COVID-19/Illness Symptom Checks and Protocol:
Student Health Screening Check List
SECTION 1: Symptoms Please check your child for these symptoms that indicates a possible illness that may decrease the student’s ability to learn and also puts them at risk for spreading illness to others. If they have any of these symptoms, please keep your child home.
-
Fever of 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
-
Sore throat
-
New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (for students with chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline)
-
Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain
-
Headache
-
Nasal drainage and congestion
-
New loss of taste and smell
-
Rash (unless accompanied by a doctor’s note stating it is not contagious)
-
Red, swollen eyes, or draining eyes
-
Has been in close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 within past 10 days
Staff and students with fever or symptoms listed above, and have had no known direct exposure to a person with COVID-19, may return to school when they are fever and symptom free for at least 24 hours (and have NOT taken any fever reducing medicine for 24 hours), OR have an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that explains the symptom(s) and are not contagious.
Guidelines for returning to school due to COVID - 19 Exposures or Positive Test Results:
Exposures:
Unvaccinated students (and adults) that have been in close contact with an infected person, should remain home from school for 10 days from last exposure to contagious person. A COVID-19 test is recommended on day 3-5 of exposure if possible, (and if any symptoms develop before the 10 day quarantine is complete). Fully vaccinated staff should get tested 3-5 days after exposure before returning to work or remain home for 5 days and return to work if no symptoms develop. Vaccinated staff should wear a well-fitting mask at all times (outside and inside) for 10 days after exposure. In addition, if anyone in the student’s/staff’s household is waiting for test results, we request unvaccinated individuals remain home until the family member has a negative test result.
Testing Positive
If a student test positive, they can return to school
-
10 days since symptoms first appeared and 24 hours symptom free without the use of fever-reducing medications
-
Children who test positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms can return to school 10 days after their first positive COVID-19 test.
Fully Vaccinated Staff can return after 5 days and wear mask at all times (inside and outside) for additional 5 days
School Exposure
If someone tests positive who has attended school while contagious, the classroom will close for 10 days (shortened from previous 14 days). Those considered in close contact due to other activities (Before or after school activities) will also be asked to remain home for 10 days.
COVID - 19 Re-Opening Protocols for Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church Preschool
Daily Health Checks - We will have a brief morning health check for all staff and students. Anyone with a fever or COVID-19 symptoms will not be permitted inside their classroom. In addition, if someone in your child’s immediate family has symptoms of COVID-19 we ask that your child remain home. Anyone that develops these symptoms during the day will be separated from their group immediately and must be picked up ASAP. In order to provide efficiency at drop off, we will also be asking parents and guardians to monitor and screen your child every morning before leaving for preschool. (We will provide a checklist of what to screen) If you have a reliable thermometer at home, we recommend taking your child’s temperature before leaving for school as well. A friendly reminder that whether your child has symptoms of COVID-19 or another illness; if they are not well, please keep them home. We also ask that you do not send a child to school if they have been given a fever reducing medication within 24 hours.
Face Masks - Staff will be wearing face coverings. Masks will be required of the students over the age of two. It is encouraged for the two year old students to wear one if they are able. We will have opportunities outside each day (weather permitted) and during snack time, in which they can take them off. We are asking parents to drop off their children outside of the building, however, in the situation where a parent or caregiver needs to enter the building, we require that all adults wear a face covering.
Social Distancing – Classroom sizes will remain small this year and well within COVID-19 guidelines. Social distancing will be practiced to the maximum extent while still allowing for the care of the children. We will treat each classroom as a unit and limit interactions between classrooms. We will implement small group activities and encourage individual play/activities. We will discourage unnecessary touching between students and staff such as hugging, high fives, holding hands, etc. We are going in incorporate music, library and Spanish into our regular class time to limit additional exposure from other staff coming in to teach these specials.. Ms. Leigh will teach Chapel outside with our three and four year olds (weather permitted). In addition, art supplies will not be shared by students.
Drop off and Pick up - All parents will be asked to drop off and pick up their students outside of the building to limit adults inside the building. (Specifics for your child’s drop off place will be coming soon) It is very important this year that you arrive during our designated drop off time, since parents are discouraged from entering the building. If you know you will be late due to an appointment, please let us know the day before.
Snack - Parents will be asked to pack a snack for their child each day. (We will send out a list of allergies in the class prior to the first day).
Hand Washing - We will be having children/staff wash hands/sanitize their hands as they enter the building, after using the restroom/diaper changes, after playground time, before and after snack and before they leave for the day. (as well as any other time the teacher feels necessary)
Cleaning Toys/Classrooms - We will be cleaning/sanitizing toys and classrooms daily and throughout the day as needed using products recommended by the CDC. The Church is also cleaned on a daily basis by our building maintenance staff.
Increasing Ventilation in the Classrooms - We will keep windows open as much as possible this year. In addition, it was confirmed that our HVAC system pulls air from outside which is recommended by the CDC. We will keep air flowing and properly ventilating the rooms.
Closures and quarantining due to COVID exposures - Should someone at the school test positive, all members of that person’s classroom (and siblings of those who may have been exposed) will be notified immediately and that class (students and staff) would be asked to remain home for 14 days and must be symptom free for at least 24 hours before returning to school. If someone at the school has been exposed to a person outside of the school who tests positive, the exposed person should remain home for 14 days since they were last with the infected person. Should anyone in your family receive a positive test result, we will ask all members of that family to remain home for 14 days. In order to provide full transparency, the entire school will be notified of a positive case within our students and staff population (without disclosing any names). We hope that we are able to operate with as little closures as possible this school year; however, we do ask that parents plan for the unexpected and please know any decision we make to close will be in the best interest of our school and church community.
Tuition Payments and Refunds - Tuition is due the first of every month for the following month. (Example, November tuition is due October 1st) Refunds will not be given for two week classroom or school closures, or partial month closures. However, if we determine at any point we need to close for a longer period of time we will refund your unused monthly tuition or credit it to a later month. For example, if on October 15th we close for an undetermined amount of time, we will refund your November tuition already paid.
Before and After School Activities - The Department of Social Services is recommending we do not combine classes for mealtimes, or for before or after school
activities. Since all of our before and after school programs typically combine multiple classes, we are NOT starting the school year with Early Risers, Lunch Bunch, or other after school activities. We hope to get these programs started soon!
Orientation - In lieu of our normal orientation, we will be assigning times for students to meet their teacher, and see their classroom. We will ask that the child is accompanied by only one adult. During this orientation, since we will have a mix of parents, staff and students, we will ask that all adults wear masks and if your child is over two and can safely wear the mask for this short visit, we highly encourage it as well.
Creating more outside learning spaces – we will be assigning two outside times each day to all classes in order to get as much fresh air as possible!
School Field Trips - Due to limiting exposure to larger groups, we are not currently planning our normal Pre-K field trips. However, there will be outreach programs coming to our school throughout the year. There would be a small charge per child to have these outreach programs come visit, but should provide a lot of fun and excitement.
Limit bringing items from home - In order to eliminate additional exposures coming in from out of the building, we are requesting that personal blankets, toys, etc are left at home. In addition, unless your child is in a two year or younger class, we ask that no pacifiers are brought into the building.
Safe Practices and Taking Precautions - We are looking forward to creating a normal school routine for your child, but we cannot do it without the support of our families. The best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to wear a face covering in public and practice good handwashing. Please limit travel when necessary and if you do travel, please limit your gatherings to small groups and continue to wear face coverings and wash hands. Please see the VHD’s guidelines below for travel and consider these, especially over Labor Day, which is just a few days before school starts.
Additional Resources: https://www.dss.virginia.gov/cc/covid-19.html