Hello J.G Whittier Families,
We will be welcoming back Cohort C students into the building beginning Tuesday, January 19th and the following Monday, January 25th, we will begin welcoming back our full hybrid model as outlined below:
The return to school plan is as follows for JGW students:
- Tuesday, January 19, 2021 – Cohort C students will be welcomed back to in-person learning while all others continue in the remote model.
- Monday, January 25, 2021 – All Cohorts will be welcomed back to in-person learning on their scheduled days (Cohort A on Monday’s & Tuesdays and Cohort B on Thursday’s & Fridays with Cohort C students attending 4 days per week)
- Remote Learning Academy will continue as scheduled
This past week on Wednesday, January 13th we began a Pool Testing pilot program where we were able to test some of our Cohort C students as well as some JGW staff. We were thrilled to receive the news that all pool tests between JGW, Pentucket Lake, and Walnut Square came back negative, which means that all participants in this testing had a negative result. This is very promising for the reopening of our schools.
The district’s plan is to continue this Pilot program of testing staff and students moving forward this week. We will test Cohort C students that have completed consent forms in school this Thursday. The testing will be done in school and you will only be notified if the pool is positive and further testing is required. We will also be testing school based staff at that time as well.
For Cohorts A & B, we plan to conduct a drive thru testing site this Wednesday, January 20th. We will send specific details tomorrow with times and locations for this testing. If you have a student in the Hybrid model that you would like to take part in pool testing, I would ask that you email me directly so we can account for all students wanting testing. We will need you to confirm that you would like your student to take part in this testing by tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm. I have included the consent forms that will need to be completed before testing, and other important information below:
What is Pool Testing?
Pool testing is a proactive strategy to test a group of individuals at one time as a “batch” to identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 and isolate those individuals, preventing further spread of disease. Pool testing enables us to test more individuals cost-effectively. The pool may be a group of students in a classroom or cohort, a sports team, or other configurations.
Pool testing is easy to do – and requires swabbing of the lower nares (nose) with a q-tip like swab. Most individuals will be capable of self swabbing, and for others, swabbing will be performed by one of our health care staff. The batch of swabs is placed in one tube, and the tube is tested as a group. If the pool tests positive, then the individuals in the pool are notified of the need for individual testing. If negative, then we know that no one in this “pool” is positive for COVID-19 at the time of testing. Pool testing results will typically be received by the district in 48 hours.
HPS has begun pooled testing! We believe that wide-spread COVID 19 testing is an integral tool in our return to in-person learning. Pool testing is simply the grouping of several test swab samples together in a “batch” or pooled sample, then testing the pooled sample with a single diagnostic test. This approach increases the number of individuals that can be tested using the same amount of resources.
Please take 5 minutes to view the video introduction to pool testing below as our Joint Corona Virus Response Team joins in our very first pooled test.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/180qvsG4ztmrxhPWHx8LFcI0hHVne0Z_j?usp=sharing
What happens when a pool comes back positive?
HPS is also rolling out the Abbott BinexNOW Rapid Antigen test in alignment with the pool testing. Like pool testing, BinexNOW testing requires a swab of the lower nose; however, this is a second test only for those in a positive pool. This Rapid test will be used to individually screen those in the positive pool. Most people in the pool will be negative; however, the Antigen test confirms which individuals are positive for COVID-19. If your child is part of a positive pool, you will be contacted with further instruction for the follow-up testing plan.
Does testing require consent?
Yes, participation in this program is voluntary and requires consent. There are two consents attached – one to participate in the pooled testing pilot and one to participate in the BinexNOW follow-up testing for positive pools. Both are attached for your review, and both are required to move forward with testing. Consent for pool testing or BinexNOW testing may be withdrawn at any time.
Prior to testing, please review the attached consents and, if possible, print, sign, and bring them with you if you come to test. Copies of consent forms will be available at the testing site.
Consent Form 1 -Pool Testing – ALL students and adults – final.docx
Consent Form 2 – Positive Pool Individual Re-Test – ALL students and adults.docx
It is important to note the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 3 months should not participate in pool testing, as this will likely cause the pool to return positive.
As previously mentioned, please contact me directly via email if you have a Hybrid student you would like to confirm to take part in the drive-thru pool testing this Wednesday, January 20th by Tuesday at 3:30pm and stay tuned for specific details (time & location).
Thank you for your time,
Tim Betty
Principal