DPS 109 COVID End of Week Update
January 7, 2022
Need to translate this newsletter to a different language? Use the Translate button. If you're on a computer, it's on the right side. If you're on a phone, it's a small circular icon.
DPS 109 families,
Thank you. I said at the beginning of this school year that public education in Deerfield is a team sport, and this week has been the perfect example of that. From our staff stepping up to help cover classrooms this week, to the dozens of you that have applied or inquired about how you can help, I truly appreciate everyone’s efforts.
We need your help to keep our buildings open. I don’t want to sugarcoat our situation. The coming weeks aren’t going to be easy. Jeffrey Shaman, infectious disease modeler at Columbia University, said this week,
“...in the near term, everyone should expect an intense month of disruption” and continued,
“get vaccinated,
get booster shots, and
prepare for a bumpy January.”
We completely concur and would add three additional requests:
SHIELD testing is a benefit to all of us. This is truly a time for all of us to pull together. Participating in SHIELD testing helps us limit the spread of the virus within classrooms and buildings. We can’t encourage you strongly enough to help us by having your child test. The sign-up link for SHIELD is below as is the link to the Deerfield booster clinic being held this weekend.
If one of your children tests positive, we’d ask you to keep siblings home unless or until they test negative. While guidance states that vaccinated siblings can come, our experience with the Omicron variant is that all of the kids get it if one gets it.
Send your student to school with an age-appropriate and form-fitting KN95 or N95 mask, if possible. Cloth masks are not effective against the new variant.
Over the course of the week, we had 112 individuals either report or test positive for COVID. Our SHIELD testing positivity rate continues to be lower than that of the county and state. That said, we are very much aware that we all need to remain diligent and use every avenue we have to keep kids in school and get over this wave.
Read the important updates below or watch the summary video from our Director of Communications highlighting the major points on this Friday.
It’s clear from cases we have seen this week that vaccinated individuals can still get COVID, so it’s important to keep your guard up. We can’t do without each other, and greatly appreciate your partnership in helping navigate this school year.
Sincerely,
Michael V. Simeck
Superintendent of Schools
Extracurriculars To Resume Next Week With No Athletic Competitions
Park District Enrichments To Resume Next Week - No Consent Form Needed!
Revised Quarantine Guidance
Local Vaccine/Booster Clinic Tomorrow - No Appointment Needed
Vaccine Disclosure Form - Help Us Avoid Unnecessary Quarantines!
Remember, you can complete an optional form in Family Access to let DPS 109 know that your child is vaccinated. This is the same form that was made available to students ages 12 and older earlier this year.
A major benefit of completing the form is that if your child is deemed to be a close contact to a positive case, either in school or outside of it, our contact tracing team will quickly be able to potentially rule out quarantine for those that have voluntarily disclosed their child’s vaccination status or minimize the number of additional tests required to participate in the test to stay program.