Welcome 2022! Hopefully, your New Year is off to a good start, and you are feeling energized and hopeful as you leave 2021 behind. This week, we excitedly welcomed our students back to school following the winter break. We continue to engage our students in meaningful learning experiences that promote their social, emotional, and academic well-being.

In the coming weeks, as a community I am hoping that we can continue to support each other in navigating the circumstances of the pandemic. Our current approved Health and Safety Plan, which includes transition steps, is available here: Health & Safety Transition Plan v3.

I’d like to offer updates based on information provided by the Montgomery County Office of Public Health (MCOPH) today:

• Isolation and Quarantine Guidance: the MCOPH has recently updated its guidance in regard to isolation and quarantine. I strongly urge you to review the School Exclusion Guidance 1/6/2022 information on their website which explains isolation and quarantine requirements.

• The definition of fully vaccinated for individuals under 18 years of age has been revised. Children ages 5 - 17 years are considered fully vaccinated once they receive a primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine. For children 5 - 17 years of age, a primary series consists of 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Stay Up to Date with Your Vaccines | CDC.

• Daily Symptom Monitoring: Daily symptom monitoring is one of the most effective mitigation measures. Each morning, prior to boarding a bus or entering a school building, students and staff are expected to perform daily symptom monitoring. Any student or staff experiencing symptoms as listed below should not report to school and are further advised to contact their medical provider. If a student reports to school, and then begins to experience any of the symptoms below, they are advised to visit the school nurse.

• One of the following: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or new loss of taste or smell. OR

• Two of the following: fever (measured or subjective), chills, fatigue, myalgia, headache, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

Finally, you received a message earlier today letting you know of the planned school closure for tomorrow due to forecasted weather conditions. The “snow day” tomorrow utilizes our second builtin inclement weather day (the instructional calendar for the 2021-22 school year includes 3 builtin inclement weather days. The first was used in September in response to Hurricane Ida). To learn more about our procedures in response to inclement weather visit Emergency School Closings.

Thank you, as always, for your attention to this message.

Sincerely,

Dr. Barbara A. Russell

Superintendent

During a Special School Board meeting, held on Sunday, January 2, PV's Board of School Directors approved an updated Health and Safety Transition Plan (v3). As part of this plan, masks are required for all students and staff during the school day when indoors extending through January 21. During after school activities such as athletics, music rehearsals, Community Ed., committee meetings, Board meetings, etc., masks are strongly recommended.

Beginning on January 24, masks will be strongly recommended during the school day.

The Skippack Pharmacy is holding a Booster Clinic on Sunday, January 9th from 10am-2pm at North Penn High School (1340 S. Valley Forge Road Lansdale, PA). To register: 12+ Booster NPHS (01-09-2022) - Pfizer Vaccine (jotform.com)

The Pfizer COVID-19 Booster has been approved for 12-15 year olds. Anyone 12 years old and older who received two doses of Pfizer/Moderna or one dose of J&J COVID-19 Vaccine, at least 5 months ago, is eligible for a booster.

Your child’s individual student results for the 2021 PSSA and/or Spring Keystone have arrived. These reports will be distributed to students on or before Monday, January 10, 2022. All of our students in grades three through eight were assessed in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. Students in fourth and eighth grades also participated in the Science assessment. Our students are required to participate in the Algebra I, Literature (10th grade English) and Biology Keystone Exams upon completion of the respective coursework.

The report provides you with your child’s overall performance level and raw scores. While these scores are used to assess a student’s academic proficiency, they are only one factor to consider in your child’s overall educational attainment. For more information about the assessments, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s website at www.education.pa.gov. If you have any questions or would like additional guidance on how to interpret these results, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, counselor, or building principal.

PSSA Parent Letter

Keystone Parent Letter

As a note, in addition to always encouraging our students to share questionable or concerning information with a trusted adult, they can submit an anonymous tip through the Safe2Say Program. Tips are typically related to a variety of challenges our students experience or witness, such as bullying, harassment, disrespectful language, safety concerns, etc. When a tip is received, the State (who runs Safe2Say) immediately follows up with the respective building administrator and the information is investigated.