VALERIUS WEEKLY DIGEST

March 22-26

LATE START MONDAY: Classes begin at 10AM

NEW INFORMATION

zoom_out_map

VALERIUS LETTER DAY CALENDAR AT A GLANCE

MONDAY 3/22- F DAY

TUESDAY 3/23- A DAY

WEDNESDAY 3/24- B DAY

THURSDAY 3/25- C DAY

FRIDAY 3/26- D DAY

zoom_out_map

Covid Updates Following Spring Break

Urbandale CSD Families and Staff,

It has been over a year since we began our battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate your support as we continue to follow public health recommendations for mitigation practices, isolation and quarantine requirements, and new vaccination protocols. We will continue to keep you updated as new recommendations from public health are released. We appreciate everyone’s efforts as we progress in learning about this virus and do our part in keeping our students, staff, and community safe.

Mask and Face Covering Update
We will continue to require masks to be worn in our buildings. Masks should have two or more layers, should completely cover the nose and mouth, and should fit snugly against the sides of the face and not have any gaps.

Following CDC recommendations, gaiters will now be accepted as an approved face covering. They must be 2-ply and be worn appropriately (mouth and nose covered at all times).

Quarantine

Monitoring when masked appropriately and exposed
- Iowa Department of Public Health recommends that when approved face coverings or masks are properly worn by both the person testing positive for COVID-19 and their close contacts at school and school activities, out of school quarantine is not required.
- We have been following this recommendation for several months, but we will no longer contact you if your child was a close contact to a positive individual when both were masked appropriately.
Quarantine when determined to be a close contact and not masked appropriately
- Students that are not masked or do not wear an approved face covering appropriately will be placed in quarantine if they are a close contact to an individual that tests positive for COVID-19.
- Parents will continue to be contacted by phone and email.
- Quarantine information will be emailed to parents.
Exposure to a positive person outside of school.
- Please continue to contact your child’s school nurse if they are exposed to someone positive for COVID-19 outside of school.
- We will assist you with the appropriate quarantine information.

Isolation
Students with a positive test for COVID-19 require isolation.

Please contact your school nurse and keep your child home.
We will assist you with the isolation requirements.

Monitoring Illness Symptoms
We recommend that you always monitor your children and household members for possible COVID-19 symptoms and stay home until further evaluated.

COVID-19 symptoms
- High risk symptoms include a new cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or a loss of taste or smell.
- Other symptoms include fever and/or chills, sore throat, headache, body aches, fatigue, runny nose, congestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Students with COVID-19 symptoms should contact their healthcare provider for further evaluation and testing.
A release from the healthcare provider will be required to return to school when a student is called in with illness symptoms.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased on some restrictions for fully vaccinated people, most of our students and many in our community have not been vaccinated. The CDC recommends we all continue to protect ourselves by planning ahead when leaving the house and deciding to go out:

Plan ahead: have an extra mask, tissues, and hand sanitizer
Consider the activity: how many people you’ll interact with, if you’ll be able to stay at least six feet away from others, if others will be wearing masks, and how long the activity lasts
Remember that outdoors is safer than indoors

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to decrease the spread of the virus and return to our “normal” lives. We look forward to welcoming students back to class on Monday, March 22, 2021 (reminder: every Monday is a late start for K–8th grade students).

Sincerely,

Steve Bass
Superintendent

zoom_out_map

Great work Mr. Larson and Valerius students and families!

On behalf of the American Heart Association, thank you very much for your school’s donation of *$2,282.89 from your school's recent Kids Heart Challenge (KHC)/American Heart Challenge event. Your efforts make a tremendous impact and help millions of Americans through increased awareness of cardiovascular disease, lifesaving scientific research and critically needed education efforts.