2021-2022 COVID Updates

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just updated its guidance for pandemic practices. The guidance is now moving to individual responsibility – that is, we are all individually responsible for practicing disease-prevention techniques, based on the level of COVID in our community and the potential to burden our healthcare system. As of Friday, February 25, the CDC has indicated that Hamilton County is an area of medium transmission. As such, mask requirements may be implemented based on your community discretion.

Quarantine and isolation guidance for those in contact with positive cases or for those testing positive remain the same: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html. In addition, mask recommendations for transportation have been updated: Effective February 25, 2002, CDC does not require the wearing of masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/childcare programs.

Per the Ohio Department of Health and the Hamilton County Public Health Department,  the newly announced guidelines are designed to shift mitigation tactics toward allowing people to take personal responsibility for themselves and their families.  These new guidelines were developed in response to input on how mitigation tactics affect schools and school populations.  While these new guidelines represent work in progress and may take some time to completely understand and implement, we wanted to share the latest updates immediately.  The ODH has indicated that new school orders will be distributed February 4, 2022.  In the meantime, here is our understanding of our current responsibilities:

1. COVID-19 remains a reportable disease.  Please continue to go the CHCA website and complete the proper form for your student if they test positive or are exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
2. K-12 students and all staff can “Mask to Stay/Test to Play” regardless of where their exposure may have taken place.  For example:
   1. An unvaccinated student living in a household with a positive COVID case may return to school immediately, provided they are masked and free of symptoms. 
   2. The returning student must mask for the duration of the household member’s isolation period and for 10 days following that household member’s isolation (approximately 15 days total).
   3. If they are in an extracurricular (sports/theater/clubs etc.) they should have a negative test prior to returning to that event and a test is recommended on day 5.  That will be the parent’s responsibility as the school will no longer be contract tracing per ODH/HCPH.
   4. Since we are no longer contact tracing, we will be relying on individuals – students, family, and staff – to be vigilant and concerned about keeping others safe.  If we are aware of a class or team having a positive case, we will do our best to keep you informed as a group via email.
   5. K-12 will continue to follow ODH’s guidance regarding a positive COVID-19 result which is quarantine for 5 days and return on day 6 if symptoms have improved while wearing a mask through day 10.  You will not be able to remove your mask for extracurriculars until day 11.
   6. PK students will continue to quarantine for 10 days if they test positive and can return on day 11 if symptoms have improved.  We will no longer be contact tracing PK either.  We will however send an email when someone in your child’s class tests positive for COVID-19, so you make the best decision for your student and family.

This is going to be a shift that will require all of us to adapt.  We do expect new orders from ODH on 2/4/22 so things may once again change and we will be sure to keep you posted. 

Thank you in advance for your support and grace.

Dear CHCA Families of Preschoolers, 

Please note the updated COVID protocols for our PK students.  Thank you for your partnership in helping to keep our students and teachers healthy.

Updated COVID-19 Protocols for PK at CHCA (1/12/2022)

Preschool students who test positive for COVID-19 will need to isolate at home for 10 days.  They will be eligible to return to CHCA on day 11 if they have been fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms are improving.

Preschool students who are exposed to COVID-19 at home or school will need to quarantine at home for 5 days and can return to CHCA on day 6 if all the following apply:

• Negative COVID-19 test on day 5.
• They have no symptoms of COVID-19.
• They can wear a mask properly over their nose and mouth except when actively eating and drinking on days 6-10.

As you may have seen, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has updated COVID quarantine and isolation guidance to align with the recent CDC guidance. In efforts to keep our community healthy and to keep our teachers and students in the classrooms, CHCA will comply with ODH guidance and adhere to the following revised protocols.  Detailed quarantine and isolation guidance are available in this flow chart.

TESTING POSITIVE

• Regardless of vaccination status or symptoms, anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least five days. 
• If individuals are fever-free and symptoms are improving, isolation may end, and individual may return to school on the sixth day and must wear a mask for the next five days.
   

COVID EXPOSURE Outside of the school setting or school-related activities:

• Those who are up to date* on their vaccines can attend school and are asked to wear a mask for ten days and take a COVID test on day five.
• Those who are unvaccinated, or vaccines are not up to date*, are asked to quarantine for five days and as long as they test negative on day five and remain symptom free, they can return to school wearing a mask on days 6-10. 

*Being “up to date” is defined as anyone who received a booster dose of any COVID-19 vaccine, completed the primary series of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine less than six months ago, or completed the primary series of the J&J vaccine less than two months ago. 

COVID EXPOSURE Within the school setting or school-related activity:

Direct contacts, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom environment if they:

• Wear a mask for 10 days after their last date of exposure.
• Self-monitor, or parent-monitor, for symptoms of COVID-19.
• Isolate and get tested if they start to experience symptoms associated with COVID-19.
• Testing on day five after exposure is recommended.

The Ohio Department of Health has also updated K-12 school quarantine guidance including “mask to stay” and “test to play” timelines accordingly.  

Thank you as always for your continued partnership as we navigate through the ever-changing COVID landscape.

Therefore, linked here (ODH K-12 Quarantine Update.pdf) and highlighted below are the new “Mask to Stay/Test to Play” guidelines to which we will adhere, effective immediately.

Direct contacts, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom environment if they do the following:

• Wear a mask for 14 days after their last date of exposure.
• Self-monitor, or parent-monitor, for symptoms of COVID-19.
• Isolate and get tested if they start to experience symptoms associated with COVID-19 (regardless of level of severity).
• Consistent with guidance for others quarantining in lower-risk environments, students and staff may discontinue these quarantine procedures after seven days — if they don’t develop symptoms and test negative between days 5-7.

Direct contacts may continue to participate in extracurricular activities if they do the following:

• Wear a mask when able. (This includes: transportation; locker rooms; sitting/standing on the sidelines; and anytime the mask will not interfere with breathing, the activity, or create a safety hazard.)
• Test on initial notification of exposure to COVID-19.
• Test again on days 5-7. If they are negative at this time, they will test out of quarantine.

CHCA’s school nurses will reach out to those here who are currently quarantined.

Thank you to our entire community for your partnership throughout this pandemic.

• It is strongly recommended that those who are not vaccinated wear masks.
• We are now required by the health department to contact trace in classroom settings. When we have positive cases in extracurriculars, we will notify you to simply make you aware of the positive case and ask you to monitor your child for symptoms.
• If you are a close contact in the classroom and you are either a) vaccinated or b) masked, you DO NOT need to quarantine and can continue to attend school wearing a mask.
• If you test positive for Covid, please go to our Covid website page and fill out the notification form.

While we continue to leave the decisions regarding vaccinations and masking up to individual families, please be mindful of the effect those decisions can have on whether your student can stay in school if identified as a close contact. We must continue to balance the need to keep our community healthy, the ability for every family to make their own mask and vaccination decisions, and the desire for every student to be attending classes in person.

I look forward to a great week.

In Christ,
Dean Nicholas ▪ Head of School ▪ 513.247.9944 x202 ▪ (o) 11525 Snider Rd ▪ Cincinnati, OH 45249 ▪ Twitter: @dnick00

Good evening, CHCA Community.

This school year as we deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, we will continue to communicate with you the current situation and our timely adaptations to the constantly changing environment.  We will continue to allow parents to make medical/health decisions for their families regarding vaccinations and masking unless there is a State mandate to do otherwise. 

Today we restart a daily COVID dashboard showing positive cases per campus.  We want you to be informed of what is happening in the community but also protect the privacy of individuals without violating HIPAA policies.  Each day this dashboard will list the number of current students/staff in isolation.

In compliance with the Hamilton County and Cincinnati Public Health Departments, we will be reporting Covid cases to them again this year. We are instituting a new method of reporting to the school if a student or employee tests positive for COVID or is a close contact.  (A close contact is defined as within three feet for 15 minutes or more, unvaccinated and unmasked.) We now have a live link on CHCA’s Covid19 web page which enables you to input all relevant data.  When you hit the submit button, this form will be sent directly to your building nurse who will then pass the pertinent data to the appropriate Health Department.  The Health Department will then contact you about your return to school date.

Due to the spread of the Delta variant across the region, local health professionals are seeing a spike in the area and an expectation of more to come in the near future.  This has caused a number of schools to change their masking policies.  Currently, 12 districts are mandating masks for everyone, seven districts are mandatory masks for 6th grade and under, and 25 districts and most of the archdiocese schools are masks optional.  While we are mask optional, for those who are unvaccinated or unable to be vaccinated, we strongly recommend the wearing of masks in the coming weeks as positive cases may increase around the city.  And as a reminder, should cases in the school increase, students/staff who are identified as close contacts and are vaccinated and/or masked do not need to quarantine.

Thank you for continuing to partner with us.

In Christ,
Dean Nicholas ▪ Head of School ▪ 513.247.9944 x202 ▪ (o) 11525 Snider Rd ▪ Cincinnati, OH  45249 ▪ Twitter: @dnick00

Dear CHCA Families,

As we prepare for our return to school, it is important to make everyone in our community aware of our health and safety protocols for the coming year. Our administration has been closely monitoring state guidance and mandates throughout the summer and collaborating for a healthy and safe return to school. 

Before laying out the details, I want to be clear that our administrative team has wrestled with the complexity of this issue and has had lengthy principled debate. At this time in our culture and on this issue specifically, people are deeply divided. We stated from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we reiterated in June, that CHCA would follow state and health department mandates as we developed and implemented health and safety measures for our school community. In the absence of mandates, we believe that these medical choices should be left to each family, relying on their trusted medical advisors to make the right decisions for themselves and their children. As such, masks and vaccinations will be left to the discretion of each family as we move forward into the new academic year. However, according to the Hamilton County Health Department, those things can make a difference in the potential need to quarantine.

We ask that personal decisions around masks and vaccinations be respected within our community. 

Return to Campus

We look forward to the return of students to campus next week with the first day of school on 08/18/21.  

The information outlined below serves as guidelines and protocols that are relevant to the entire community. These policies are subject to change based on any new mandates we receive from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), and the Hamilton County Public Health department.

Please carefully review the following updates and protocols to be common among all CHCA campuses:

SCHOOL DAY PROTOCOLS

Morning Safety Checks.  We are asking that families perform morning safety checks with their children. If your child has a fever (temperature over 100 degrees), sore throat, cough, compromised smell or taste, labored breathing, diarrhea, or upset stomach, please keep them home. 

Sanitizing.  Hand sanitizing stations will be located at entrances.

Enhanced Cleaning.  Each building will continue to undergo enhanced sanitization throughout the year.

Face Coverings.  Unless mandated by the State of Ohio, masking will be at the discretion of each family.

Distancing.  Students will be encouraged to maintain distancing if possible but in the course of a normal day, we are not able to keep students continually distanced.

Visitors/Volunteers/Parties.  Each building will make decisions regarding school visitors that are unique to that school facility and promote safety for all. Visitors are asked to adhere to safety protocols such as self-checking for symptoms prior to arriving and sanitizing hands upon entering.

Remote Learning.  There are no plans to offer remote learning options to students this year for fixed periods such as a quarter, semester, or the entire year as we did last year. If your student becomes ill or needs to quarantine, teachers will work with students as we always have during extended absences. Should we reach a point of infection where an entire class or a building would have to close, we would return to remote learning like the Spring of 2020. 

Transportation.  The State of Ohio has mandated the wearing of masks on all school transportation until further notice.

Lunches.  We will resume our full-service lunch program and return students to eating in our cafeterias. Cafeterias will undergo enhanced cleaning throughout the year.

Chapels.  We will return to in person chapel services in each building.

Student or Staff Illnesses.  Any individual with a fever over 100 degrees F should stay home. If a student or staff member has the following symptoms of COVID-19, they should stay home from school and should see their primary care provider to be assessed:

• Two of the following symptoms: fever (measured or subjective), chills, rigors, myalgia, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion, or runny nose
• OR any of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new olfactory disorder, new taste disorder

Returning to School After Illness.  If an individual is diagnosed as having COVID-19, they must meet the following criteria to return to school:

• 24 hours with no fever without using fever reducing medication
• 10 days since symptoms first appeared and symptoms are no longer present
• Those who had a fever and no other symptoms and have not had any contact with an individual that has COVID-19 may return to school after they are fever-free for 24 hours without using any fever reducing medications

COVID Reporting & Contact Tracing.  The Hamilton County Health Department is responsible for contact tracing and quarantining individuals.   Should your student contract COVID-19, please contact the Health Department and the school.  In the spirit of partnership with families, we will be communicating updates through a Daily Community Dashboard of positive cases.   This dashboard will go live on 08/23/21 and will be the key means of communication on COVID-19.  We will defer to the Health Department for all contact tracing.

Quarantining.  Hamilton County Health Department will determine quarantines based on their contact tracing. According to the Ohio Department of Health, quarantining is not necessary for fully vaccinated* persons, nor for students and adults who are not fully vaccinated if the person exposed was wearing a face mask and physical distancing was maintained, provided they adhere to the following precautions:

• Wear a mask indoors, as much as possible, either for 14 days or until a viral (PCR or antigen) test performed three to five days after exposure has come back as negative
• Self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days following exposure; unless symptoms develop, individuals can continue attending in-person classes and participating in sports and extra-curricular activities
• Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate away from others and be evaluated for COVID-19
• If they test positive, they should isolate for at least 10 days from the date symptoms started (or the date of the positive test if they have no symptoms)
• Quarantine is advised if the student or teacher is not fully vaccinated, and layers of prevention were not in place as described above
  
  *Note: A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-dose vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer vaccine) or two weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson vaccine).
   

Extracurricular PROTOCOLS

Athletic Events.  Athletes will receive separate protocols for each of their respective sports teams and mask and ticketing policies for all game locations.

Theatre/Performers and Performances. Fine Arts performances will be following the same protocols as the school at large. These policies are subject to change based on any new mandates we receive from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), and the Hamilton County Public Health department.

While these safety protocols will be in place across all buildings, some level of risk will always be present when students and school employees occupy facilities. But following general practices of hygiene and good health with the above protocols, we look forward to a successful year ahead where our students can thrive as they learn and grow.  We will all adapt as we continue to navigate through uncharted waters to keep students in school and learning at CHCA. Thank you for your partnership.

In Christ,
Dean Nicholas ▪ Head of School