Planning for a Safe Holiday Break

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With Winter Vacation beginning soon, the PSB Student Health Services Team would like to reshare and re-emphasize some strategies to keep in mind as we approach the holiday season.

It is important for all of us to take precautionary measures to ensure safe gatherings with friends and family. This includes taking additional precautions with individuals who have significant health concerns, paying attention to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, and utilizing protections such as masking and testing.

Getting tested for flu by your healthcare provider is the only way to know if it's the flu. For COVID-19, at-home tests are also good for determining a diagnosis. Mitigation measures include staying home when sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and washing hands often. With respiratory illnesses increasing, students and families may want to consider wearing a mask for added protection. The best way to help slow the spread of the flu and COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. You are able to receive the flu and COVID-19 vaccine at the same time.

We recommend that students and staff use the 2nd and last box for Winter Vacation. Tests should be administered on Monday night, January 2, after the Winter Holiday, or any time that your child is symptomatic. You can visit your school’s main office to request more test kits.

Please stay home and email your school nurse if your child tests positive. Staff should email the school nurse and their Supervisor and put the absence in Aesop. Please note that the test kits we distribute have a 6-month extension to the expiration date, in most cases going through the end of January 2023. More information can be found here.

• Monday, January 9: 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Baker School (205 Beverly Road).
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• Monday, January 30: 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Baker School (205 Beverly Road).
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PSB would like to take a moment to remind community members to take safe measures to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving Break beginning on Wednesday, November 23.

All students will be dismissed early on Wednesday, November 23. BEEP students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m.; K-8 students at 12:00 p.m.; BHS students at 12:15 p.m. All schools will also be serving grab-and-go lunch on Wednesday. Families do not have to pre-order a meal ahead of time for pickup; However, BEEP families should visit the LINQ Online Ordering Portal to place a meal order.

If you haven't already, please pick up your two rapid antigen test kits at your school before dismissal on the 23rd. We recommend that students and staff test on Sunday night, November 27, after the Thanksgiving break, or any time that you or your child is symptomatic. Please stay home and email your school nurse if your child tests positive. Staff should email the school nurse as well as their Supervisor and put the absence in Aesop.

Finally, schools and district offices will also be closed on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25. We wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday and look forward to your return on Monday, November 28.

The original message sent on Wednesday, November 16, can be viewed below.

PSB Health Services would like to share some strategies to keep in mind as you make plans for gathering with family and friends during the holiday season.

The most significant way to protect yourself and others is to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and to get your annual flu shot. The new bivalent COVID-19 booster is a critical tool for preventing infection. This is available at pharmacies and health centers, as well as at our COVID-19 vaccine clinics. Taking advantage of available resources will allow us to celebrate more safely this holiday season.

• Plan your celebrations around the family members who are at highest-risk. Take additional precautions if gathering with relatives who are elderly, immunocompromised, and/or have significant health concerns.

• Pay attention to COVID-19 and other flu-like symptoms: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, and new loss of taste or smell.

• Test before gathering. When and how often to test may be based on your personal situation and possible exposure.

• Consider masking and limiting your contact with others for several days before gathering together. Wear a mask if traveling on any type of public transportation.

• Open windows in your home to improve air flow as you gather.

PSB will be sending out rapid antigen at-home test kits in the coming days. We will send 2 boxes of test kits for every child in pre-K through 8th grade. Test kits will be available for all BHS students to pick up from Friday, November 18 through Wednesday, November 23. Test kits are also available for all staff. Nurses will communicate the location of these tests at individual schools.

We recommend that students and staff test on Sunday night, November 27, after the Thanksgiving break, or any time that your child is symptomatic. Please stay home and email your school nurse if your child tests positive. Staff should email the school nurse as well as their Supervisor and put the absence in Aesop. We recommend you repeat this process for the winter holiday break by testing again on Monday, January 2, 2023.

Please note that the test kits we distribute have a 6-month extension to the expiration date, in most cases going through the end of January 2023. You can verify a test-kit's new expiration date by cross-referencing the lot number here: https://ihealthlabs.com/pages/news

Finally, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has been in the news. This is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Please find information on RSV here https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/symptoms.html

Sincerely,

PSB Student Health Services Team