Update, Monday 10:00am: On Friday, Sept 25 International School at Dundee (ISD) principal Teresa Ricci issued an email to families updating them on the group of students in grades 2-5 who had quarantined after attending a party with a parent who had tested positive for Covid.
Ricci said the students had been cleared to return to school.
““There were no positive cases with ISD students. Contact tracing was conducted with those families who had some exposure last weekend to a parent who tested positive,” Ricci wrote, adding. “The children, who did not have direct exposure to this person, have now been cleared to return to school after being quarantined out of an abundance of caution.”
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Original story, Sept 24, 2020, 1:13pm. This week Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones emailed International School at Dundee (ISD) parents to alert them that students were quarantining after a parent tested positive for Covid-19 following a party.
“We were notified this morning that ISD had a group of children who were together over the weekend, and one of the parents in attendance consequently tested positive for COVID-19 this morning,” she wrote on Tuesday. “The children who were exposed to the parent are in quarantine as of today.”
Dr. Jones said it was important to note that as of Tuesday there were no positive cases with ISD students, just an exposure to a person who had been deemed positive.
“This impacts grades 2, 3, 4, and 5,” she said, adding, “We will keep the community notified if an ISD student or staff member should test positive.”
At last week’s Board of Education meeting, GHS student body president March chen said GHS students were all adjusting to “a new reality.”
The teacher’s union president, Carol Sutton,” said teachers were leery about ventilation and social distancing inside buildings, and the decision to return both elementary and middle school students in-person rather than hybrid. She said teachers didn’t not believe the HVAC systems would keep them safe from Covid-19.
“Schools were not designed to be sterile environments. Like magnets attract iron, kids want to be close to each other,” she said.
On Sept 15 GHS families received a letter from Greenwich Schools Head of Nursing Mary Keller and Superintendent Dr. Jones saying a student had gone home from the high school earlier in the day after finding out a family member had tested positive for Covid-19. The letter said the student did not have symptoms, but would quarantine for 14 days at home out of an abundance of caution, and would be tested.
In addition, a teacher self quarantined as Sept 11, and did not return to the building the following week. The letter said the district was notified the teacher did test positive and local health officials would initiate contact tracing so that any students who may need to be quarantined can be contacted before returning to school.
In an effort to be proactive, the district began optional COVID-19 testing for staff.
See also:
GHS Student Leaders, Teacher Union, PTAC, Parents Reflect on School Reopening
Greenwich Schools Propose Small Group Pull-Out Model for Middle School Music
GHS Teacher Positive for Covid; Student Quarantined