Please also read: 

• Travel, Visitor, and Daily Recommendations for EWSD Staff and Families
• Latest CDC and Vermont Department of Health Guidance

Dear Families,

As we approach the holiday season and have many families wanting to travel or host guests in their homes, we think it is important that we share information with you in regards to student learning, quarantining, and traveling. 

Understandably, questions have come up regarding how to support students who miss their in-person instruction if they stay home when ‘quarantining.’ The purpose of this communication is to clarify our approach to learning when having to quarantine and to share thoughts about travel.

During the global pandemic, we have worked hard to build capacity to support students in-person, through a hybrid model, or in some cases 100% remote. Creating these options have relied on hard work, creativity, and leveraging additional resources. 

If students are directed to stay home for up to 14 days by the Department of Health and/or the EWSD because they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and/or they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, reasonable efforts will be made to provide instruction and/or accommodations and supports, so that students can continue to access their education, if healthy enough to do so.  Any absence will be considered ‘approved.’

If due to voluntary travel,* a student needs to quarantine at home and miss in-person instruction, we can not guarantee that we will have the resources and ability to provide instruction and/or accommodations to access missed in-person instruction. In these cases, absences will be considered unexcused. 

Traveling to a county or state that is deemed as red or yellow and not quarantining puts our community at risk. We are hearing of students, all ages, traveling to other areas that are in red or yellow counties to play sports and for leisure activities. This requires the student to quarantine, as we do not want to put our communities and schools at risk. In these circumstances, the expectation is that your student will need to make up the missed learning when they are able to safely return to in-person instruction. 

We understand that the holidays are going to be really hard for all of us and at the same time it is important to keep our communities safe and healthy.  Most of my family doesn’t live in Vermont and my mom is in an assisted living facility, it breaks my heart to think about us not being able to spend time with her or my own children. If we aren’t careful, we will be in the same situation as we were last spring and having to go fully remote. 

We need to do our part in preventing that from happening. We have protocols in schools to stop the spread and the state is doing a great job with testing and contact tracing. We are all in this together and we, as a community, need to do all we can to keep our schools open and our students and staff healthy and safe.

Please read the following from Leah Costello, an MD at Timber Lane Pediatrics:

“Parents, it is now our turn to step up and show that same level of commitment to our community. It is our job to keep COVID 19 out of the schools … We have a 3 step process to follow ‘Six foot spaces, Mask on faces, Uncrowded places.’ But parents, I think we can go farther than that. Think about what is truly essential in your day to day activities. If you really need to do an activity, then do it with safety measures in place. If you think about it and realize it is not truly an essential activity, then revise your plans to a safer alternative. The schools are making sacrifices for us and we need to do the same for them.”

If our school staff learn about a student or family who traveled to a red or yellow county, the nurse at that school will reach out to the family to confirm and if true, students will then be required to quarantine.

Please also take the time to review the following two important documents: the Latest CDC and Vermont Department of Health Guidance and Travel, Visitor, and Daily Recommendations for EWSD Staff and Families. You can also visit the EWSD’s 2020-2021 webpage for all information, frequently asked questions, and more related to COVID-19. 

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.  

 

Thank you for helping us keep our communities healthy and safe,

Beth Cobb
EWSD Superintendent
bcobb@ewsd.org 

*Extenuating circumstances (e.g., travel for a funeral/memorial service) will be considered. Based on consideration of these circumstances at the school level, remote instruction and/or accommodations and supports may be provided. 

The following information is from the Vermont Department of Health ...

The document for COVID-19: Information for Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness has been translated.

 

For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	English	English
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Arabic	العربية
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Burmese	မြန်မာစာ
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Chinese	中文
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	French	Français
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Karen	ကညီကျိ
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Kirundi	Kirundi
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Nepali	नेपाली
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Somali	Soomaali
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Spanish	Español
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Swahili	Swahili
For Families: Return to Child Care or Out of School Care Program Following Illness	Vietnamese	Tiếng Việt

 

These links and many other documents can be found on the COVID-19 Translations page.

Dear EWSD Community, 

The Essex Westford School District has been notified of two members of our Essex High School community who have tested positive for COVID-19. 

It is the Vermont Department of Health (DOH) that identifies those who may have been exposed to the virus. After speaking with them, they assured the District that the two people who tested positive were not exposed to the virus on the EHS campus and have not returned to EHS since their exposure. 

If someone tests positive for COVID-19 but was not in school while they were infectious, the DOH has said that there are no additional steps necessary because others at the school are not at risk for COVID-19 exposure. EHS and CTE will still be open for in-person learning as scheduled tomorrow. 

We are working with the Department of Health to keep our community safe:

• We continue to follow the Department of Health’s guidance for children, youth, and families. 
• We will continue to follow the guidelines and recommendations of the Vermont Department of Health with all of our cleaning and disinfecting at each of our schools.
• Employees and sick children will not return to work/school until they are healthy.
• Learn more about getting tested in Vermont.

The most important things you can do right now:

• Make sure your child(ren)/household are washing their hands.
• Make sure your child is wearing a mask.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow, and then wash hands afterwards.
• Keep your child home if they are sick.
• Call your primary care provider if you or your child have symptoms of COVID-19.

What is COVID-19 and how does it spread? - Learn more here.  

Thank you for understanding that, due to medical privacy laws, we are not able to release the names of the individuals with COVID-19. We will continue to communicate updates with you as we receive further information. 

At this time, we ask our community for compassion and understanding for all who may be impacted by this virus.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at: bcobb@ewsd.org

Sincerely,

Beth Cobb
EWSD Superintendent 

Dear EWSD Community, 

On October 12, the Essex Westford School District learned from the Vermont Department of Health (DOH) about a member of our school community who tested positive with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Essex Elementary School. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. 

While we certainly hoped that we would remain COVID-free, we expected this eventuality and we are prepared with a plan to respond to it. Earlier this evening, our team met with the DOH to plan our response. We are confident that we’ve shared all critical information with the DOH and that they are poised to follow up with all potentially close contacts. On Tuesday morning (October 13), they will begin contacting all families whose students are potentially impacted. 

Please answer the phone if the Vermont Department of Health contacts you. A contact tracer may be trying to reach you with important information in regards to contacting tracing.

Contact tracers reach out to identify close contacts with information about the illness, testing, and staying home. Close contact consists of being within six feet, for 15 minutes or more, of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 during their infectious period, whether or not masks were worn.

We are working with the Department of Health to keep our community safe:

• We continue to follow the Department of Health’s guidance for children, youth, and families. 
• We will continue to follow the guidelines and recommendations of the Vermont Department of Health with all of our cleaning and disinfecting at Essex Elementary School.
• Employees and sick children will not return to work/school until they are healthy.
• Learn more about getting tested in Vermont.

The most important things you can do right now:

• Make sure your child(ren)/household are washing their hands.
• Make sure your child is wearing a mask.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow, and then wash hands afterwards.
• Keep your child home if they are sick.
• Call your primary care provider if you or your child have symptoms of COVID-19.

What is COVID-19 and how does it spread? - Learn more here.  

Thank you for understanding that, due to medical privacy laws, we are not able to release the names of the individuals with COVID-19. We will continue to communicate updates with you as we receive further information. 

At this time, we ask our community for compassion and understanding for all who may be impacted by this virus.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at: bcobb@ewsd.org

Sincerely,

Beth Cobb
EWSD Superintendent 

Dear Families and Staff,