Dear STEM School Highlands Ranch Families,
Our latest COVID update shows 10 new student cases reported today (Monday 1/24/22) and zero new staff cases. Student cases surfaced in both Elementary and Secondary. The students who tested positive have been instructed to move into isolation and remain there until symptoms have gone away.
11th grade has entered “outbreak” status and impacted students should follow the new ‘Test to Stay’ guidelines detailed below. The last day of exposure for 11th grade is 1/20/22.
There is a continued “outbreak” status for 3rd and 9th grade, with the last day of exposure for both grade levels being 1/21/22. Impacted students are also advised to follow the “Test to Stay” guidelines.
The latest positive COVID cases also include students who spent time at the STEM Center for Strength, with exposures occurring on 1/19/22 and 1/21/22. One COVID case is reported on the High School Girls Soccer team, with the exposure date of 1/21/22. All extracurricular students and staff impacted by these potential exposures are also advised to follow the “Test to Stay” guidelines.
Also included in our new student cases is a positive COVID case among the STEM FRC team with an exposure occurring on 1/15/22. Impacted students and staff are advised to follow the “Test to Stay” guidelines. The FRC team has been notified.
Lastly, this past weekend, there were five positive COVID cases reported among students (12th, 10th and 7th grades) and two positive COVID staff cases.
There are no new quarantines at this time.
If you have been identified as a close contact, or someone who has been exposed to COVID and are unvaccinated, and have no symptoms, you can:
Option 1: Test to Stay
- School approved test on Day 5 while still attending in-person, and
- Wear a mask for 10 days while monitoring for symptoms, and
- If symptoms begin, seek testing and isolate immediately.
- Families can voluntarily submit their student’s negative test result using this form.
- If your student does test positive, you should email our school nurse at [email protected].
Option 2: Quarantine (parent must call attendance line indicating their student is in quarantine)
- Students will quarantine for five days and
- Wear a mask for 10 days and
- Test on day 5 and
- Monitor for symptoms for 10 days and
- If symptoms begin, seek testing and isolate immediately.
A school-approved test can be a test that the parents obtain on their own or by visiting a community testing site. While we do have an on-site testing program on Tuesdays, families should not rely on this option as the number of open spots available for testing fills up quickly each week. Symptomatic students and staff should never enter the school for any reason including getting a Covid test.
If you have been identified as a close contact, have been exposed to COVID and are vaccinated, and/or had COVID in the past 90 days and are recovered, you can:
Self-monitor
- Wear a Mask for 10 days, while still attending in-person and
- Test on day 5 and
- Monitor for symptoms for 10 days and
- If symptoms begin, seek testing and isolate immediately.
Students who are in quarantine/isolation should access their coursework via Canvas. We understand that this is not ideal and is frustrating. We are working internally to see what adjustments we can make so that our students in quarantine are not falling behind. We will not be providing synchronous learning at this time, as we made a commitment to our teachers that we would not add that additional workload.
We strongly encourage you to please take a look at our COVID Positive Tracking List for the most up-to-date list of both student and staff cases. Additionally, we’ve added an FAQ section to that page that answers some of the questions we’ve been receiving.
As a reminder, please do not come to school with any symptoms and please do what you can to help us mitigate the spread of COVID.
RESOURCES
- When are you considered “fully vaccinated?” – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
- Quarantine and Isolation – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html
- How to find testing for Covid-19 – https://covid19.colorado.gov/testing
NOTIFYING STEM OF COVID-19 POSITIVE CASE
If your student tests positive for COVID-19, please contact our School Nurse, Mallory Jimenez ([email protected]) immediately. She will then notify the appropriate STEM Leadership Team members to then initiate our communication process. Ms. Jimenez will then provide instructions on the next steps.
CALLING IN ABSENCES
If your student is sick, in quarantine or you are keeping them home out of an abundance of caution, please remember to call our attendance at 303-683-7836.
At this time, there will be no synchronous instruction that will take place for students who are absent. Students will have two days for every one day they are absent to complete their assignments and check-in with their teachers.
Please note: Extended absences start on the 11th school day that a student is absent. If an absence continues past 10 days, parents will need to complete the Extended Absence Form.
Thank you,
STEM School Highlands Ranch Communications