Hello dear Breakthrough Community,
Many of you may have seen the announcement already regarding Breakthrough's implementation of a "Test to Stay" program to help keep our students in school with less disruption in the event of a positive Covid exposure.
This program will begin TOMORROW, FRIDAY FEBRUARY 4. (The original announcement was sent out with an incorrect date).
Below are the details of the program as they were included in Ms. Emily's email.
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Dear Families,
We are excited to announce that Breakthrough will implement a new program called Test to Stay, starting on Friday, February 4.
Test to Stay allows children who are not fully vaccinated to continue in-person learning after exposure to COVID-19 by submitting daily rapid antigen test results. While the pandemic is far from over, Test to Stay allows us to reclaim educational continuity for our children.
Please read on for more details about this exciting development in our pandemic response.
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| When do we use Test to Stay?
We use Test to Stay when a Breakthrough student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19.
We do not use Test to Stay when a student has been exposed to COVID-19 outside of school. If a student is exposed in their household or community, they may still need to quarantine, according to DC Health guidelines.
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| Who Participates in Test to Stay?
The following groups of students are required to participate in Test to Stay in order to continue in-person learning following exposure to COVID-19:
- Unvaccinated students who have never tested positive for COVID-19 or have tested positive more than 90 days ago
The following groups of students are not required to participate in Test to Stay:
- Fully vaccinated students
- Unvaccinated students who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days
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| How does Test to Stay Work?
When Breakthrough learns about a new case of COVID-19, we contact the impacted classroom as soon as possible. We will provide families with instructions on when to pick-up antigen tests, when to submit results, and for which dates antigen test results are required.
If your child is not fully vaccinated and they have not had COVID-19 in the past 90 days, please follow these steps:
- Come to the school to pick up a supply of rapid antigen tests (provided by Breakthrough at no cost to families).
- On the same day that you learn about the exposure, give your child a rapid antigen test by 8pm.
- Write your child’s name and the date on the test kit.
- Take a photo of the test and send it to covidtesting@breakthroughmontessori.org (we cannot accept parent notes reporting the test result without an accompanying photo).
- If the antigen test result is negative, your child can return to school the following day.
- This process will repeat itself for up to 7 days.
You can read the full Test to Stay policy in our COVID Response and Mitigation Policies on our website. |
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| Other COVID Updates
DC Health has revised its guidelines for schools to include the following:
- All public school staff, contractors, and volunteers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In order to be fully vaccinated, our staff must receive a booster shot when eligible.
- Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 can return to school after 7 full days of isolation if they experience mild/no symptoms and receive a negative antigen test on day 5.
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