Illness and Covid Information

Sick child?

Keep your child home from school, even for mild symptoms. 

Give 2 at-home antigen (rapid) tests spaced 24 hours apart.

Your child can return with 2 negative tests AND when symptoms are improved. 

Thank you for helping to prevent the spread of illness (even non-covid illnesses!)

Test Positive for Covid? 

Stay home and isolate for a minimum of 5 days

Your child can return after 5 days if: 

• They have two negative antigen tests performed at least 24 hours apart beginning no earlier than day 4
• They never had symptoms or their symptoms have improved and they feel better
• AND they have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of medicine that reduces fevers
• AND they wear a mask around others through day 10.

Visit the Vermont Department of Health for more information

Is it just allergies?

 Allergy season has arrived. Covid-19 and allergies share some symptoms, but not others. Use this chart to compare the common symptoms of Covid-19 and allergies. Please reach out to your child’s pediatrician if they are experiencing allergy symptoms. If they take daily allergy medication or maintenance inhalers, this might be a good time to start taking those. If it’s unclear if your child is having allergies or covid symptoms, they should stay home until you can communicate with their pediatrician. They will provide guidance on whether covid testing is needed, and when it’s ok for your child to return to school. 

 

As this pandemic drags on, it’s easy to get discouraged and sad that we can’t hang out with our friends and family. We know that the next couple of months of winter will be challenging. We appreciate all of the sacrifices that our community has made to keep our students healthy and to keep our schools open. 

Things we still need to avoid:

Indoor gatherings

Sleepovers

Sharing meals with others (even outdoors)

Things we can safely do with others:

Safe Outdoor Activities (Stay 6 feet apart and wear masks!)

Sledding      

Snowshoeing

Snowman building competitions

Walks on the Bike Path (try it at night with a headlamp!)

Please continue to keep students home when they are sick. This includes even minor colds or ‘the sniffles’. Any symptom, even a runny nose or headache, means you should keep your child home from school and contact me or your primary care provider for guidance on when they can return to school. Thank you for your help with this! 

February 14-20 is Random Acts of Kindness week! Being kind and helping others is a great way to help kids boost their mood, self-esteem, and resilience. Simple acts of kindness can go a long way to brighten someone’s day. 

 

If your family gathers for a multi-household event, please keep your student home to quarantine for 14 days (or 7 days followed by a negative covid test). This will help prevent illness at school and will allow us to continue to keep school open! 

Holiday Gatherings and Travel

Vermont is seeing a significant surge of new COVID-19 cases across the state. Starting November 14, 2020, Governor Scott’s Executive Order prohibits gatherings with people from other households. This includes both inside and outside gatherings, and in public and private spaces. Additionally, the Health Department strongly advises against non-essential travel, even within Vermont. Any non-essential travel to and from Vermont requires quarantine.

These new guidelines are hard for many families as the holidays are usually a time to gather and spend time with friends and family. If you decide to travel for the holiday, you will need to keep your child home from school and quarantine for 2 weeks after you return (or 1 week followed by a negative PCR test). 

Please be considerate of the teachers, staff, and other families who are choosing to not travel so that we can safely return to school. Many teachers and staff are making sacrifices this holiday season so that we can continue educating your children. We also need our families to comply with the guidelines so that we can continue to keep school open. 

For more information on hosting out-of-state visitors, travel & quarantine, and for testing information, visit the Vermont Department of Health website. 

How Contact Tracing Slows the Spread of Covid-19