
St. Barnabas Elementary School
January 6th, 2022
COVID At-Home Kit Distribution Procedure and Policies
We are excited to announce that your child will be returning home with a free, rapid COVID-19 at home kit TODAY. These kits are to be used by any student or staff who exhibits COVID-like symptoms or has been in a classroom where a positive case has been identified.
It is important to note that the following guidelines for usage of the at-home kit include:
- At-home testing should be used if you need to be tested for COVID-19 and cannot be tested by a health care provider. Note: At-home test results may not be accepted for some purposes.
- The at-home test should be used if your child was exposed to COVID-19 at school as a close contact and/or begin to exhibit COVID- like symptoms.
- If your child tests positive on either one of the home tests, please contact our school immediately to inform us and for further guidance. Further instructions on reporting a COVID case can be seen below in this newsletter.
Health and Safety Measures
We were so happy to welcome our students back into the building on Monday, January 3rd! Our highest priority continues to be the health and safety of our students, families, and staff. To that end, we continue to follow the health and safety measures in Catholic Schools are Open, We Continue to Soar! plan from the Archdiocese. As a reminder, the following health and safety measures are in place to ensure students and staff are safe and that our schools can continue to be open:
1) Masks are required to be worn in the school building by ALL students. It is not optional. Students should arrive to school in a mask in order to enter the school building.
2) Our janitorial staff will continue to disinfect the building at all times. In addition to our own staff, we continue to contract with SterilMed to provide on-going santization of the building by continuously cleaning the building throughout the school day.
3) A medical notes of clearance is required for any student to return to school if absent. As a reminder, should your child miss school for any reason, all of their work can be found on their respective Google Classroom pages. Teachers are expected to update their classroom pages daily.
CHANGE TO POLICY:
A note of medical clearance is no longer required for students, faculty or staff who have tested positive and completed their 10 day quarantine as long as symptoms are improving and they are fever free for 24 hours with no free reducing medication.
4) The health screening will continue to be sent very Sunday via email and must be completed every week prior to entering the building by students, faculty and staff. As a reminder, should you answer YES to any of the questions, you may not enter the school building.
5) Please be sure to update the google form below to appropriately identify your child's vaccination status as partially vaccinated or fully vaccinated. You will also be asked to upload a photo of your child's vaccination card. While you are not obligated to share your child's vaccination status, this information will help us more quickly identify close contacts if quarantine is needed. Thank you for your continued efforts to keep our community and school safe.
Reporting a Positive COVID Case
Should your child test positive for COVID or have to be quarantined due to exposure within the home, teachers will make work available via Google Classroom.
Contact Information:
Ms. Natalia Castro-Cruz: n.cruz@stbarnabasschool.org
Ms. Lauren Iorio: l.iorio@stbarnabasschool.org
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St. Barnabas Elementary School
Through an enriched curriculum, complete with after-school offerings, St. Barnabas provides the tools and teaches the skills necessary for future success. In the way of Jesus, our children are taught the discipline, charity and grace of our Lord.
Email: n.cruz@stbarnabasschool.org
Website: https://stbarnabasschool.org/
Location: 413 East 241st Street, Bronx, NY 10470, USA
Phone: (718) 324-1088
Twitter: @barnabasbronx