Update from the Front Office:
Monday is now behind us and middle schoolers are currently with their classmates and teachers on line. I am pleased that we were able to pivot so quickly once again. Thanks to teachers for working out so many 'behind the scenes' details and parents and students for working out all the family details. Off we go!
Our societal goal is to keep people healthy in a pandemic. This means that, because our schools are open, we should expect periods of closure and the inconvenience associated with them (Pandemic = expect frequent inconveniences). I heard many express this understanding when full open was being discussed, we now find ourselves in that anticipated position. Fortunately, our current case has not meant that the whole school is closed and we could partition some of the impact.
As expected, it impacted our operational capacity, which resulted in remote instruction for some that are not quarantined. None of this is easy, remote instruction is not only difficult for families, it is for teachers as well, as is teaching in person and operating a school during a pandemic. We all (teachers, parents, students) rose to this challenge with whatever poise and grace we possessed. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish. Admittedly, I am also growing tired of Covid-19 and the impact it has had on our lives.
We have a family who is ill. They did not choose to be ill, they are as impacted (actually, likely more so) than anyone else. How do we respond when someone is ill? It has been my experience that we reach out with support, empathy and compassion. In a pandemic you are one of two groups: those must adjust to the presence of significant inconveniences of a pandemic and those unfortunate individuals who have contracted the virus. I, for one, am grateful to not be one of the latter. I am incredibly sympathetic to those who have contracted this virus and even more for those that have lost someone to it. I am grateful that I live in a community where, if I am impacted, I know there are people who would reach out and support me.
Any temporary inconvenience today, will likely reduce the chances that you will have greater impact to your health later. In the meantime, if these inconveniences result in an impact of your family, please reach out to me and we can get you the support your family needs.
In the meantime, please consider your actions, publicly and privately. Make sure they support the emotional and physical well being of others.
Wash your hands and practice compassion regularly ( then rise, lather and repeat again),
Jeff
Jeff Valence
Guy in the Front Office, The Lyme School
35 Union Street, Lyme, New Hampshire 03768
www.lymeschool.org | facebook
Compassion • Integrity • Fairness • Perseverance • Courage• Responsibility • Acceptance of others • Individuality
Nurses Update:
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Good evening. On behalf of the Lyme School Covid Response Team I would like to thank you for joining us and I would like to thank all of the other members for their hard work and commitment. I would like to provide an update before we start the question and answer portion.
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○ We were notified of a COVID positive case in our school that had a known COVID exposure. We otherwise do not have any evidence of widespread community transmission in Lyme. Before this event, our average daily student exclusion as a result of our school’s Health Screening process was 1.22 students per day.
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○ Our investigation process follows the NH Department of Health and Human Services guidelines and defines close contact as within 6 feet of an infected individual for a cumulative of 10 minutes or more, with or without masks, during the 48 hours prior to symptom onset or positive test result.
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○ At this time we have 1 known positive case in our school community and 56 people that were asked to quarantine for 14 days.
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○ We are obligated to protect our students, staff and community as well as to maintain the confidentiality of any persons involved. Therefore we are unable to give the amount of detail you may like or that would help to clarify your concerns. The decisions that are being made are in accordance to the school reopening plan, and in collaboration with the state department of health.
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○ Our school reopening plan functioned in the manner it was intended, leading to minimal impact beyond the designated cohorts that had been established as part of our mitigation efforts
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○ As a result of staffing implications, we have had to make operational decisions regarding our method of learning with some classes.
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○ At this time, we have no evidence that any broad transmission is happening within the school. Transmission does continue to occur around the state due to social clusters outside of school settings.
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○ Our initial negative tests confirm the absence of any community spread. We appreciate the cooperation of DHMC in facilitating fast and timely testing and the cooperation of families in sharing the results with the appropriate school authority. We will continue to update you as the situation evolves.