Dear Parents of our 3rd grade students and members of our SPS community,

This afternoon a parent reported that they were told today that their child in 3B had a positive PCR Covid 19 test. The test was done on Saturday and reported today. This student, along with the rest of 3rd grade, has been home in quarantine and learning remotely beginning Monday of this week. The student is asymptomatic. All parents of students in 3B have been provided additional information with a specific time line for quarantine.

All positive cases are immediately reported by us to the Princeton Department of Health and this case was reported to them this afternoon. Following NJ school reopening guidance and CDC guidance, all of our classes are cohorted. The children stay together all day with their homeroom classmates. 

Mrs. Turner and Ms. Bur will provide remote teaching to 3rd grade students through next week when we are scheduled to leave for Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, November 25th. Our school is scheduled for full remote learning for all students after the break. All in-person learning students in all grades will return on Wednesday, December 9th.

Please reach out to our school nurse with any concerns at tpalumbo@spsprinceton.org. If you would like a phone call she is happy to speak with you. Please include a contact number in your email.

God Bless, 
Kim Clauss    

Dear Parents,

Clearly there are many questions regarding Covid 19 procedures.  Our school nurse, Ms. Palumbo, has created a few questions and answers that may help you better understand these procedures.  Please take the time to read this email.

Q: A member of our household is not feeling well and has symptoms that might be Covid 19. That person is getting tested. Can my child come to school?

A: NO your child may not come to school if any member of the household is getting tested for symptoms of illness and until the test is resulted negative.

Q: A member of our household is not feeling well. They had a rapid Covid test and it is negative. Now they are having a PCR test. Can my child come to school?

A: NO your child may not come to school when any household member is waiting on a test result and cannot return unless that test is negative.

**Important to note that the rapid test is not the most reliable test for a person having symptoms. The gold standard and the test that should be used is the PCR test. These tests generally take several days to be resulted. The nasal test and the saliva test yield equally valid results. The child must stay home THE ENTIRE TIME you are waiting for a result.

Q: A member of our household is was told they are a "close contact" of a person who tested positive for Covid 19 and now our household member is getting a test. Can my child come to school?

A: NO your child may not come to school when any household member is waiting a test result for reasons of illness or close contact and cannot return to school unless that test is negative.

Q: A member of our household is having a Covid 19 test because they are scheduled for a procedure and the test is required before the procedure. Can my child come to school?

A: YES your child may come to school because your test is not being done for reasons of illness or close contact with a positive person.

Q: My child is staying home because a member of our household is having a Covid 19 test for reasons of illness or close contact. Can my child begin to learn remotely while we await the test result?

A: YES your child may learn remotely. Please contact the teacher as far in advance as you can so they may assist with what is needed for your child to learn remotely.

Q: My child is staying home and learning remotely. Do I need to complete the daily on line health check while they are home?

A: NO you do not need to complete the for a child who is not ill and is learning remotely. YOU MUST COMPLETE THIS DAILY FORM EVERY DAY FOR EVERY CHILD WHEN THEY ARE ATTENDING IN PERSON LEARNING.

Following these rules will help protect our entire school including all of our students and our staff.

COVID symptoms include:

• Fever > 100.4°F
• Cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Chills
• Congestion/runny nose
• Muscle pain
• Loss of taste/smell
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

In order for students/staff to return to school after an absence for illness that included symptoms of COVID 19, they must present a note from a health care provider that clears them to be back in school.

If any member of a family is having a COVID 19 test for reasons of illness or close contact, all family members must stay home while awaiting results of test.

The school nurse must receive the results of a COVID 19 test on a student/staff person or close household contact in writing.

Our entire Covid policy can be found at: https://www.spsprinceton.org/

Any questions please contact our school nurse at tpalumbo@spsprinceton.org or the nurse office: 609-921-3377. If you send an email and would like a call back, please include the contact number to call in your email.

Thank you for your cooperation.

God Bless, 
Kim Clauss    

Dear Parents of our 3rd grade students and members of our SPS community,

This afternoon our 3rd grade teacher, Chrissy Turner, reported that she tested positive with a PCR Covid 19 test. Her symptom began on Monday evening, November 9th, and was a mild fever. She has not had a fever or any other symptoms since Monday night. She remained out of school in quarantine along with her family the remainder of this week. She tested on Wednesday November 11th and received her result this afternoon. Using contact tracing methods, she was considered contagious while she was in school on Monday, November 9th.

All positive cases are immediately reported by us to the Princeton Department of Health and this case was reported to them this afternoon for their guidance on quarantine and we are following that guidance. By definition, a close contact is defined as being within 6 feet and for a cumulative 15 minutes in 24 hours of a positive person. 

ALL third grade students and Ms. Bur are considered close contacts and should quarantine for a period of 14 days beginning with the last known contact with the positive person which was Monday, November 9th. Today is Day 5 of that 14 day quarantine. If during the remaining 9 days a close contact begins to show symptoms or feels ill, they should contact their health care provider immediately. Household contacts of the close contact are not considered exposed unless the close contact tests positive.

Our school will be sanitized tonight and deep cleaned tomorrow and school will resume in person for all grades except 3rd grade on Monday, November 16th. A reminder that Monday is a scheduled half day of school.

We understand that asking any one person or a family to quarantine is asking a lot and acknowledge the restrictions that places on so many. Please reach out to our school nurse with any concerns at tpalumbo@spsprinceton.org. If you would like a phone call, she is happy to speak with you. Please include a contact number in your email.

God Bless, 
Kim Clauss    

Dear SPS Parents,

We look forward to welcoming students back to in-person learning on Monday, November 9.

Since our last day of in-person learning on Friday, October 23, six members of our community have tested COVID-19 positive. Thankfully, all have experienced relatively minor symptoms and we appreciate you keeping them in your prayers.

The decisive action to go remote for two weeks was to ensure the safety of our students, teachers, and staff. We are mindful that our community is made up of many families and that, unfortunately, we are not a bubble. We are grateful that our children were able to be in-person for the first seven-and-a-half weeks and we look forward to much more time in the classroom together.

As we think about returning to school, it is important to note that the precautions put in place – masks, social distancing, cohorts, plexiglass, schedule changes, etc. – worked. Thank you for all you did to make that possible. We would like to recognize that we are blessed to have Tish Palumbo, R.N. as our healthcare professional. Her experience and understanding of CDC information and state guidelines has been an extraordinary resource. Tish has worked tirelessly to answer questions and provide information to parents since the opening of school and most especially over the past two weeks. A very special thanks also to the Princeton Department of Health. They have been a tremendous partner in all of this. 

As an institution, we continue to evaluate how best to move forward. Thanksgiving is a time to be joyful and while festivities will be different this year, we want everyone to enjoy their holiday.  The Superintendent of the Diocese, Dr. Vincent de Paul Schmidt, has recommended Diocesan schools establish a quarantine period after Thanksgiving break. With that in mind, all students will be remote from Monday, November 30th through Monday, December 7th. We have a school holiday in observance of The Immaculate Conception on December 8th and will return to SPS on Wednesday, December 9. While we recognize the importance of students having the opportunity to be in-person, given the current trends in COVID-19 cases, we feel this is the best course of action to limit the transmission of COVID-19 and to keep our children, faculty, and staff safe.

Please know we are fully committed to in-person learning, but the realities and changing face of this pandemic may necessitate further revisions to the school year. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation to determine if similar measures will be necessary following the Christmas break. We all recognize families need time to plan and will address accordingly. 

Finally, we recognize that this time is exceedingly difficult. Raising children in a pandemic is not something any of us saw coming or for which we were prepared. We are grateful for everything you and your family are doing to help ensure our community is safe. We know this isn't easy.  

Should you have questions or need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out.

In faith,
Kim Clauss and the SPS School Board 

Dear parents of our kindergarten students and our SPS community,

As promised in our last communication, as soon as we are made aware of information that is important to pass on, we will do that. Today our kindergarten aide, Jennifer Lee who gives permission to use her name, received a positive test result for a test that was done on Saturday October 31. In speaking with the Princeton Department of Health, Jennifer's period of contagiousness was NOT during any of the hours she was last with your children in our school on October 23.  No student or other adult that was in our K1 kindergarten class needs to be in quarantine. Our kindergarten classes are cohorted and the teachers and students stay separated for all aspects of the school day including instruction time, lunch and recess. Mrs. Lee is feeling well and has had no symptoms since Saturday and is in isolation as per guidelines this week.

All students, all people everywhere should continue everyday of the ongoing pandemic to monitor for symptoms related to Covid and contact their health care provider if they experience symptoms. This linc to the CDC FAQ website reports information about Covid including the most current list of symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

Please reach out to our school nurse at tpalumbo@spsprinceton.org with any concerns. If you would like a call back, please include your contact number.

Thank you for continuing to keep all of our staff and our pastor, Father Miguel, in your prayers. We continue to plan for our school to reopen to in person learning on Monday November 9.

God Bless,
Kim Clauss

Dear St. Paul School Community,

Thank you for your many kind words and prayers for my personal health and the health of our staff and school community. We were saddened to hear that Fr. Miguel received a positive Covid test result yesterday and following guidelines, he is in isolation in his residence. Further information about Father and the church staff and offices has been posted on the church website and I encourage you to read this and pray for his recovery.

Three of our school staff and one preschool student have received confirmed positive Covid test results this past week. The staff includes myself, a 7- 8th grade teacher and a kindergarten teacher. Everyone is isolating at home and consulting with their personal physicians as needed. All positive results are reported to the Princeton Department of Health.  Families and staff that are directly affected were contacted as results were reported and they have been instructed on further steps they need to take. This is largely determined by date of onset of symptoms, last known contact with the positive person and proximity and length of time they were with the person who tests positive.

We did our very best with the available information in the summer to construct a school reopening plan that would bring our students back to in-school learning with all safety measures in place. Health checks and temperature checks are done at the start of each day. Classes are cohorted to minimize student to student transmission. Desks were placed in the rooms to follow all recommended guidelines with the added protection of transparent barriers. Teachers travel as needed in the building, using their own equipment, books, etc. to eliminate contact transmission as much as possible. Lunches are served in class; recess time is cohorted by class outside on all days possible. Wearing a mask, watching distance, washing hands, and increasing ventilation, does reduce but do not eliminate risk. As a community we understand being together in the building presents some degree of risk.

The pandemic has disrupted all our lives and many ideas are continuously floated around the medical and education community about ways to improve what we are doing. Staffing for absences is an identified issue and is particularly difficult this year. Leadership at this time is further challenged by illness and quarantine requirements. Our teaching staff, just as they did in March, transitioned to remote learning overnight this week. Remote learning requires an immense sacrifice for our families that chose in school learning and we recognize this. Parents have described many scenarios taking place in their homes toward the end goal of getting their child the best education possible, which we all value. So many of you have expressed gratitude to our teachers. I also stand in awe of their work each day.

We pledge to keep you updated with any information as we receive it with the understanding that it must be reported to the department of health for review before being sent out, so that what is sent is accurate, clear and contains the necessary instructions.  We will reach out next week with specifics regarding the reopening of school.

 

God bless,
Kim Clauss

Dear SPS families,

Thank you for all you are doing to move quickly to remote learning while we keep students and staff home and have our school sanitized and properly prepared to return when it is safe on Monday, November 9th.

I was informed on Saturday, October 24th that a person I was with on Saturday, October 17th, not in anyway connected to SPS, tested positive for Covid 19. I started with mild symptoms last week and stayed home on Friday, October 23rd when I was not feeling well and was PCR tested that day. Those results came back today, October 27th, as positive for Covid 19. I have remained in quarantine in my home since taking the test on Friday and have now, with a positive result, moved to isolation in my home. My husband had the same exposure on Saturday, October 17th and has tested negative and will remain in quarantine following all guidelines. My symptoms today are mild. I have spoken with the staff member who tested positive on Saturday, October 24th and her symptoms are also mild and she is staying in isolation and following all guidelines. Using contact tracing, I believe the staff member who always follows all guidelines for reducing risk, contracted the virus from me.

We follow all recommended guidelines every day at SPS to reduce the risk of transmission. The only way to completely remove risk is to remain out of school entirely which has not been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the CDC.

I am throughout the building, always wearing a mask, on all days we are in school. I have spoken to staff who I am in close contact with each day and they are quarantining. I do not spend extended time with students directly. The last day I was in school was Thursday, October 23rd.

Our school nurse, Tish Palumbo, is home and is available to answer your questions. Please contact her by email at tpalumbo@spsprinceton.org. If you would like her to call you, she is happy to do that. Please include a phone number in your email.

I will continue to update you as necessary.

God bless,
Kim Clauss

Dear SPS families,

A staff member started to feel ill on Friday evening and had a COVID 19 antigen test that resulted as positive yesterday.  In discussion with the director of the local health department, we decided to take the most precautions for students and staff.  We will begin remote learning on Tuesday, October 27th through our scheduled half day on Thursday, November 5th.  More details to follow. On this coming Monday, there will not be any classes.  We ask that parents of in person learners come to school between 10:00am and 2:00pm tomorrow to pick up your child's books.  Please enter the cemetery and follow the regular drop-off/pick-up route.  There will be teachers available to get you your supplies.  

The school will then be closed for proper sanitizing and disinfecting. 

If you are in need of a chrome book for your child, please contact the school office.

Thank you for your understanding. 

God bless our SPS family.
Kim Clauss