I hope everyone enjoyed the snow day on Friday. I always find them to be beautiful and unexpected gifts of time. One major update this week and messaging from our school nurses, who have been working incredibly hard over the past week with the surge in cases.

Reminder that tomorrow is a LATE START for students.

Below are Health Protocol Reminders for NRHS:

• All students and staff MUST wear a face mask that is fitted properly ABOVE the nose
• Masks breaks are on a classroom by classroom basis determined by the classroom teacher, outside in the courtyard or track area
• At lunch masks may be down while eating, but MUST be worn when standing and when you finish eating
• If you are not feeling well, please stay home and, if needed, get a COVID test
• The only visitors NRHS are school employees or individuals who are there for educational purposes. No other visitors will be allowed at this time.
  
• Regular COVID Safety Checks resume on Tuesday 1/4/22 during all 4 lunches in the lower gym. I encourage ALL students and staff to participate

Have a great week Nashoba and Stay Healthy!

Best,

Dr. Kathleen Boynton, principal

As COVID numbers continue to surge, student and staff absences increase significantly, and our collective stress and anxiety reach levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, the Leadership Council met last week to discuss whether or not to continue with a traditional midterm schedule and format for this year.

We collectively made the decision to cancel traditional midterm exams and shift to a regular bell schedule for that week.

Here is what this means:

• There is teacher discretion to give an end of quarter or end of unit test/project or continue on with the curriculum
• This includes Capstones for semester electives
• Emphasis on flexibility and support to get students who have been absent caught up
• Instead of extra credit, if a student wants to improve his/her grade, rather than create extra credit or extra work, an opportunity to go back and improve an earlier score could be provided

I will have an updated bell schedule for the week of January 24th ready to send out to families by the end of the day tomorrow.

We believe this is the best decision for the wellbeing of our students and staff at this very challenging time.

We hope you are doing well amidst the surge in COVID cases. We wanted to send a gentle reminder to keep students home who are not feeling well. Testing is recommended for almost all symptoms at this point. Symptoms include sore throat, headache, nasal congestion, cough, fever/ chills, body aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, new loss of taste or smell. All current guidelines are provided by the state and we must follow these guidelines. We know they can change suddenly.

If a student tests positive for COVID, they need to stay home for 5 days from either their test date or start of symptoms. The first day of this counts as Day 0. They may return on Day 6 as long as they are fever free for 24 hrs and are feeling better. Strict masking upon return is required. Student athletes will need a letter of clearance from their pediatrician stating they are medically cleared in order to return to athletics.

If someone in your household tests positive, vaccinated students may attend school as long as they remain symptom free. If they develop symptoms, they need to stay home and test. Unvaccinated students in a household with someone who tests positive need to remain home.There are specific state guidelines for the return date for this scenario. Please reach out if you are in this scenario as there are many factors in determining the return date.

Attached as a PDF are the updated Protocols from DESE and the MA DPH

Thank you for your continued support.

Sarah DelConte Cosentino

Courtney Letourneau