I want to officially welcome you all back for the second half of the school year. I hope you had a restful break. I know there is a lot going on right now, but I have a word that I am using for 2022 and will recite it daily. That word is optimistic. I am optimistic that we are going to come out of this dark winter even stronger than we were before. I am optimistic that our kids will thrive. I choose to be optimistic because I truly believe there are positive things to come and we will get there sooner than later! Choose optimism with me!

Report Cards will be sent home in backpacks on Wednesday January 12th. If you do not receive it, reach out to your child's teacher and they can email you a copy.

Premier Charter School’s re-enrollment process has begun. We use this data to determine how many students will be pulled for each grade level in our upcoming lottery. Your response in this secures or declines your student’s spot at Premier Charter School for the 2022-2023 school year. Click here to submit your household's re-enrollment. Please complete by Friday, January 14th, and remember to list every student currently attending PCS from your household. ** Not completing this form will be considered a decline for next school year. ** If you have any questions regarding the re-enrollment process, please reach out to admissions@premiercharterschool.org.

COVID-19 Update: We began the week back with higher than usual staffing issues with 21 team members out. While all of those staff were not positive COVID cases, some absent due to other illness, awaiting test results or caring for sick family members, we have definitely felt the uptick of the current community surge. So far we have been able to use our ELL and literacy specialists, as well as instructional coaches and administrators to cover classrooms and still provide an appropriate learning environment for our students. While minor movement is ok, we are not in the practice of adding large cohorts of students to other classrooms as we want to keep the numbers small enough for a successful environment for both education and mitigation purposes.

Our goal is to provide a safe in-person learning environment, adequate supervision for students and quality instruction each day. If we cannot accomplish these goals, it is possible a grade level or a building (EC, ES or MS) may need to close and shift to temporary distance learning for a short time until the situation improves.

A shift to temporary distance learning could be triggered by significant illness and absences among teachers without adequate substitute coverage in a grade level/ school or significant illness and absences among students in a grade level/school.

If we need to shift to temporary distance learning, we will notify you as soon as possible. We are very closely monitoring absences right now and doing the best we can to try to remain in person. Again, we wanted you to be aware so you may prepare for the possibility of a temporary shift. We encourage you to make emergency plans as a family now in the unfortunate event that this occurs.

Contact Tracing/Isolation and Quarantine Plan

Positive Cases

If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, the school will immediately begin contact tracing and identify all staff and students who would be considered exposed based on the CDC guidelines of being within 6 feet of the positive case for greater than 15 minutes over a 24 hour period. Per CDC guidance, the definition of close contact excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student if both students correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.

How will I be notified of a positive case of COVID-19?

When we are notified of a positive case within our school, we will immediately begin the case investigation process. The school will contact our local health department to report the positive case, and the school will identify any potentially exposed persons. The school will notify all exposed persons and issue either full or modified quarantines as needed based on the circumstances of the exposure.

What is a Modified Quarantine and when is it used for students?

A modified quarantine is an option in some cases. Modified quarantine is an option because mitigation practices like masking and other health practices are in place.

Modified quarantine allows certain close contacts who have been exposed to COVID-19 while in school to continue essential activities (e.g., in-person classroom learning) during their quarantine period, as long as they do not exhibit any symptoms. The goal of a modified quarantine is to allow students to continue attending school without disruption when it is safe to do so while monitoring symptoms.

COVID testing within 3 to 5 days of exposure or onset of symptoms is highly recommended in the event of any exposure or close contact.

Based on these guidelines, and universal masking at school, we expect to be able to use modified quarantines which will allow students to continue coming to school, regardless of vaccination status. If we see additional transmission of cases (a cluster or outbreak), we would be required to use standard quarantines.

What can students do during modified quarantine?

After an exposure to a positive case, students who qualify for a modified quarantine can continue coming to school during the entire quarantine as long as they do not have symptoms.

You will be notified if your child qualifies for a modified quarantine or will need a standard quarantine after potential exposure. Modified quarantine only applies to students and not for staff or adults.

What determines if a quarantine is modified or standard?

Modified quarantine is used for exposures occurring in classroom settings because health mitigation practices like masking and social distancing are in place and the evidence demonstrates these settings to be relatively lower risk.

The determination of which cases qualify for a modified versus a standard quarantine takes into account the following:

Masking practice of the positive individual and the close contact
Social distancing of three feet or greater
Whether or not the positive case had respiratory symptoms at the time of exposure
Length of time of exposure
Number of secondary cases from the contact

What symptoms should I look for at home?

If your child has been issued a quarantine, closely monitor them for symptoms of COVID-19.

COVID-19 symptoms closely resemble other respiratory illnesses. Symptoms include cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, and tiredness. Less commonly, people have reported aches and pains or diarrhea.

If your student tests positive for COVID-19 or begins to show symptoms, notify one of the school nurses immediately, so that contact tracing can begin.

How will we monitor and adjust the quarantine process?

We will review COVID-19 case counts, which are published weekly in this Principal Newsletter. If rising case counts necessitate a revision of the quarantine process, we will notify all families of any changes.

Water Bottles/Cups: Friendly reminder to have your child bring a water bottle/cup to school! It is also helpful to label your child's bottle with their name on it so that it can be easily found. Drinking fountains are currently shut off per safety guidelines. Touchless water bottle fillers remain available for use in all buildings. Please reach out if you need assistance acquiring a water bottle for your child.

Masks: Please continue to send your child with a mask. We have several students who come in without them. They are provided with a mask in the case of a broken one or a one-time forgotten mistake, but please do your part to ensure that resources aren't wasted.

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