Letter from the Head of School December 14, 2020
Dear Perkiomen Students and Families,
It was wonderful to see so many of you join us for our annual Vespers celebration on Sunday. For me, this speaks to the essence of Perkiomen's community – connected and united regardless of the time that has passed or the miles between us. During a year that has been difficult for so many, these are the moments of joy and light that will sustain us.
As we approach our Winter Break, I wanted to share the updated guidance from health experts and how it pertains to students as we return in January.
Last week, we learned that the Pennsylvania Department of Health has aligned its quarantine guidance with the new guidance from the CDC, providing an option for a 10-day quarantine without testing or a seven-day quarantine with a negative test on or after day five of quarantine.
How does this affect our Health and Safety Plan and what does this mean for exposed individuals?
What does this mean for students who are traveling and returning to Pennsylvania to resume school in January?
If you are traveling within the United States but outside of the state of Pennsylvania, please adhere to the following orders from the PA Department of Health:
If you are traveling internationally, please adhere to the following guidelines:
Perkiomen School is following current guidelines for quarantine periods as described above as long as students, faculty and staff continue symptom monitoring for the full 14 days and other interventions (e.g., masking, physical distancing) are strictly adhered to.
Health and safety remain our top priority, and after careful review of the value of testing, Perkiomen has committed to campus-wide testing so we may determine a baseline of a healthy community when we return to in-person instruction. To that end, all faculty and staff will be tested for COVID-19 on January 4.
Student testing will be as follows:
All campus COVID-19 tests will be self-administered with the supervision of Health Center Director Diana Poole. More details on testing will be forthcoming in our next communication.
Please remember, anyone with a known exposure to COVID-19 should delay travel, quarantine themselves from other people, get tested, and monitor their health. Any confirmed exposure or positive test result should be communicated to the Health Center immediately. The CDC has shared guidelines for safe celebrating this winter. As a living and working community, we value our responsibility to one another.
From the Devey family to your family, we wish you a happy and healthy Winter Break. May you find time to rest and relax, feel hope in moments of connection, and remain well in the days ahead. Please look for my next communication the week of December 30.
Sincerely yours, Mark A. Devey Head of School
Confidentiality Notice: This communication and any accompanying documents are confidential and privileged. They are intended for the sole use of the addressee. If you receive this transmission in error, you are advised that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance upon the communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact me using the above contact information.
Perkiomen School 200 Seminary Street • Pennsburg, PA 18073 • 215-679-9511 • perkiomen.org |