Bristow Montessori School
Health and Safety Policy at BMS as of 6/4/2021:
Bristow Montessori School COVID-19 – Illness Policies
DO NOT bring children to school preceding 48 hours if they have exhibited any of the following signs of illness and/or any sign or symptoms listed on the Va Dept. of Health for Covid-19, which may include the following, but not limited to:
- Fever (100.5 F and above)
- Diarrhea (once in 24 hours) 3 years of age or above
- Diarrhea (twice in 24 hours) Under 3 years of age
- Vomiting or observed nausea
- Frequent cough (and especially dry cough) shortness of breath, or observed signs of troubled breathing (This observation includes: a child gets red or blue in the face or makes high pitched croupy, whooping sounds, wheezing after they cough)
- Pink Eye (tears, redness of the eyelid lining or irritation followed by swelling or visible discharge)
- Sore Throat (when a child is having trouble eating or drinking, or if the child has a temperature along with the sore throat)
- Unexplained Rash (without known cause)
- Congestion & Runny Nose
The child develops symptoms in school: If your child develops the above symptoms at school, you will be notified immediately and must pick up your child as soon as possible, but no later than 1 hour from receiving the notification. Your child will be removed from the classroom and a face mask/covering will be put on your child if he/she is older than 2 years of age. Please be sure that we have the updated telephone numbers where at least one parent can be reached at all times. This is especially important in case of emergencies. Any temperature reading of 100.5 F and above in-school will be taken with 2 different types of thermometers to ensure an accurate reading.
For the Child to return to school after being sent home with symptoms: The Child may return to school after 48 hours and must be symptom-free upon their return to school (without the use of fever-reducing medication) OR the Child may return prior to 48 hours, with a doctor’s note stating the Child is well to return to school and is not contagious (the note must be dated after the Child’s dismissal date/time and signed by the doctor’s office). If the Child continues to display discomfort at school and is unable to participate in daily activities, the Child may be sent home.
The child develops symptoms at home: If your child misses school because they are sick you may be asked to bring in a signed doctor’s note stating that the child is not contagious and is medically fit to return to school.
Upon arrival every day: All members of our staff and all of our Students will be screened by having their temperatures checked using either a no-touch or sanitized thermometer. All current families and staff will be required to tell the administration if they have experienced any of the common Covid-19 symptoms or have come into contact with anyone who they believe may have had such symptoms in the past 48 hours. Any staff member or Student who has a temperature greater than 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, who has or reports any one or more of the common Covid-19 symptoms, or who has come into contact with someone known to have a Covid-19 infection or having such symptoms, or has been confirmed positive with Covid-19, will be sent home, for the period of time currently recommended by the CDC.
Contact with Covid-positive person: We further request Parents of any Students, staff, and/or Students who are known to have come into contact with someone who has a positive Covid-19 test result, to quarantine per the current CDC regulations, to see if they develop any symptoms of Covid-19. Please visit the CDC website to view the recommendations for quarantine.
Positive Confirmed Covid-19 Case: In the event we have any reason to believe that any of our enrolled/attending Students and/or staff members, despite our best efforts, has been confirmed positive with Covid-19, we will promptly notify the VDH and VDSS for further direction and guidance, and will relay any and all necessary information and action to the individuals (and Parents of Students) who have been suspected to have had close contact (15 minutes) with the Covid-19 confirmed person, and recommend a quarantine period based on the latest CDC guidance and that of the VDH. BMS is not responsible to conduct contact tracing as this is assigned and performed by members from the VDH. BMS will be required to provide contact information (name, address and phone number of the person confirmed Covid-19 positive) to VHD or CDC for further possible follow-up and contact tracing. BMS is required to track all reported symptoms of staff and Children (symptom, name, person, date, and results) and may be required to provide this information to the CDC, VDH or other governing bodies as needed. This information is kept confidential. BMS will notify the entire BMS community via email (Parents, staff, and vendors) that a positive case has been reported. Please note that under no circumstance will we disseminate any personal information of affected Children or staff, and that if a Child/staff member has been in close contact with the covid-19 positive person, they will be directly notified by BMS administration or the VDH.
Should BMS need to close a classroom or portions of the building due to close contact with a Covid-19 positive person, BMS will alert Parents and staff via email with more details as instructed by VDH. All BMS community members will be notified of any classroom closures, and the specific classroom affected.
Additional Health and Safety Measures:
- Classrooms and other areas to which Students/staff have access when at Bristow Montessori School will be carefully cleaned and sanitized throughout the day, before, and after school. All activities/works will be disinfected using the methods suggested by VDSS, CDC, and VDH.
- All Students (over the age of 2) will be required to bring (3) face masks or equivalent facial coverings with them to school every day. Students will wear them if/when feasible. All Students ages 5 and up will be required to wear a face mask until the mandate is lifted. These facial coverings need to be labeled with the Child’s full name and will be returned home if used, each day. If the Parent provides disposable face coverings, these will be disposed of, if used, and not returned to the Parent. Please place new disposable face coverings into separate Ziploc bags and label the bag with your Child’s full name. All BMS staff have been trained on how/when to wear the proper PPE, and all PPE is provided to BMS staff members. ALL BMS staff and persons entering the building are required to wear a face mask.
- All Students younger than 5 years of age who are still napping/resting will need to bring a fitted sheet and light blanked each day. Please do not send large bedding sets as they will not be able to fit into the Child’s bin for personal belongings. The set of nap items will be returned to Parents each day so they can be washed at home before sending back to school. It is extremely important for you to label all nap items including the bag they are in with your Child’s name, to ensure they are designated properly for your Child to use. BMS will thoroughly sanitize cots/cribs every day. Reminder: Cots are assigned to one Child for the entire school year, cots/cribs are not shared between Children.
- To the greatest extent possible, and when feasible, physical distancing (minimum 3 feet of separation) will be encouraged and practiced throughout the school day. Children do not move from one room to another or combine groups during the day, instead, Children are required to remain in their home-room, except during outside recess time.
- All seating arrangements for students ages 2 and up will be placed 3 feet apart. Students will not share work and/or supplies and will be provided their own to use. Frequent disinfecting of works will be completed throughout the day using the methods listed by the CDC and DSS, between student use.
- Classroom size limits are no longer in effect and are not required by VDSS. BMS will continue to strictly follow our class ratios.
- We will incorporate instructions on practices recommended to reduce the likelihood of Covid-19 infections into our classroom curricula. This will include instruction on frequent hand washing, avoiding touching one’s face, and covering one’s mouth and nose if one must sneeze or cough.
- No outside visitors will be permitted inside the building. Parents should continue to provide information to the office for approved pick up arrangements for your child. Persons on the approved pickup list will need to show a valid photo ID when picking up the child from school. Should the need arise for a parent to enter the building, please contact the front office to schedule. BMS is allowing, only when necessary:
- A parent to enter the building during non-high-traffic times of the day, when absolutely necessary or pre-scheduled for a meeting.
- New parents and students, to view the facility prior to enrollment, only during evening and weekend hours.
- Speech/occupational therapists and psychologists working with BMS students may enter the building for specified session times (all therapists/persons are background checked and TB tested, and required to be vaccinated).
- Necessary maintenance and cleaning crew inside the building when needed.
- All persons will be required to wear a mask and have their temperature taken regardless of vaccination status when entering the building, and continue to social distance.
It will take everyone in our community to continue doing their part in helping to prevent the spread of Covid 19. Bristow Montessori School has implemented protocols and practices in accordance with guidelines from the CDC, VDH, and the public health officials of the VDSS. BMS will continue to follow all guidance and modify our protocols and practices on a timely basis to ensure that they remain in conformance with the most current guidance our public health officials provide.
We implement the measures in our Health and Safety Policy to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection for all our Students and our staff until our public health officials recommend changes or give us reason to believe that it is safe to discontinue them. Please note, depending on when you are signing this agreement, you may also receive an addendum/or update to the Health Policy and Practices at BMS with your enrollment packet, or at any time, as mandates/guidance changes are implemented by the (CDC), (VDH), and (VDSS).
By signing this document, you agree that Bristow Montessori School reserves the right to change, replace or amend any or the entire health policy included with this enrollment packet, without notice. You further agree that you will follow any such change.
BMS has the right to change the policies and practices at any time of the year based on VDSS, CDC, and/or VDH, or Dept. of Education policies that best reflect ECE sector practices. Updated procedures and practices will be relayed to Parents via email, and/or on our website www.bristowmontessori.com/bms-parents
New guidance issued on 5/28/21 by the Virginia Department of Social Services:
Governor Northam‘s Executive Order Seventy-Nine and Order of Public Health Emergency Ten, effective at midnight on May 28, 2021, includes revised guidance about face masks for vaccinated individuals. CDC Guidance for Child Care Settings remains in place, and the Virginia Department of Health along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to recommend that masks be used indoors for children over age two and for all staff in child care settings, regardless of vaccination status.
