WELLESLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS WELLESLEY HEALTH DEPARTMENT CORONAVIRUS UPDATE FROM WELLESLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WELLESLEY HEALTH DEPARTMENT FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2020 Dear Members of the WPS Community: We write to share some important updates regarding the coronavirus in advance of the Thanksgiving week. WPS COVID-19 Pool Surveillance Testing If you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days please do NOT participate in the WPS surveillance testing at this time. Updates will continue to be posted on this website. Persons should be treated as presumptive positive, begin quarantine and take a confirmatory test 2-3 days from the date of the first sample submission. The Wellesley COVID-19 Relief Fund has awarded nearly $117,000 to local nonprofits and town departments since the program began in April. If a pool needs to be refluxed to pairs, those results will be available mid day on Wednesday. WPS in coordination with the Wellesley or appropriate board of health will conduct contact tracing. Follow the steps outlined here. MENU MENU. After learning from that experience, we piloted weekly at home collection PCR surveillance testing beginning first with WHS and WMS staff then expanding to all staff. Students and employees will bring their sample to school and deposit it in a designated place. Weekly testing is being made available to students and employees through a grant from the Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF). This protocol will allow us to minimize the presence of the COVID-19 virus on our campuses and maximize our ability to remain open for on-site learning and engagement throughout the 2020-21 academic year. Samples will be taken to a lab for analysis. In most cases students will pick up the kit on their in person day on Thursday or Friday and then return to school on their in person day on either Monday or Tuesday. Families that would like to contribute to the testing initiative may do so by making a donation to the WEF COVID-19 Innovation Fund. For WMS students, kits will be distributed in homeroom. For those couple of hours, you will be asked to isolate but we hope to have the results as quickly as possible. Wellesley High School confirms 6 new COVID-19 cases, will go fully remote through Thanksgiving (Nov. 11) Wellesley High School has to return … If a definitive diagnostic test is required (for individuals in pools of 2 that contain a positive), a distinct HIPAA compliant system will be utilized that will also protect PHI. Due to some constraints in the supply chain, the lab is only sending us exactly what we need each week. You will only be contacted (from the information provided when you register the kit) in the event of a positive. Office Tel: 781-446-6200 Voice Mail: 781-446-6210 Fax: 781-446-6207. Business Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 AM – 4:15 PM The Director of Human Resources, 40 Kingsbury Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, 781-446-6200, has been designated as the employee responsible for coordinating the Wellesley Public School district's efforts to implement this nondiscriminatory policy. Refer here for province-wide information about coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Ontario schools and child care centres . Ideally it is best to collect the saliva sample first thing in the morning (before eating, drinking or brushing your teeth) on the morning that you will be submitting your sample to school. Pick up will be anytime on Thursday and Friday. While you are awaiting results, you will be asked to not be in school. From this, a physician’s order will be generated which will trigger an individual PCR diagnostic test of the saliva that was already submitted. This includes broad screening of asymptomatic individuals without known exposure with the intent of making individual decisions based on the test results. NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mirimus, Inc., a leader in conducting high-volume, high-quality PCR testing, today announced a partnership with the Wellesley Public Schools system in Wellesley, MA, to enable weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing of all staff, high school and middle school students using its pioneering SalivaClear COVID-19 pooled saliva testing platform. Wellesley Public Schools grades K – 12 will have a half day on Wed., Dec. 23. COVID-19 in Wellesley. Waterloo Region Public Health and Emergency Services is the primary source of information and guidance to the Township of Wellesley as we all work together to keep residents safe and informed on the status of 2019 Novel Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19. Samples collected on Tuesday from Cohort B, will be shipped on Tuesday afternoon.If your pair tests positive you will be contacted for consent to do an individual diagnostic PCR saliva based test. Unfortunately your saliva does have a shelf life. You will be contacted immediately by Linda Corridan or David Lussier typically on Wednesday early afternoon if you drop off your sample on Monday, Thursday early afternoon if you drop off your sample on Tuesday or Friday if you drop off your sample on Wednesday. Individuals can only access their own results. We will either respond personally or update our FAQ. Several instances of this tactic have proved successful. Upham Elementary School and Wellesley Middle School were the two schools dismissed at 11:45 a.m. “We learned a short while ago that a Wellesley resident has tested positive for COVID-19,” the school said in an email to parents. For WHS students, kits will be available in the cafeteria. WPS is contracting with Mirimus to implement this evidence-based approach, which is responsive to practical public and private lab constraints (e.g., scarcity of testing materials, machines, and time) and enables the delivery of highly accurate test results within 24–48 hours. “The bulk of evidence now suggests only limited transmission from young children to adults with safety precautions in place. On Wednesday, officials confirmed there “is strong evidence linking these cases to the separate cases at the high school identified yesterday and late last week.” All district academic and nonacademic programs and events are offered regardless of race, color, sex, age, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, limited English proficiency, sexual orientation, disability, or housing status. First, we want to update you on the cluster of cases that was recently identified at Wellesley … Please be considerate of others. WPS will only be provided name and email addresses; the email addresses are used as unique identifiers for those being tested. School will resume on Mon., Jan. 4. For more information: Based on efficacy studies conducted to date by Mirimus, pool test protocols detect the existence of the COVID-19 virus as well as it can be detected via an individual COVID-19 test but at a fraction of the cost, thus providing an opportunity for WPS to regularly test a larger school population. For example, soon after infection the body is not shedding virus, so it is neither infectious or easily detectable by a test. KITCHENER -- Health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak in a student cohort at Cedar Creek Public School. You will receive an email/phone call to the account that you provided in the kit registration process. Questions have been divided into five categories. Track every case of COVID-19 in Waterloo Region schools here "There's significant community spread happening, especially in the northen part of Wellesley … Wellesley High School, which went all remote about three weeks ago due to spiking COVID-19 cases among staff and students, appears clear to return to its hybrid learning plan that involves some in-person and some remote classes.You can keep track of reported cases among the school on the WPS COVID-19 dashboard.. Please enter the best contact information when you register. Please see our KDay Program if you need child-care for your kindergartener. You simply have to give your consent for testing. This information is not transferred to Mirimus. Diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is also looking for occurrence at the individual level but is performed when there is a particular reason to suspect that an individual may be infected. If a pair has been identified as potentially positive, assuming that the individual gives consent for testing, those results will be available by the end of the day on Wednesday. Select a specific county using the map on the left. In an effort to provide the most up-to-date information to the school community, we have developed a weekly Covid-19 dashboard. Also students will pick up two test kits the week before Thanksgiving on either November 19 or November 20. Wellesley Education Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) foundation with a mission of advancing innovation and excellence in the Wellesley Public Schools. WPS COVID-19 Pool Surveillance Testing Plan FAQs, Recreational Enrichment Classes (REC) Summer Program, Elementary District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP), WMS District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP), WHS District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP), Fee Payment for Activities, Athletics, Lessons & Transportation, Bullying Policy, Prevention & Intervention Plan (PDF), Bullying Prevention & Incident Reporting Form (PDF), How to View WPS Websites in Another Language, Student Registration, Enrollment and School Assignment Info, Building Safety Guidelines (Must Be Logged In), District Curriculum Accommodation Plans (Must Be Logged In), K-5 Standards-Based Report Card (SBRC) Resources, Student Services Handbook (Must Be Logged In), Substitute Information K-5 (Must Be Logged In), Wednesday PD Calendar 2020-21 (PDF - must be logged in to view), Wellesley Supervision and Evaluation System, New Staff Account Request Form (Must Be Logged In), Production Center Request Form (Must Be Logged In), Request Written Translations or Interpreters, Student Services Forms (Must Be Logged In), Performance Evaluation for Non-Professional Staff, Supervisors (Must be Logged In to Access), Wellesley Supervision and Evaluation System for Professional Staff, The FDA generally does not regulate surveillance testing, Research Testing and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) Regulations, Frequently Asked Questions: SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance Testing, training video of the saliva collection process, Guide to Understanding a Positive Pool Result, Risk Assessment and Testing Protocols for Reducing SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in K-12 Schools, The Missing Piece — SARS-CoV-2 Testing and School Reopening, Las Pruebas de la Vigilancia de COVID-19 en WPS, WPS COVID-19 Le Groupement Test de Surveillance, Student Enrollment & Assignment Information, Bullying Policy, Prevention & Intervention Plan – SC Policy JICFB, How to View WPS Websites and Documents in Another Language, WHS – Kits available from 7:30 – 3:30 for students to pick up before school, during breaks or as they leave for the day, WMS – Kits will be distributed during Homeroom, Staff will be able to pick up kits outside school nurse’s office. About 1,200 Wellesley High School students and staff took part in a new round of baseline COVID-19 testing on Sunday to help the Wellesley Public School system try to reopen WHS for in-person learning this week. Screening tests are intended to identify infected individuals prior to development of symptoms or those infected individuals without signs or symptoms who may be contagious, so that measures can be taken to prevent those individuals from infecting others. Based on a generous donation from Wellesley Education Foundation, we are now in the position to expand to all secondary students. School Hours: 8:55am-3:15pm Office Hours: 8:30am-3:45pm Break Times: 10:55 am-11:35 am, 1:35 pm-2:15 pm . Though rare, it is possible for an individual that has COVID-19 to register “negative” as the viral load increases within their system. Test kits will be distributed through the school. Public health investigated and determined there was no exposure risk within the school, meaning no other students or any staff members will need to self-isolate as a precaution. For individuals positive with COVID-19 virus, with very high viral loads, the test has a very high sensitivity (that is the ability to return a positive result if the patient is actually positive). CORONAVIRUS CASE UPDATE FROM WELLESLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WELLESLEY HEALTH DEPARTMENT FOR NOVEMBER 15, 2020 Following trends throughout the Commonwealth, the Wellesley Health Department today announced that COVID-19 cases are … Therefore, the data portal that will be used meets and exceeds all HIPAA privacy protections afforded every individual since no Protected Health Information (PHI) will be shared. Rather than test each individual student and employee separately, a time and resource intensive process, samples will be combined—or pooled—to cut down on the number of tests. As always, we welcome your additional questions or concerns. All school buildings will be closed for winter break from Thur., Dec. 24 through Fri., January 1, 2021. A recent study suggested that screening pools of greater than 20 could be cost-effective when the case prevalence rate in a particular community is below 1%. The FDA generally does not regulate surveillance testing. Mirimus, Inc., a leader in conducting high-volume, high-quality PCR testing, today announced a partnership with the Wellesley Public Schools system in Wellesley, MA, to enable weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing of all staff, high school and middle school students using its pioneering SalivaClear COVID If your student picks up more than one kit, that means someone else will not have a kit. We welcome your feedback in this respect. Pool testing can identify and isolate asymptomatic carriers of the COVID-19 virus, thus enhancing the health and safety of those in the WPS buildings. How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect high school sports in Massachusetts this winter "It can change at any minute, but we're just so glad to be back out there." For comprehensive information about Coronavirus in Wellesley, go to the Wellesley COVID-19 Information Hub.. Examples of screening include the baseline testing conducted prior to the start of in person hybrid learning or the testing plans developed by a workplace to test all employees returning to the workplace regardless of exposure or signs and symptoms and testing plans developed by a school to test all students and faculty returning to the school regardless of exposure or signs and symptoms, with the intent of using those results to determine who may return or what protective measures to take on an individual basis. The test utilized by Mirimus detects three different unique viral RNA templates. Wellesley High School confirms 6 new COVID-19 cases, will go fully remote through Thanksgiving (Nov. 11) Wellesley High School has to return … All other Wellesley public schools finished the day on regular schedules. Cohort A students will drop off saliva sample on Wednesday December 2 due to professional day on Monday of that week. Other factors can also affect the presence of the virus in the sample. Therefore every secondary student and staff member is encouraged to participate EVERY week. Wellesley Public Schools abruptly closed two schools at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, after discovering that a … Testing will begin the week of October 13 for a portion of staff, expand the week of October 19 to include all staff then expand the following week to include high school students and middle school students. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has a new comprehensive COVID-19 Dashboard with Coronavirus data from the Commonwealth that includes daily and cumulative case information, testing information, deaths, hospital capacity, long-term care data, … Wellesley Public Schools break. If the person has never tested positive before, a confirmatory test is recommended within 3-5 days of the first sample submission. Lussier, who shared an update with the Board of Health on Dec. 21. If you have extenuating circumstances, please call and talk to the school nurse to work out a specific plan. Below, we attempt to anticipate and answer questions that you may have regarding pool testing. Website Feedback Form. This is why we will continue to adhere to all CDC recommended safety protocols, which have been proven to significantly decrease the chance of spreading the virus. Home; Schools. The Weston Public Schools is dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of our students and staff. Viral RNA is still detectable, but the person is not infectious. Saliva samples will be collected at home and delivered to campus the same morning. • Academic Excellence The public schools have seen an uptick in cases among students, including at the elementary school level of late, according to Supt. Translate. The After School Program typically serves students kindergarten through grade five attending Wellesley Elementary Schools. If you choose to get a test done somewhere else that is your option. If one person within a pool of 24 saliva samples tests positive, the entire pool is flagged as positive and subsequent testing is enacted to discern which individual(s) within the pool was the positive case. The Schools dashboard shows COVID-19 data for schools and their surrounding communities. (WHDH) - Wellesley Public Schools will be closed for two weeks beginning Friday as town officials grapple with how to address the growing coronavirus outbreak. 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