Hello Silver Hill Jaguars!!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Here are some updates for the next week:
Friday – January 14th – Early Release for students – Professional Development for teachers.
Monday, January 17th – no school in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Notes from PTO:
Due to the recent Covid surge, we will be closing the school store for this whole month. I know the kids will be disappointed, but I promise we will reopen when things settle down.
Lollipop sales will continue, and if any of the kids want to use their school store coupon to buy a lollipop instead, that is totally fine.
I am canceling the January PTO meeting. If there is anything that cannot wait until the next meeting on Feb 7, please let me know.
Thank you!!
Updated COVID protocols for Quarantine:
Individuals must quarantine at least 5 days from the date of exposure. An individual may return to school after 5 days, returning on day 6, provided that they remain asymptomatic, and conduct active monitoring for symptoms through day 10, self-isolate if symptoms develop, and adhere to strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Note:
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If an individual has symptoms at the time they are designated as a close contact or within the 5 days following initial exposure, they follow the protocol for symptomatic individuals.
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If an individual tests positive at any time, they follow the protocol for individuals who test positive for COVID-19.
Best practice would also include an antigen or PCR test for COVID-19 at day 5 after exposure for all those exposed. An antigen test may be self-administered and does not need to be proctored or performed by a healthcare professional.
Prior to the break we began seeing an increase in positive cases in our schools which put an increased burden on our nursing staff. One of the most time-consuming tasks the nurses have taken on is contact tracing. To assure that our nurses have the time to care for the students in front of them properly, we are revising our method of notifying families that their child has been a close contact. Moving forward, instead of a phone call to the parent informing them that their student is a close contact, our first point of contact to families will be an email providing details and needed next steps.
Students only participate with permission from a parent or guardian. The following link provides answers to many questions that you might have and the opportunity to sign the electronic consent form (https://www.cic-health.com/consent/ma?district=null).
A few reminders about upcoming events in our community –
ACCESS Testing for English Learners will begin this week
Please note three additional early releases have been added to the school calendar for staff professional development.
· January 14
· February 18
· May 27
CHROMEBOOK Reminder:
Please remind your child(ren) to charge their chromebooks each night so they are ready for use in school the following day – Thank you!!!
COVID Vaccine Clinics:
HPS COVID Vaccine Clinics for Parents, students over 5 years and staff will be held on the following dates and at various locations:
Whittier Middle School 1/25 4-7:00pm (location – cafeteria)
Consent for COVID Pool Testing: If you would like your child to participate in weekly pool testing, please complete the consent form. Silver Hill tests weekly on Tuesdays.
Click here to consent to COVID testing: https://www.cic-health.com/consent/ma?district=null
Have a fabulous week!!!
IMPORTANT DATES:
Week of 1/10 ACCESS testing in school EL students
1/11 EL Parent Outreach meeting 6:00pm via Google Meet
1/14/22 Early Release (NEW!)
1/17/22 No School MLK Day
2/7/22 Progress Reports issued 2nd trimester
2/10/22 Parent -Teacher Conferences
2/18-22 Early Release (NEW!)
2/21-2/25 – Winter Break
5/27/22 Early Release (NEW!)