Dear Sun Valley Community School Families, 

We are writing to inform you that we have three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our school community with two faculty and one student testing positive in the last two days. Each of those individuals and their family members have begun quarantining. We understand that this development will create some questions and concerns within our community. Please know that the processes and protocols the school has developed, and which are outlined in the Pandemic Response Plan, are designed to mitigate potential spread on campus and maximize the student experience. Our approach will always be cautious and conservative in regards to the health and well-being of our school community. 

We have launched our COVID-19 dashboard on the homepage of our website and this will be your information source for the current status of cases at the school. It will be updated weekly on Friday afternoon.

Based on our initial contact tracing and in an abundance of caution, we have decided to move our Upper School to connected learning for the next two days (Thursday and Friday), which will allow further contact tracing and give us time to perform a deep clean of Upper School spaces. More details about this transition for Upper School are below. Additional updates regarding the Upper School learning model for next week will be communicated by Friday. Please continue to fill out Healthy Roster every morning so that we can maintain our data and so that our Health Services Coordinator, Anne Marie Gardner, can be a resource and offer guidance. 

According to the initial contact tracing, the Elementary and Middle Schools are not currently affected and in-person classes will continue for those two divisions. If you have a child in Elementary or Middle school and would prefer, out of caution, to move them to connected learning from home, please contact your division head as soon as possible. Please understand that it takes up to 24 hours to make that shift in places within the school where connected learning is not already occurring. 

While this news may be concerning, it is not unexpected. This eventuality is something we have been preparing for over many months. We remain focused on managing and mitigating the risks of COVID-19 and operating the school in a reasonable and responsible fashion. This circumstance is an opportunity to demonstrate the connectivity and strength of our school community. Please continue to extend the genuine empathy, care, respect, and support to each other that we have consistently demonstrated over the past six months. It will be critical to the health and well-being of our entire school family. And please continue to follow the stay-healthy orders and prevention practices that mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 within our community.

 

The Leadership Team and I will be available on ZOOM at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, October 29) for a town hall to discuss any questions you may have. Here is the link.

Gratefully and respectfully,

Ben Pettit

Head of School

DEFINITION OF EXPOSURE

According to the CDC, exposure is: “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period* starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”

Here is a flow chart that explains exposure/close contact and what actions to take. 

NOTIFICATION PROCESS + RESPONSE

Per the above guidelines, when an exposure has been confirmed, contact tracing begins. Contact tracing is conducted prior to notice to the greater school community. Our Health Services Coordinator, Anne Marie Gardner, will conduct contact tracing within our school community and South Central Public Health District will contact trace for potential exposures outside of school. If you or your student(s) are affected directly, you will be notified personally by Anne Marie or a member of the administrative team.

ILLNESS + EXPOSURE

Please review our illness policy for information regarding what to expect if you are ill, exposed, or have a positive test. If you have any concerns, questions or are considering getting a test, please reach out to Anne Marie as she will be able to advise you and help decide on next steps. You can reach her on weekends or evenings if needed at (208) 309-1427.

The CDC website has useful information about when to quarantine.

PRIVACY

We are committed and obligated to adhere to HIPAA/FERPA standards regarding confidentiality in regards to any person’s medical information.

REMINDER: OUR DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Our decisions and rationale are guided by the most up-to-date recommendations by health professionals and health organizations as well as local, state, and national government directives. We closely monitor the Harvard Global Health Institute’s (HGHI) Key Metrics for COVID Suppression as well as the CDC, and South Central Public Health District (SCPHD) data and recommendations. We have also been carefully reviewing data about school-related transmission of COVID-19 through tools such as this COVID-19 School Response Dashboard from Qualtrics and Brown University, which is tracking national data from more than 1,250 schools.

 

The school Leadership Team meets regularly with the Board of Trustee's Risk Committee to discuss and analyze data collected by health organizations locally, regionally, and nationally and continually re-evaluates our protocols given the most up-to-date information. 

 

While we remain committed to offering in-person learning as long as it is reasonable and responsible to do so, we are prepared to pivot to our modified or connected-learning models should circumstances call for that action for a period of time for a portion of the school or the school as a whole.

SVCS COVID-19 DASHBOARD

Please visit our COVID-19 dashboard for the current status of cases within our school. You will also find links to our local, state and national dashboards and resources for understanding exposure. 

UPPER SCHOOL DETAILS

For Thursday and Friday (Oct 29 and 30), our normal daily schedule will apply, and teachers will meet with students remotely for each class period. Teachers will communicate with students if any adjustments to planned assignments, assessments, or activities have been made to accommodate for the connected format. Students are expected to attend advisory tomorrow morning. The Upper School faculty and administration will reconvene on October 30 to discuss the short- to medium-term plan. Please refer to the Pandemic Response Plan for more details about what our Connected Learning program looks like.