School Operations During COVID: 2022-23

• It is mandatory to email the Health Safety Team immediately if a student tests positive for COVID-19. Prompt reporting helps us to provide you with an isolation timeline, send timely notifications to those who may have been exposed, and coordinate support from a student’s Grade Dean. Students will be able to observe classes through Zoom if they feel healthy enough to learn remotely and the Grade Dean has notified teachers. See below for more details on our Zoom policy.
   
• We will maintain a dashboard of the number of cases on-campus each week which will be in the Parent Portal. 
   
• Please email the Health Safety Team if a student has close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Although county and state regulations no longer mandate any isolation, we will continue to require an isolation period of at least five days. To return on Day six, students must be asymptomatic and have not had a fever for more than 24 hours. Students with mild lingering symptoms (occasional cough, etc.) may be cleared to return in consultation with the Health Safety Team and their Dean. A negative test is no longer required to leave isolation. However, all individuals, regardless of testing status, must wear a mask from Day six to Day 10, even if symptoms have completely resolved. They are cleared to resume normal activity on Day 11. As always, please immediately inform us of a positive test result by emailing healthsafety@urbanschool.org.

• STAY HOME WHEN YOU ARE ILL! This is both the most important thing and in many ways it is the hardest for Urban students to do. Staying home when you feel unwell is important for our own individual health and it is important for the health of our entire community. 
   
• If a student will miss school due to COVID-19, first and foremost we want students to rest and recuperate. If a student is asymptomatic, or still in isolation but feeling better, students will be able to observe the class via Zoom. Grade Deans will work with students to determine when Zoom is an option, coordinate Zoom setup with faculty, and work with students and their teachers to create a recovery plan, when necessary. 

• We will require at-home COVID testing weekly through the end of the school year. Test results should be uploaded to Primary Health every Sunday evening by 8 pm, or Monday evening when Monday is a holiday. 
   
• We may require an additional testing date after Spring Break or if we see an increase in cases. 


• At-home antigen tests will be available to all students and employees at the front desks. 


• Expired COVID tests? Don't throw them away! Check if the FDA has extended the expiration date for your tests here. 
   

• We will continue to strongly encourage our entire community to stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations. You are considered “up to date” if you have received all doses in the primary series of vaccines (“fully vaccinated”) and you have received the booster(s) recommended for you, when eligible.
   

• We strongly encourage everyone in the Urban community receive the bivalent ("two strain") booster. The CDC and SFDPH recommend staying "up-to-date" on your COVID vaccines. You are eligible to receive this booster as long as it has been at least two months since your most recent COVID dose. We’ve collected several articles about the booster below. You can receive your booster at your doctor or at local pharmacies and vaccine sites. You can also receive your flu shot at the same time! 

Who should get a Covid booster, and when? We answer the big questions | The New York Times, The Daily 9/28/22

Fall bivalent boosters: Science update | Your Local Epidemiologist

COVID-19 vaccine sites | San Francisco

Get your COVID-19 booster | San Francisco

Getting Your COVID-19 Vaccine | CDC

Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines Including Boosters | CDC

Considerations for your fall booster | Your Local Epidemiologist

When’s the best time to get the new COVID booster shot? Here’s what experts say | SF Chronicle

Updated COVID-19 booster shots are now available. Here’s what you need to know | PBS NewsHour

Omicron COVID boosters: Do I need one, and if so, when? | NPR

Omicron-updated booster shots are now available in the US! | Dear Pandemic

Should I get my COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the same time?  | Dear Pandemic

 

• Generally, masks are optional on campus for students and employees, but there are some instances when masks are required.
   
• Masks are required if:
  • an individual is on campus with symptoms of illness.
  • a faculty member requires mask in their classroom  
  • an individual has had a high risk close contact exposure
  • attending a large event with the greater Urban community
     
• Students should contact their Grade Level Dean if they have specific concerns that require masks to be worn in their classes.
   
• When masks are required, they must be high quality masks that both fit well and provide good filtration (KN95, N95, KF94, double-masking with a cloth mask over a surgical mask or a multilayered cloth mask with a filter).
   
• KN95 and surgical masks for double-masking are available at the front desks. 
   

• We will require masks of visitors for large group indoor events including theater performances and parent meetings. All other visitors to Urban’s campus will be mask-optional. 

• Get boosted today if you are eligible! More info here.
   
• Stay home if you are sick or have any COVID-19 related symptoms.

• Wash hands or use hand sanitizer frequently, including before and after eating, after coughing or sneezing, before and after class, and before and after using the restroom. Cough and sneeze inside a tissue or elbow, even if you are wearing a mask.