A general overview of our COVID policies and mitigation strategies

In the ever shifting landscape of the COVID pandemic, our school's Board of Directors and policy sub-committee have established these most recent policies in alignment with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (Ma DPH), the state's Department of Early Education & Care (EEC) and Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) and the Town of Sharon Health Department.

One of our best tools for COVID mitigation is ongoing communication between the school and our families. Just as we strive to be honest and forthcoming about the presence of COVID at school (while always maintaining confidentiality) we rely on parents to provide us with clear, open and honest communication about their child's health status and any events in their household that could have an impact on the health and well being of the school community.

Mask use

We are currently a mask optional/mask friendly/mask flexible program and encourage families to make the choice for themselves and their children based on their individual risk factors.

Vaccination Policy:

Staff are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID 19 and show proof of vaccinations, with limited exemptions allowed. At this time children over 5 are not required to be vaccinated as a condition for attending school.

Confirmed COVID positive or staff student

If a child or staff member tests positive for COVID, the isolation period is 5 days (Day 1 begins the day after the positive test result). The child can return to school on day 6 if they are asymptomatic and test negative using a rapid test that morning before returning to school.

COVID Exposure, in or outside of school:

If a student or staff is exposed to COVID, whether in school or in the community or family setting, and remains asymptomatic, they can continue attending school. We request that the child take a rapid antigen test on Day 6 and mask through Day 10.

Symptoms of Illness

A child who develops signs of any illness, including COVID, while at school will need to be picked up from school. Re-entry to school will depend on a number of factors and may require a doctor's note. Our complete child illness policy is in our school handbook which is provided to families upon enrollment.

Tests

EEC programs are now authorized to provide families with tests for exposures that occur outside of school. We have a limited number of tests that can be provided upon request if a family is having difficulty locating a test. We would, however, encourage families to obtain free tests through their insurance/prescription provider and/or through the government whenever possible.