free of symptoms for 24 hours. In addition all family members must be free of symptoms for a minimum of 24 hours before the child can return. That means a child might need to quarantine for longer than 10 days, but never less! We need a copy of the initial positive test. After being infected with covid a person can test positive for up to 90 days after, which means we cannot require a negative covid test to return to school until the 90 day mark was reached.

• The other children in the class should be tested on day four after the initial case. Children who test negative can return to school on day five, but they must have mastered wearing a surgical or N95/KN95 mask through day ten of exposure.Anyone exposed should monitor for symptoms through day 10. Day four testing can be done with home tests that are FDA approved.

• We will be testing weekly until further notice. We require that all children are PCR tested Thursday or Friday of every week, and can only return the following week once results are in.  

• If your child develops symptoms after being tested initially, they must be tested again.

• We do NOT offer tuition refunds due to COVID closures and will do our very best to avoid disruption in your child’s care. 

 

If your child develops covid symptoms:

• Due to the rapid rise in covid cases we will require covid testing for all covid like symptoms. I understand this is a nuisance and challenge. It is my goal to keep everyone in our community safe and healthy and unfortunately with the new variant proving to be more contagious and cases of children going up, we must be extra cautious. 

 

General sick policies:

We will reinstate a “Free of symptoms for 48 hours” until further notice. That means if your child develops fever, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, persistent cough, flu like symptoms, rash, any other virus such as hand, foot and mouth disease, they must be completely free of those symptoms for 48 hours before returning to school. In some cases we will require a doctor’s note.