The statement said the study findings, published May 27 in the journal Nature Communications, track with prior studies of adults that showed getting COVID-19 once sadly doesn’t guarantee antibody protection against repeat infection at a later date...
Loiederman Middle School, Harmony Hills, Pine Crest and Wheaton Woods elementary schools and the autism program at Westover Elementary School temporarily will cease in-school classes as of Jan. 31. They are expected to reopen their doors Feb. 10, according to an MCPS Community Message issued Thursday evening...
https://www.mymcmedia.org/4-more-schools-go-virtual-as-omicron-variant-continues-to-spread/
Eric Toner, a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said Maryland’s peak in deaths could “come and go” as quickly as the omicron surge in cases has, but urged residents and elected officials to exercise caution...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/25/omicron-covid-virus-deaths/
But schools CEO Monica Goldson said the only thing school leaders could do with so many outbreaks spreading around the county was wait it out.
“We stopped the spread of COVID,” Goldson said at an event in Capitol Heights a week after kids returned to the classroom...
On Thursday, the district said they started the day with 889 call outs, that number does not include the call outs the district received in the morning.
Leah Michaels is an MCPS teacher and sits on the Board of the Teachers Union.
"We’re just in denial, I feel like the system is in denial. We do not have the staff we need to really make it work well in person, at least not without more creative thinking and solutions," Michael said...
A message from Principal Edward Owusu
Clarksburg High School Students, Staff, and Families,
I want to acknowledge and apologize for the confusion and frustration that may currently exist due to a change in direction. As many of you are aware MCPS announced a change to the criteria towards moving to a 14 day virtual format when a threshold is met of positive Covid cases (See HERE). If MCPS implements the virtual format at a school by school level, or system wide level, we will implement the directive. The factors considered will continue to include the number of students and staff who have tested positive; the number of students in quarantine; the number of staff absent for COVID-related reasons; and the level of spread of the virus in the school.
Please use this FORM to report positive COVID-19 cases in students or staff. Any individual who tests positive MUST isolate for 10 days (regardless of vaccination status or symptoms). Please view the isolation and quarantine calculator to determine return to school date.
At CHS we continue to highlight the importance of being safe while in a pandemic. The following are reminders of actions currently in progress:
- Suspension of all Afterschool Non Athletics Extracurricular Activities - The non-athletic extracurricular activity program (ECAs) will remain suspended from meeting after school until January 21, 2022.
- Sharing additional DAILY announcements over the PA system and during Advisory regarding the importance of adhering to best mitigation practices (mask wearing, sanitizing, staying home when sick, and getting tested for COVID-19 as needed).
- Distribution of At Home Rapid Test Kits on Monday, January 10, 2022 (Prior to distribution, students and staff shall review information linked HERE.)
As noted in the MCPS message, schools will be providing at-home rapid test kits for all students and staff. All families will be asked to administer the tests to their children and then report any positive test results. Staff members have received KN-95 masks, and increased testing has occurred at CHS. At this time, MCPS will continue to use the same quarantine guidelines announced in November until further guidance is provided from the Maryland Department of Health. Individuals who test positive will need to continue to isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms, or 10 days from the date of the positive test for asymptomatic cases. More information is forthcoming - this may include a change to a shorter isolation time period.
Please check our school calendar for many events this week. There have been several changes to our athletics calendar. One overall change is the decision to pause spectators at all athletic events until January 15. This decision will be reassessed on January at that time.
Counselors continue meeting with students in grades 9-11 to complete their registration for the 2022-2023 school year starting on January 3rd. This will occur for student in one of their English classes this week. Our Course Bulletin and Registration Cards were already provided to our students. Please refer to the following information and resources that will help students make their course selections including step by step instructions on how to register through their Student Vue. You can also find this information in your English teacher's Canvas Classroom page and our Clarksburg HS website.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N3NTHrMtJKGsryIqcyWL_hZn-N2bSaXAQcbRd-z5st8/edit
In this newsletter you will find information about the MCPS systemwide messages, PTSA Note, Winter Sports, Clothing Recycling, college and university visits to CHS, and more.
Check out the Weekly Newsletter here: https://www.smore.com/atndy
As always, thank you for your continued support and trust. And remember, together we are Clarksburg!
The MCPS COVID-19 Positive Data for Winter Break has been posted on a separate page from the MCPS COVID-19 Dashboard.
Despite announcing that Baltimore County Public Schools would be opening January 3, 2022, individual schools in Baltimore County are now moving to virtual or partial virtual instruction for 5 or 10 days because of COVID-19 outbreaks.
COVID-19 cases continued to be reported out by MCPS after December 22nd as evidenced by the letters sent to individual schools. Yet, the Dashboard was not updated.
Meanwhile in Baltimore County, somehow Baltimore County Public School (BCPS) administrators know that there are ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in their school communities and they are targeting individual schools for virtual learning for the next 5-10 days. How do BCPS administrators know what is going on in their schools with regard to COVID-19 while MCPS administrators appear clueless?
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| https://tinyurl.com/2p8m2637 |
Ventilation is one of the major ways of dispersing the COVID-19 virus and keeping down the spread of the virus from person to person.
What is the ventilation like in your child's classroom? MCPS won't say. Instead, they have assigned "diamonds" to each school to supposedly represent the quality of the ventilation in each building.
But how were those "diamond" ratings determined? Don't ask. MCPS won't tell.
What parents and teachers want to know is how were these "diamond" ratings created? The key questions to access the ventilation in each school building have not been answered and school opens in 48 hours.
Here are the unanswered questions:
1. What are the filtration levels at each school (MERV 13 or higher is recommended for HVAC recirculation to be effective)? When were these filters last replaced?
2. What are the filtration recirculation airflow rates for each classroom? (or at least averages, can be absolute or on an air change basis) When were these flows last tested?
3. What is the outdoor ventilation rate in each classroom? When were these flows last tested?
4. What is the maximum CO2 in each room after the room has been occupied all day? This will help find the poorly ventilated classrooms.
DC public schools will *require* students and staff to show proof of a negative coronavirus test in order to return from winter break, rather than just recommend a test. Students can pick up rapid tests at schools January 3 and 4.
— Julie Zauzmer Weil (@juliezweil) December 29, 2021
ALBANY -- All Albany public schools will shift to distance learning Wednesday and will resume in-person learning on Jan. 3, according to a memo from the district.
The district is the first in the region to end in-school instruction early before the winter break as schools see their highest infection rates since the COVID-19 crisis began in March 2020.
Staffing considerations were a factor in the Albany district's decision, according to school officials.
Positive COVID-19 cases and related contacts in recent days have affected at least 21 First Student drivers and 12 additional employees for the bus company, a letter to Albany parents states...
