Dashboard & Re-Entry Plans
In order to keep our school families and the larger community safe and informed about positive COVID cases within our school, we have created a dashboard through which we post up-to-date information regarding the number of positively diagnosed cases, contacts, classrooms impacted, and communications sent. Please note that there is a tab for academic years 2022-2023, and also an archive tab for 2021-2022.
Click here for our COVID Dashboard
Click here for our COVID Re-Entry Plan 2021-2022
Click here for our COVID Re-Entry Plan 2022-2023
_______________________
Current Safety Protocols – Last Updated: November 28, 2022
The best protection from severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 continues to be an approved vaccine. If you haven’t yet, please have your child vaccinated. If your child is vaccinated and is now eligible for the booster, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible.
We encourage daily monitoring of your child's general health and wellness, and specifically in terms of possible presenting COVID symptoms. We recommend use of a daily wellness checklist that can be used prior to heading to school, to check on the general wellness of your child, as well as to look for any specific COVID symptoms.
Masking
Mask wearing by students and staff is currently optional at TPS except in the instance of days 6-10 after a positive diagnosis or days 6-10 of close contact status in the home (see explanation below). If there would be any significant outbreak of COVID cases at TPS or in the community that warrants transitioning to a mask-required protocol, we will send out a communication.
Mask wearing is currently required by all visitors, guests, volunteers and service learners while inside our buildings and at official TPS events off-site, regardless of the current masking protocol in place for the school community of students and staff.
When needed, TPS can provide masks as long as supplies are available.
Positive COVID Diagnoses of Students or Staff
If your child receives a positive diagnosis, your family should contact the school asap to report the following: (1) the positive result, (2) the first day of symptoms, and (3) the day the individual was tested.
A positive individual may return day six (6) or later IF they:
can mask effectively (interpreted by staff discretion); AND
have improving COVID symptoms; AND
are fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours; AND
agree to mask at all times except while eating, and agree to eat in an accommodated space that creates distance from others until day 11.
The count day for a positive diagnosis begins on the first full day after the onset of symptoms or the first full day after the positive test result, whichever came first. You can click to calculate your child’s return date, based on the first day of symptoms or the positive test date.
Testing will not be required for a student to return to school following isolation.
Other Positive Cases in Households
If there is a positive individual in the household who is able to reasonably isolate separately, and/or if everyone in the household is able to be masked and distanced when in the shared spaces, your non-positive TPS child may return to school immediately assuming the following:
the student can wear a mask effectively and consistently (interpreted by staff discretion); AND
the student is asymptomatic (including fever-free); AND
the student has a negative test to re-enter – when supplies are available, TPS can complete this testing for reentry.
Testing
We may be able to assist with rapid testing if we have permission to test your child at TPS (via our Rapid Test Permission Form), if we have additional test kits available, and if your child is any of the following:
symptomatic.
a close contact who struggles to mask.
returning from a home where there has been someone determined positive for COVID.
In some situations, your child may need a COVID test to be in class if they have COVID-like symptoms. The Project School cannot promise that the testing can take place on-site due to current supplies, and therefore families may have to pursue other options (home testing, local provider, clinic, etc.). These situations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The federal government is currently offering free at-home testing kits, delivered by the USPS (announced 12.15.22). Click here to order.
Communications
Families receive an email if their child is positive (whether tested at home or at school), to confirm the procedures for virtual learning and the return-to-school date.
Class families receive an email if there is a case in their child’s classroom, alerting them to the last day the positive child was present in school.
Positive TPS cases – both students and staff – are posted to our COVID dashboard if the individual diagnosed had been present at school during days when they could have been contagious prior to the diagnosis. If an individual has been absent from the school for more days than they may have been contagious (based on current CDC guidance), they are not added to the dashboard, and communications are not sent to classroom families.
Possible Future Protocol Changes
Changes to these protocols may take place at any time based on shifting COVID data and/or Indiana Department of Health or Monroe County Health Department guidance. Changes to these protocols will be shared with families as quickly as possible via email.
_______________________
How to Register for a COVID Vaccination
All individuals ages 6mo+ are eligible to receive a COVID vaccination, and many are eligible for booster shots. Vaccinations are free, and are provided in virtually all communities. Because navigating the registration system can be a bit challenging, we've put together a step-by-step instruction sheet with graphics, to help walk you through it.
The best protection from severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 continues to be an approved vaccine. If you haven’t yet, please have your child vaccinated if they are eligible. If your child is vaccinated and is now eligible for the booster, we encourage you to have them receive the booster as soon as possible.
_______________________
