PARENT MEMO 19: January 11, 2022
Dear St. Patrick Catholic School Families,
COVID CASES
We have several families that have tested positive for COVID over break and now the cases are coming from students in school.
Please be extra careful and diligent about hand washing, mask wearing and social distancing to help us keep the spread of COVID out of our school.
There are new guidelines about isolation and quarantine. Please see below. However, we will always call the health department and go over each individual exposure to get specific guidance per each case.
NCDHHS has updated the StrongSchoolsNC Toolkit isolation and quarantine guidance to align with updated guidance from Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which outlines what individuals should do if they contract or are exposed to COVID-19 to help slow the spread to others. We would greatly appreciate your assistance in getting this out to the field.
The updated guidance changes how long and under what conditions staff and students need to be excluded from school because they have tested for or been exposed to COVID-19 (isolation and quarantine).
1. Staff and students who have symptoms, regardless of vaccination status should – get tested and isolate from others while waiting for a result. If testing is not possible, follow the guidance below as if the person is positive.
2. Isolation: Staff and students who test positive, regardless of vaccination status, and
· Do not have symptoms – should isolate from others for 5 days, then wear a mask for 5 additional days.
· Have symptoms – should isolate from others until fever-free and symptoms are improving. Individuals should isolate for at least 5 days since symptoms began and then wear a mask for 5 additional days.
3. Quarantine: Staff and students who are exposed to someone with COVID-19, and
· Not vaccinated – stay away from others for 5 days, get tested on day 5 after exposure, and if they test negative, return to school while wearing a mask for 5 additional days.
· Vaccinated and eligible for a booster, but not yet been boosted – stay away from others for 5 days, get tested on day 5 after exposure, and if they test negative, return to school while wearing a mask for 5 additional days.
· Vaccinated, and have either received a booster or are not yet eligible for a booster – individuals do not need to stay away from others, but should wear a mask for 10 days.
4. StrongSchoolsNC Toolkit guidance that remains unchanged includes:
· Individuals who are not fully vaccinated after a close contact in a classroom or other school setting if masks were being worn appropriately and consistently by both the person with COVID-19 and the potentially exposed person do NOT need to quarantine.
Schools are strongly encouraged to actively promote vaccination and boosters to staff and families. Being up-to-date on vaccinations, including a booster, dramatically decreases the risk of severe illness and hospitalization from the Omicron variant.
COVID TESTING
If you would like your child tested for covid at school, please click on the following link to register.
https://home.color.com/covid/sign-up/start?partner=tf-stp-1272-students
JOB OPENING
Saint Patrick Catholic School is seeking a full-time instructional teaching assistant. The full job posting can be found here. If you are interested in applying for the position, please email Christa Larkin at [email protected]
UNIFORM POLICY CHANGES
There are some uniform policy changes that will occur over the remainder of the school year.
Sneakers: Students should wear sneakers to school daily, but they do not have to be solid black. Moving forward sneakers should be “mostly black”. That means the sole may be white (or a color other than white) and the sides may have an additional color. For example, the sneaker may have a white Nike Swoosh, New Balance N, Adidas stripes, etc.…on the sides of the sneaker. Please see this link for examples of acceptable shoes.
Leggings: Girls may wear plain, solid black leggings under their school uniform jumper, skirt, or skort in place of tights.
VOLUNTEERING AT ST. PATRICK CATHOLIC SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS
We will be allowing limited volunteers in the school this year. If you want to volunteer at the school, you must complete the volunteer application which includes attending a Safe Environment Training (SET)class. There are some online training courses each month. Please see below. Safe Environment Training Calendar
In addition to attending the SET training, all volunteers need to complete an application with the Diocese of Raleigh. You can turn your completed application into the front office. Volunteer Application in English Volunteer Application in Spanish
CALENDAR
January 17th NO SCHOOL, MLK Day
January 28th Spirit Day
February 8th Scouts may wear scout uniform to school
SCHOOL DIRECTORY
Our school directory is ready. You can find it on the school website or via this link: https://www.spcsnc.org/family-directory/
The directory is password protected: 4SPfamilies2View