Please read, as there has been some updates.
As always, the health and safety of our students is top priority.
Masks: ACH staff will be required to wear a mask or face shield during the school day. Parents and caregivers are highly encouraged to do so while in the building.
Teachers may wear a face shield when reading a book or teaching a phonics lesson. This is for language development purposes. Teachers will remain social distanced during that time.
It is your choice on whether or not you would like your child to wear a mask during the day. If you are sending your child to school in a mask, please communicate the with your child's teachers on your expectations for mask wearing, and they will help carry it out to the best of their ability. Consider purchasing a mask lanyard to help keep your child's mask off the tables during lunch/snack and from possibly from falling on the floor. I encourage you to work with your child on putting on and taking off their mask as well as wearing a mask for an extended period of time prior to the start date of school.
Vaccine: Per Governor Abbott's order, we can not require staff members to get vaccinated. At this time, the State of Texas has not added the COVID-19 vaccination to the required immunizations. Staff members are not required to disclose if they have or have not received the Covid-19 vaccination.
Signs and Symptoms: Please be vigilant about your health, your families health as well as the health of the people around you. We all have to work together as a team to make this year successful and keep our kids learning. The following are signs and symptoms that we need to keep close eye on to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
· Cough
· Shortness of breath
· Chills
· Repeated shaking and chills
· Muscle Pain
· Headache
· Sore throat
· Congestion or runny nose
· Loss of taste or smell
· Diarrhea
· Feeling feverish or measured temperature of 100.0 degrees F or above
· Known close contact with a person who is lab confirmed to have Covid-19
If anyone in your home is exhibiting symptoms or in general not feeling well, please keep your child home from school and notify your child's teacher and director. This will help reduce the number of exposure that we have in our school.
Out of an abundance of caution, we will be sending children home from school if they are exhibiting multiple symptoms even if they are fever free. A doctor's note to confirm allergies vs. Covid may be requested.
Exposure: Students or staff members who have reported close contact and direct exposure with a person who has Covid-19, while not wearing a mask, will be strongly encouraged to:
-stay home and quarantine for 7 days
and
receive a negative Covid test 5-7 days after exposure
or
-stay home and quarantine for 10 days from exposure
During this time monitor for symptoms consistent with COVID-19
If the direct exposure is a person in the household where contact is unavoidable, a negative Covid test will need to be provided before returning to school.
Student/Staff Positive Test: The child or staff member will be asked to stay home and can return to ACH once all the following are met:
-10 days out from the start of the symptoms
-Fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication
-Symptoms have improved.
Research, backed by CDC, is showing that a person can test positive without being able to transmit the virus for up to 3 months after the original diagnosis. You will not need to retest for Covid within 90 of a diagnosis.
“Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 can continue to have detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory specimens for up to 3 months after illness onset. However, replication-competent virus has not been reliably recovered and infectiousness is unlikely.” -CDC
Additional Measures: We will continue with cleaning and disinfecting protocols throughout the day and will repeat this process on toys and frequently touches surfaces again at the end of each day. A cleaning crew will come once a week on Fridays. Handwashing is one of our best preventive measures. We will continue frequent handwashing per CDC guidelines.
The church installed touchless soap and paper towel dispensers as well as hand sanitizer dispensers which are located by the front and back doors of the school. Thank you CPFUMC!
ACH Families, you are our first line of defense against Covid-19 in our school. If you are questioning whether or not you should send your child to school because of not feeling well or a family member is not feeling well, please consider keeping them home for the day to watch for additional symptoms. This is a team effort and we are blessed with amazing families and teachers to work with during this time.
