Seahawk Weekly News - 01/07/2022

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 01/07/2022 06:19 PM EST

Dear Silverbrook Families:

We hope your Winter Break and Snow Days have been filled with time to relax and have fun with your family and friends.  We are excited to welcome our Silverbrook Seahawks back to school as we begin the second half of the school year. 

With the increase in the number of positive COVID cases, we understand that you may have questions about how we will keep everyone safe and healthy.  At Silverbrook, we are doing everything we can to mitigate the spread of COVID while covering classes to keep our school operational. We also want to ensure that we are prepared should we need to temporarily move to asynchronous or synchronous virtual instruction for an individual classroom or for our school.

Preparing to Return to School

  • Please take time with your child to review and to stress the importance of following all layered prevention strategies to include correct and consistent use of well-fitting masks at all times (except when eating), washing hands frequently (hand sanitizing when washing is not feasible), and staying physically distant as much as possible in classrooms, cafeteria, hallways and other areas.
  • CDC mask guidance has not changed. HERE is the Oct. 25, 2021 CDC guidance on the type of recommended/not recommended face masks. Masks should have multiple layers and be well fitted to one’s face.

 

Student Health

Although we have missed seeing our students over the last three weeks, please keep your child home if they are not feeling well. If your child has Covid-like symptoms while at school, your child will be sent to our Care Room.  We will call you to come pick up your child immediately. To return to school, your child will need documentation of either a negative COVID test or clearance from your healthcare provider.

Please remember to screen your child for the following Covid symptoms before sending them to school: 

  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Cough
  • Nasal congestion or runny nose 
  • New shortness of breath or difficulty breathing 
  • Sore throat
  • Muscle aches 
  • Fatigue 
  • Headache 
  • Loss of taste or smell
  • Abdominal pain
  • Diarrhea
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

If your child displays any of these symptoms, please keep your child home. This will help us minimize the spread of COVID.

Students Who Have Tested Positive for COVID

Students who are COVID-19 positive are able to return to school when all of the following criteria is met:

  1. Student completes at least ten (10) days of isolation from symptom onset for symptomatic students or 10 days since tested for COVID for asymptomatic students; AND
  2. Student is fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication; AND
  3. The student’s symptoms have improved; AND
  4. Student submits the FCPS Isolation Letter with the return date to their attending school

 

Close Contacts

Students who are close contacts and required to quarantine are able to return to school when all the criteria for one of the two options below is met:

Option 1:

  1. Student completes five (5) days of quarantine; AND
  2. Student is asymptomatic; AND
  3. Student is able to wear a face mask for Days 6-10; AND
  4. Student submits FCPS Pause Letter with the return date to their attending school

Option 2:

  1. Student completes ten (10) days of quarantine; AND
  2. Student submits FCPS Pause Letter with the return date to their attending school

*Students with mask exemptions will need to utilize Option 2 to return from quarantine

If your child is fully vaccinated, please complete the COVID Contact Vaccination Verification survey. Sharing your child’s vaccination status will help the health department expedite your child’s return if your child meets the criteria. 

 

COVID Testing

FCPS will offer free COVID testing for students who may be showing symptoms at various locations including the Gatehouse Administrative building in Falls Church.  To access a list of testing locations, click here.  No appointment is needed.  In order to have your child tested, you will need to register here. You will need to have your child’s student ID number. This is the same 7-digit number that they use as their log-in on their computer.

laptop

Laptops

We will also begin to send laptops and chargers home on Monday for students in grades K-2.  Kindergarten students will leave their laptops at home and students in 1st and 2nd grades will bring their laptops home daily. Laptops should be charged each night and returned to the school. We will be contacting families to determine if there is a need for a MiFi device so students can access their assignments online should we move to asynchronous or synchronous virtual instruction.

Looking ahead to the first few weeks in January, it is possible that some of our teachers may be out because of their own illness or a family member’s. Despite this, we will work to make sure your children continue to receive high quality and engaging instruction. 

Our staff at Silverbrook is here to help you as we prepare to return to school next week so please do not hesitate to contact us. You can always send an email if you have additional questions or concerns.
dining

Indoor Dining

As the weather is getting colder, we have brought our outdoor dining indoors. We have set seventy-five dining stations around the lower level of our school for 6 ft. apart. Having students in different spaces around our school reduces the number of students in the cafeteria. Students in the cafeteria are still seated in every other seat with plexiglass partition on the table. We are doing all we can to ensure our students are safe and comfortable

Indoor Dining Station Rotations

Jan. 10-14

Bouamri, Ginez, Goldstrom, Magill, Mason, Samuels, West

Jan. 18-20

Desmond, Eck, Goetz, Haje, Kerr, Patton, Tull, Wilkerson

 

 

Parent Schoology & COVID Updates Meeting

If you are like us, our heads are spinning with all the new information and updates we are receiving from our division. We would like to share with you as much as we can, so you are informed. Please join us for a Parent Schoology & COVID Updates Meeting on Monday, January 10, 2022 at 6:00pm. We will begin the evening reviewing Schoology and respond to your questions on logging in and accessing assignments. Then we will discuss our current COVID reality. We are looking forward to seeing you on Monday. Please use this link to access the meeting. https://myfcpsk12.zoom.us/j/97958601790

 

Calendar Reminder

Mark Your Calendar

  • January 17- Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Schools Closed
  • January 20- 2 hour early release
  • January 21- Teacher Workday (Student Holiday)
  • January 24- Staff Development Day (Student Holiday)