Dear Parents and Guardians,
While we enter our third school year affected by Covid19 we are fortunate to begin this one together, in our beloved Chelsea and Tunbridge schools. Our primary goal is to keep your children safe, healthy, and educated and to do that we rely on two-way communication between the school and our families. We will keep you up to date on Covid protocols, clinics and the latest health information. If you ever have a question or concern about any health related matter, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by phone or email.
Since March of 2020, we have witnessed the imperative of vaccines to combat both the Flu and Covid 19. We urge you to follow the guidance of the Vermont Department of Health and vaccinate both yourselves and your eligible children. If you need assistance in locating a vaccine clinic I am happy to help. Currently, our students 5 and over are eligible for the Covid vaccine and children 12 and up are eligible for their booster shot.
While we navigate the symptoms of Covid and the symptoms of common colds we will need to be paying special attention to any changes in your student’s health. Currently, if a student experiences any Covid symptom (fever of 100.4°F or above, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches, or headache) they need to stay home from school. If they have one or more symptoms that last for 24 hours or more, they may need a negative Covid test to return to school. You can find a list of state testing sites here and we are always happy to assist you in navigating that process.
In order to determine when a child with any of the above symptoms can return to school, please consult the Vermont Dept of Health’s Return to School Following Illness document.
Chelsea Public School and Tunbridge Central School are now able to implement the Test to Stay Program in the event an unvaccinated student has been identified as a close contact in a COVID19 case at school. The Test to Stay program is offered for those close contacts who are not fully vaccinated and would otherwise need to quarantine.
For families to participate, they need to pre-register! Parents/guardians must have completed the SY22 COVID 19 Testing Program ConsentForm AND the self-registration link for your student's school at the links below:
If you do not have computer access, please contact your school and we will help you register.
We ask that you register your children now so that if a close contact situation arises everything is in place.
In the event that Test to Stay is conducted for a positive COVID case, families will bring their child(ren) to the school on the first day of testing, (no earlier than 7:30) to ensure all registrations have been completed correctly. For subsequent days your child may ride the bus as long as they remain symptom free.
Parents will need to be prepared to pick students up within 30 minutes of notification of a positive antigen test.
This is voluntary program. If you chose for your student to quarantine rather than participate in the Test to Stay program you will need to reach out directly to your teacher(s) for learning expectations for the duration of the quarantine period.
Thank you parents and guardians for your incredible support. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the school directly
Please contact us, your school nurses, with any questions.
Sincerely,
Charlotte Faccio and Susan Hull in Tunbridge