Dear STEM School Highlands Ranch Families,
We received notifications of seven additional COVID positive cases, one in first grade, one in third grade, four in sixth grade and one in 12th grade. All students were instructed to move into isolation and remain there until symptoms have gone away.
With these additional cases, our third and sixth grades have now moved into Outbreak Status.
OUTBREAK AND QUARANTINE
An outbreak is deemed if we have five connected cases. The guidelines below are from Jogan Health (Douglas County Health Departments contract Health Agency and also from the Douglas County School District)
- Third- and sixth-grade students who are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic can remain at school and should wear a mask until the outbreak is resolved.
- To ensure adequate time for an immune response to occur, a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after completion of a two-dose mRNA series or one dose of Janssen vaccine.
- Unvaccinated third- and sixth-grade students will need to quarantine for five days from today and can return to school on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022 if they are not showing symptoms of COVID-19 at that time and should wear a mask until the outbreak is resolved.
- Any student who is showing or develops signs of illness should stay home and seek testing.
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.
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.
GIRLS’ PERSIST EXPOSURE AND QUARANTINE
We were notified that a student in the Girls’ Persist Club has tested positive for COVID-19. The student was present at the club meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 12. The student was instructed to move into isolation and not to return to school until symptoms have gone away.
Per Jogan Health (the contracted health agency that the Douglas County Health Department has selected), after school activities are considered “high risk” and parents should take the following precautions:
- If your student is fully vaccinated and asymptomatic, your student can continue to attend in-person learning and continue to participate in club meetings, however we do ask that you please monitor them for symptoms and that they wear a mask for the next 10 days.
- If your student is unvaccinated, your student must remain at home in quarantine for 5 days and access their coursework remotely. They cannot participate in team-related activities in-person until their quarantine is complete. If your student is staying at home, please call the attendance line to let us know. Your student can return for in-person learning on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
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 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