COVID-19 Updated Guidance: Testing, Quarantine and Masks

Covid Dashboard (1/20-1/27)

Students tested positive (preK-8): 10

Staff (School and XDC) tested positive: 0

The following is the school’s most current guidance for testing, quarantine and masks. We ask that you familiarize yourself with the latest guidelines.

Covid Testing: The school has been implementing Covid testing for students/staff who present with COVID symptoms. We now have rapid testing and PCR testing available at school. If your student becomes ill while at school, we are able to offer Covid testing before they go home. A consent form will have to be signed in order for your child to be tested at school. These consent forms can be found on the school COVID Response page.

Return to School: If your student tests positive for COVID (either by rapid antigen or PCR test), return to school is possible on the 6th day after symptoms first appeared, as long as your student has been symptom-free for 24 hours and is able to reliably wear a high quality, well-fitting mask to school. Emerging research shows Omicron can be contagious for up to 10 days after symptom onset, despite CDC’s recommendation that isolation need only last 5 days from start of COVID symptoms. As such, please rapid test your student on the morning of school return on the 6th day. If the result is positive, your student likely still has a high enough viral load to be contagious and should remain home. If you have enough tests available to you, you can then rapid test each morning thereafter, and your student can return once they test negative. If you do not have enough rapid tests available to you, please contact covidresponse@st-johnschool.org, and we can strategize next steps.

Household Positive Contacts: We continue to observe household spread following positive cases, which is unsurprising given the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant. In last week’s NewsViews, we encouraged families to consider keeping students home following exposure to COVID in the household. While this can of course continue to be an option for families, we are revising and clarifying our official school guidance regarding a positive household COVID result to help prevent potential spread at school:

  • Please closely monitor all family members following a positive test result in the household
  • If your student(s) are unvaccinated, they must quarantine for 5 days following exposure to a COVID+ family member (or any other close contact exposure)
  • Fully vaccinated students are not required to quarantine
  • It is CDC and local Public Health guidance to rapid antigen test 5 days after exposure to a COVID+ family member or any close contact. We appreciate your attention to this guidance.
  • Our Covid Response Team stands by to offer advice on the specific timing of testing based on exposure as well as to provide rapid tests (pending supply availability) if you have difficulty obtaining them.

Masks: Due to the contagiousness of the Omicron variant, we highly recommend sending your student(s) to school in a well-fitting KN95 or KF94 mask. These masks are far more effective than cloth masks at preventing Omicron infection and transmission. We have compiled a list of possible masks below for families to consider. If you are having difficulty obtaining such masks, please reach out to covidresponse@st-johnschool.org. Please see this graphic published by the Wall Street Journal in early January comparing protection of different types of masks.

Mask websites:

Covid Response Team: We recognize there is a lot of information, and it seems the guidance is ever-changing. It can be hard to know what to do when it comes to testing, quarantine, return to school, close contacts, masking, etc. Nurse practitioners Dora Hall and Lee Rolfe continue to be a part of the school’s COVID Response Team and are available to support families and the school. Please reach out to them with questions and for guidance at covidresponse@st-johnschool.org