Covid Updates
As a reminder, if your student is in the classroom where an active case has been identified, an email will be sent to notify you.
Active Cases as of 8/29/21:
Early Ed- 1
Lower School- 3
Upper School- 7
Staff- 5
Regents School of Oxford is committed to providing a quality educational experience while considering the health and safety of students and staff. The guidelines that follow were determined after considering the following:
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Reviewing guidance from the CDC and MSDH
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Reviewing local vaccination and infection rates
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Reviewing the protocols of local and state government
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Consulting with other independent schools in Mississippi through MAIS
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Analyzing health and safety data from the 2020-2021 academic school year
With the goal to have our students on campus full time all year, as well as keeping the health and safety of our students and staff top priority, what follows is the RSO plan for starting school on August 9th. We will make decisions based on the most current information that applies to our local community and follow health recommendations to the extent they are feasible within our population and facilities.
Screening Protocols:
Parents should screen their children each morning prior to school arrival. If a student has a temperature of 100.4 or higher, or if they display common symptoms of the COVID virus, he or she should remain at home. Faculty and staff should screen themselves before coming to work and remain home if a fever or symptoms are present.
Signage:
Signage will be placed throughout all RSO buildings reminding students and personnel of best health and safety practices, including hand hygiene.
Social Distancing:
Social distancing is important to ensure the health and safety of students and staff. Social distancing will be practiced in all RSO buildings when feasible.
Visitors:
Non-essential visitors will be limited and seen by appointment only at the discretion of the building Principal or Head of School. Lunch guests will be limited and restricted to the outdoor tables for lunch meetings.
Lunch:
Our lunch activities will be similar to last year by rotating our locations on campus between the classroom, playground, picnic benches and the gym. This will ensure that we limit large group interactions on campus during the lunch hour.
Face Coverings:
Face coverings are mandatory at this time. We will reevaluate regularly.
Quarantine Procedures:
Our quarantine procedures have not changed since last year. We will follow the same procedures for positive cases, exposure, and quarantine.
If a parent notifies the school that their student has tested positive for Covid-19 he/she will isolate at home for 10 calendar days from the onset of symptoms and need to be fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. Parents of students in close contact will be notified as soon as possible by email.
If a parent notifies the school that their student has Covid-19 symptoms, then the school will require a negative COVID-19 test result. The student may return to school after they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and a clear decrease in symptoms is present.
Quarantine Period
Students, teachers, and staff who have been identified as close contacts to COVID-19, should be in Quarantine for a full 10 days. There are additional options to the 10-day quarantine period from the school setting as follows:
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10-day option: Quarantine can end after 10 days if the individual has no symptoms during the entire 10-day period, or
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7-day plus test option: If the individual has no symptoms for 7 days and has a negative COVID-19 test (molecular or antigen) collected on day 5, 6, or 7 of the quarantine periods, the quarantine period can be discontinued quarantine after 7 days.
If a family member tests positive for COVID-19 all students of the family must quarantine according to the exposure policies of the school.
Fully vaccinated, symptom-free students are exempt from quarantine requirements if exposure or close contact occurs with a positive case of COVID-19. People who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 3 months and recovered do not have to quarantine or get tested again as long as they do not develop new symptoms. It is recommended that vaccinated individuals who have had close contact with an infected person receive a COVID test within 3-5 days to see if they are infected.
Our faculty and staff will continue to be trained and ready to pivot quickly to successfully implement the plan to best preserve teaching and learning amidst unusual circumstances. If your child or someone in your family is immune-compromised and needs to take extra precautions against possible exposure, please let us know, and we are happy to build a distance learning plan for your family.
Prior to school beginning, the entire campus will be thoroughly cleaned. Throughout the year cleaning and sanitizing procedures will be followed by staff throughout the day and each night by our janitorial staff.
Even with all precautions, we cannot eliminate all risks. Most of the guidance schools receive, even from the CDC, comes as advice that may not be feasible or practical in all circumstances. Parents should be aware of the inherent risk of being anywhere outside of the home during a pandemic. It is the school's responsibility to provide all reasonable precautions and to inform each family of what to expect and their responsibilities. Regents has carefully determined what will work best for our community and facilities.