January 12, 2022 - Our schools will move to virtual beginning Wednesday, January 19. Read more here, in English and Spanish. —>
January 7, 2022 - Please read the latest on our COVID response in a letter from our Head Administrator (English and Spanish)
UPDATE ON 9/22/21 - WE HAVE A CONNECTION FOR COVID-19 TESTING FOR THE TTCS COMMUNITY BY CLICKING ON THIS BOX —>
IMPORTANT RELATED LINKS
Our best methods of keeping our students and staff safe at school
Vaccinations for all who are eligible
The majority of our students are not eligible for vaccinations at this point, but all of our adults are, so we will continue to push for greater vaccination levels in our school community. If you have not already received your vaccine, please register now! Follow this link to register.
Universal and correct mask wearing using approved masks (two or more layers of cloth, N95 or KN95 masks; NOT bandanas, gaiters, scarves, face shields, or masks with exhalation valves)
Please assist us in teaching and reinforcing strong mask wearing practices with students. Approved masks should always be worn indoors with the nose pinched to ensure full protection. If you have questions or require guidance, please follow this link.
Strong ventilation and air purification
Our school’s HVAC system is equipped with MERV-13 filters, and each room is equipped with a Purashield 500 Molecular Air Scrubber, which engages high volume air circulation and MERV-16 filters.
Proper distancing
Ensuring that none of our students or adults comes into “close contact” with any other individual during the school day will better ensure safety for everyone, should an infected individual be on campus. We define “close contact” as “spending 15 minutes or more within six feet of an infected individual over a 24-hour span of time”.
Communication between all parties
Continuing to hold students home if/when they experience COVID-like symptoms and emailing Head Administrator Christopher Eide Azevedo (ceide@ttschool.org) as well as Nurse Carla Rael (crael@ttschool.org) with the most current information, including screenshots of test results, is the best way that we can ensure that we are doing everything we can for each student.
Surface disinfection
We have been advised that the primary vehicle for transmission of COVID-19 is airborne droplets and as those droplets may settle on surfaces, we must be diligent in keeping those surfaces clean. In particular, we will disinfect all surfaces that are exposed during times and places where students eat and/or drink, given that students will at least briefly have their masks off.
Mask Rules
Universal and proper mask wearing is critical to the safety of students and staff at TTCS. Adults not wearing masks will not be allowed into the building, and if adults in the building refuse to wear a mask, they will be asked to leave immediately.
Students who remove their masks out of intentional non-compliance will:
(First offense) Receive a warning/reminder from their teacher or supervising adult.
(Second offense) Receive a final warning with notice that the next offense will result in the student being sent home for the day.
A student being sent home a third time will not be allowed to participate in in-person instruction at school, and will participate either remotely or in an outdoor learning environment, if that option is available and upon agreement with the teacher(s) supervising the student.
Health + Safety + School Operations
Safe return to campus
A safe return to campus can be made if that individual is no longer infectious. We are using the following guidelines:
A confirmed, symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 case is infectious for two days prior to the onset of the illness and for ten (10) days after the onset AND symptoms have improved AND the individual is fever free for 24 hours without medical assistance. For severe cases or those who are immunocompromised, the period is twenty (20) days after the onset.
For individuals who have been contacted by the school as having been potentially exposed to COVID-19, a negative test result generated at least five (5) days after the potential exposure is sufficient for a return to school.
Surveillance testing
Unvaccinated adults are required to submit to COVID testing once per week and report to our nursing staff, which reports to the state. Students are encouraged to participate in surveillance testing, especially those participating in athletic activities. We are able to test students here at school by request.
Adults on campus
We will begin tightening up restrictions on adults in the building, meeting parents/guardians at the front door at and after 7:50am to sign in students arriving late. In addition, any adult in the building not on staff must register a temperature scan and submit a health questionnaire.
Within a week of school starting, we have experienced non trivial numbers of students missing from in-person learning each day, largely due to families acting with caution. We now expect that this situation will continue, and may in fact worsen. In preparation for a number of different scenarios, we will use the following general guidelines:
1) We will continue to monitor and ensure that all classrooms are set up for teaching both students in person and at home on a daily basis consistently. The middle school should be able hold this posture indefinitely or until the point at which the school would go all virtual (see below).
2) (Elementary School) If the number of students/families opting out of in-person learning and staying home reaches the size of an entire class, we will confer with that grade level to assess the potential of switching online students to a designated grade level online teacher and redistributing the students as a few grade levels did last year.
3) Around this time, we will assess the need to cohort students as we did last year (we do not do that now because the operational challenges of cohorting pass along to students and families, for example, in the limited amount of bus seats available and the abundance of students who sincerely need the transportation).
4) If mandated by the state or by conditions that we assess to be too dangerous for in-person learning, we will make the call to engage many/most/all students in online learning. At current, there is no "hard and fast" metric for this decision aside from state mandate.