Happy Snowy Friday! The artwork above and below this article was done by students in Sarah McBride's room recently.
After our holiday break, teachers have started the new year with renewed energy and focus on providing the best instruction possible despite the unsettling rise in Covid cases in our area. School goes on and there is good teaching and learning happening in the Lyme School as always!
Tonight there is a special board meeting scheduled for 7:00 pm. The main purpose of this meeting is to update the school board on the work being done to ensure we have substitutes in place for any teacher absences and to share our plans to address situations where if in the future we may be unable to cover our substitute needs.
At this time, we have enough substitutes to meet our needs and school is running smoothly.
I want to share again Kati Miller's recent update from the Covid committee below. Please note that the school admin teams meets weekly with the Covid committee and a school board representative to discuss current trends and our school's mitigations.
We as admin and faculty are working hard to keep our school a safe and healthy place for learning. Thank you for your support in this as well.
Elise
From Kati:
Lyme School families and staff,
The Lyme School COVID Committee wishes everyone a Happy New Year 2022 and would like to provide some updated information.
We are experiencing a significant increase in positive cases regionally and locally. We do expect to see this rise in positivity over the next several weeks. If a positive case is identified in the Lyme School setting, an email notification will only be sent to the potentially exposed cohort or class. An email to the entire school population will not be sent for every positive case. Please continue to regularly check your Lyme School emails.
Although there are recent updates that would allow COVID-19 positive individuals to shorten their isolation period, at this time, we continue to ask students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate at home for 10 days. According to NH DHHS, there is a package of health mitigations a positive individual has to accept in order to shorten the isolation period, including wearing a well-fitting mask around others at all times. The practicality and logistics in the school setting will be challenging in regards to eating and drinking around others. We await further guidance and support from NH DHHS to educational partners.
The Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster dose for adolescents 12-15 years old has been approved by the FDA. We expect to see eligibility and recommendation for this population in NH very soon. It is highly recommended that all those who meet the eligibility criteria receive a booster dose.
We remain committed to supporting the health and safety of the Lyme School community and meet weekly with school administration.
We ask for your cooperation and understanding during this winter season.
Please be in touch with any questions or concerns or if you need information regarding vaccines.
In appreciation,
Kati Miller RN
On behalf of the Lyme School COVID Committee
