Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates
Updated November 15, 2022
2022-23 COVID Safety Plan
Since March 2020, the ACDS community has been responsive, adaptable and united in our response to the COVID threat. The school’s substantial investment in disinfection technology and safety equipment along with the intensive commitment from the staff and administration, in partnership with support from ACDS families, generated the highest standards of safety and wellness on campus, and we celebrate that extended success even as we continue to be vigilant about the virus heading into the next school year.
Above all, our wellness as a school community during this third year of COVID depends on our continued cooperation, flexibility, patience, and understanding as we all make our way through the challenges posed by the virus in the months ahead. Thank you in advance for recognizing our shared responsibility to the safety of those around us, and for doing your part to keep the school community as a whole safe and healthy.
The 2022-23 COVID Safety Plan reflects new guidance provided by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and includes important changes compared with previous iterations; parents and staff are advised to read and become familiar with this new plan, noting that as always ACDS will adapt and iterate according to changing local virus conditions, updated public health guidance, and the judgment of the school administration. Also, recent CDC recommendations depart from CDPH guidance; however, ACDS is required to follow state and county public health directives, not the CDC’s.
For questions, please contact the ACDS COVID Task Force via email: covid@almadencountryday.org.
Campus Visitor Access (including parents)
- Adult visitors will be allowed on campus during the school day under the following conditions:
- All visitors who enter campus during the school day must check in at the front office
- Masks are strongly recommended
- Adult visitors, including parents, must be masked at all times when inside classrooms with students and/or teachers
- Visitors may not enter campus if they are experiencing symptoms - please self-monitor
- Shadow students must present a negative antigen test result taken within 24 hours prior to attending class; masks are optional but strongly recommended for shadow students
Masks
- Per CDPH guidance, masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, staff, parents and visitors as a highly-effective measure in preventing COVID infection, supported by our on-campus ActivePure air disinfection systems
- All visitors who enter campus during the school day must check in at the front office
- Visitors may not enter campus if they are experiencing symptoms - please self-monitor
- Please be aware that depending on conditions, such as significant on- or off-campus exposures, a rapid increase in infections or surge in our school community or County, or any other circumstance deemed by the administration in its sole discretion as a threat to student or staff safety, mask requirements may be reinstated for students and staff at the classroom, grade, or school-wide level. This applies to team sports (athletes and coaches) as well, as circumstances warrant
School Activities (e.g. field trips, parent drivers, EDGE Day, overnight trips, etc.)
- At this time, ACDS plans to conduct scheduled field trips as planned, pending changes in COVID conditions and/or updated guidance from public health agencies
- Prior to each event, based on current virus conditions and public health guidance, ACDS will notify families regarding any specific directions (e.g. masks required, etc.)
School Events (e.g. Food Truck Friday, Pumpkin Carving, etc.)
- At this time, ACDS plans to host our optional all-school events on campus
- Since these events are outdoors and after school, our school events will be mask-optional but strongly recommended for all participants
- Prior to each event, based on current virus conditions and public health guidance, ACDS will notify families regarding any specific directions (e.g. masks required, etc.)
Testing
- In compliance with new CDPH guidance, ACDS is shifting from weekly surveillance testing to a symptoms-based testing approach, and from PCR testing to antigen testing:
- Parents will monitor at home for potential symptoms and use antigen tests whenever children show possible COVID signs
- Parents will notify ACDS immediately when their children test positive for COVID
- When children or staff exhibit potential COVID symptoms on campus, they will be sent home immediately to be tested
- If a child or staff member tests positive, they will be required to isolate for 10 days. This may be shortened if certain criteria are met. Please email covid@almadencountryday.org if your child tests positive and we will explain these details
- We will ask that all students and staff complete an antigen test after each school break prior to returning to campus (e.g. prior to September 6, then after Thanksgiving, Winter Break, Presidents’ Week, Spring Break). Free testing is available here
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If Your Child Has COVID Symptoms
Please follow the steps below:
- Administer a COVID test
- Keep your child home until symptoms improve, even if they test negative and inform the school of the absence
- Re-test every 24-48 hours while symptoms persist
In order to return to school after an illness with COVID symptoms, three criteria must be met:
- The symptoms have improved
- No fever for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication
- Receive a negative COVID test the morning before they come to school on the day of their return
If your child does test positive for COVID:
- Please remember to email covid@almadencountryday.org
- Include the first day they had symptoms and the day they tested positive in the email
COVID Absences, Isolation, and Quarantine
- If a child or staff member tests positive, they will be required to isolate for 10 days. This may be shortened if certain criteria are met. Please email covid@almadencountryday.org if your child tests positive and we will explain these details
- Students home with COVID will be given access to daily work in the same way we do with any other illness: teachers will provide take-home work that’s available by the end of each school day
- COVID absences that extend beyond two weeks may necessitate additional student support measures, as determined by the administration and the student’s teacher(s)