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Thursday, August 5, 2021, Edition 30
A Message from Dr. Terry Alban
The start of the 2021-22 school year is less than two weeks away! We are ready to welcome back students on Wednesday, August 18.
It’s great to see students participating in the extracurricular activities they enjoy. Many high school marching bands have started rehearsals. Fall high school athletics begin Wednesday, August 11.
As I mentioned in last week’s update, FCPS is committed to ensuring students are able to regularly attend in-person instruction; therefore, we will continue implementing key preventive strategies to minimize the spread of COVID -19, which is sadly still with us. This includes requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings inside our schools for the start of the 2021-22 school year.
We are also counting on families to help prevent COVID-19 spread by keeping students at home if they are not feeling well and exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms. We will again ask families to complete a self-health checklist weekly as one of our preventive strategies.
In collaboration with the Frederick County Health Department, we will continue utilizing contract tracing and quarantining this year as part of our mitigation strategies against COVID-19.
Individuals who are determined to have been within six feet of a person with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 for 15 minutes or longer will be considered close contacts.
Close contacts will be required to quarantine at home for at least 7-14 days unless the close contact is fully vaccinated and remains asymptomatic or if the close contact has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days and remains asymptomatic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have provided an exception to the definition of a close contact for students in the K-12 indoor classroom setting:
Students who are determined to have been greater than three feet from the infected individual are not considered close contacts and do not need to quarantine if both students were engaged in correct and consistent use of well-fitting masks AND
Other K-12 school prevention strategies, such as universal and correct mask use, physical distancing and increased ventilation were in place.
This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.
We will also be keeping our comprehensive COVID-19 data dashboard updated with FCPS and Frederick County health metrics.
We know how quickly information changes during this pandemic and are committed to keeping the community updated on changing guidelines or requirements in a timely manner.
Looking forward to welcoming our students on August 18!
Photo of the week
Ribbon cutting at Blue Heron Elementary, (L-R): Dr. Alban, Board of Education President Jay Mason, Blue Heron Principal Amy Schwiegerath and County Executive Jan Gardner
In The News
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Reminders
Wednesday, August 11
First Day for Fall Sports - click here for information.
Wednesday, August 18
First Day of School
Health Updates
Safe schools: Video: Safe Schools: Ventilation and More
Coronavirus data tracking: FCPS debuts health metrics dashboard
Maryland Department of Health Coronavirus Dashboard - Schools Data MD COVID Alert Service
Mental health resources FCPS Mental Health Matters
Highlights
Tweet of the Week: FCPS Success Program. Enjoy!
Tweet of the Week: Frederick County Virtual School Principal Mike Watson. Click for program.
Reflections on the 2020-2021 school year. Click for video!