A Note from the COVID Task Force Team
Dear Mariner Family,
As we come to the end of the year 2020, we are grateful we have been able to offer our students on-campus learning while also providing remote learning as needed to maintain safety protocols. And while we wish we could leave all the COVID hassles behind with 2020, we know that we will continue to have to be diligent in our efforts to protect our students, faculty, and families through the remainder of the school year and beyond.
Immediately after the Thanksgiving break, we saw a rise in the number of COVID cases impacting our families and community. We suspect the Christmas break will bring a similar situation as people gather with loved ones and the cold/flu season gets into full swing. With this in mind, we are addressing three key areas with our families that we feel are important to their health.
- Awareness - OLG Catholic School has a new link on the school website (OLGMariners.org) that provides the latest COVID information for the school and the county. This link, shown below, will be updated each school day to provide our parents with an awareness of the current community COVID situations impacting their family.
- Recommendations for the Holiday - As adults, we make decisions every day that impact the wellbeing of the children in our care both at home and at school. While we are all beginning to experience a certain level of “COVID Fatigue”, we must continue to stay vigilant in following protocols to protect the health of our children and ourselves. Thus, as the OLG COVID Task Force Team, we have generated a list of recommendations for you to consider when making decisions during the holiday season. Please see them below.
- Data Collection for Informed Decisions - In order to help our COVID Task Force Team evaluate and provide guidance to the school, each family will be required to complete a COVID Christmas Break Survey prior to returning to school after Christmas break. The survey will ask each family the following questions:
- Has anyone in your household had any of the following SYMPTOMS over Christmas Break: Sore Throat, Cough, Body Chills/Aches, Shortness of Breath/Extreme Fatigue, Loss of Smell/Taste, Fever at/greater than 100 Degree Fahrenheit.
- Did anyone in your household visit another location where someone was ill or became ill with one of the above symptoms within 48 hours of the visit?
- Did you have a visitor(s) to your household that was ill or became ill with one of the above symptoms within 48 hours of the visit?
- Have any of the above illnesses (in your household, in a location you visited, or of a visitor to your household) resulted in a positive COVID-19 case?
- Do you have any reason to believe that you or anyone in your household has been exposed to COVID-19 since Dec. 19th?
This survey will be sent out on Saturday, January 2, 2021 to all Mariner families via School Messenger text and email. The COVID Task Force Team will then meet on Sunday, January 3rd to review each family’s survey and determine if they will require a delayed return for specific families or the entire school, based on the data received. Our top priority is to protect our families from the spread of the COVID virus. Thus your participation in this survey is required prior to your student being allowed to return to school on January 4, 2021.Thank you for your support in this important matter.
The OLG COVID Task Force Team
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Keep in touch with COVID Task Force during the break
We wish everyone a joyful and safe Christmas holiday.
If you have any COVID questions or concerns during the break, please email the OLG COVID Task Force Team via COVIDInfo@olgmariners.org . This is not to take the place of contacting your own medical doctor with medical concerns, but a way to provide updates and get guidance on what to do
should someone in your household:
- Have a COVID exposure
- Suspect they could have COVID, or
- Test positive for COVID during the break.
The sooner the school knows that there is a situation in a Mariner family's household, the sooner they can develop a plan to support your student and keep them learning after the break. We are in this together, so reach out to us. As always, all personal information shared with the COVID Task Force Team will be confidential.
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Recommendations for the Holidays
- When gathering with family, ask all family members to do a temperature check just prior to visiting and ask them to stay home if they have any potential COVID symptoms. (No one wants to be the one that gets everyone else sick.)
- Continue to wear masks when in public places like the grocery store and church.
- Avoid Crowded In-Door Tourist Attractions/ Holiday Events - Choose outside attractions & events instead.
- Avoid any large gatherings that do not practice social distancing/mask wearing.
- Avoid air travel if possible. But if you are traveling via air, isolate you and your family as much as possible within the airport. Hang back from the crowd and wait at a distance until it is your time to board a plane. Wear masks continually until you reach your final destination and wash/germ-x frequently.
- Support our local restaurants but get your food TO-GO. Many cases are traced back to eating out. It is not the food that has the virus, but the other restaurant patrons that are sharing the virus unknowingly while they eat.
- Wash your hands, wear your mask, and use that germ-x!
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When Should You Keep Your Child Home from School?
The following guidance is from our COVID Task Force composed of doctors, nurse, and nurse practitioner:
1) OLG students should be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 prior to reporting to school each morning.
2) Students should stay home if they are experiencing any symptoms of illness, or if anyone in their household has any symptoms.
3) Students should also stay home if anyone in their household is waiting on COVID-19 test results.
4) If a student needs to be tested for COVID-19, please take him/her to your primary care physician, and stay home until the appointment time.
Thank you for your support of OLG's health and safety processes.
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Temporary Change after the Break
As an extra layer of protection, for at least one week after the break, elementary students in grades Kindergarten through 4th, will be required to continually wear their masks while in class just like the Middle School students do daily. The COVID Task Force Team does not usually recommend these younger students wear their masks continually in class since there are plexiglass dividers in every room and younger students do not transmit or contract COVID as easily as Middle School and older students. However, with so many families gathering together for the holidays, we feel this extra level of protection for all students K - 8th is warranted.
If your student is in need of new or additional masks, the school is taking orders again via the link below or by contacting the school office. All orders will be billed to FACTS.
OLG Mask Order Form
PreK4 students will still not be required to wear masks in the St. Francis building as they are completely isolated from the rest of the school.
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Nation, State, and County Statistics
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Christ is the Source...
Let us work together to keep each other safe - social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and coming together to do what's best for our children and families. In the midst of all trials, let us choose love.
The Diocese of Victoria is celebrating the Year of the Family. Families can explore this area of our faith and participate in activities that will help them to Pray, Eat, and Play together. See https://victoriadiocese.org/year-of-the-family
Prayer for the Family
Lord Jesus, be with my family. Grant us Your peace and harmony, an end to conflict and division. Gift us with the compassion to better understand each other, the wisdom and love to assist each other, and the trust and patience to live peacefully together. Grant that, through the intercession of Your mother, Mary, and St. Joseph our family too may become a holy family, accepting each other, working together in unity, and selflessly dedicated to one another and to You.
Amen
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School Advisory Council
We are most grateful for the SAC members, who meet monthly to ensure that we can continue to provide a faith-based education to every child whose family so desires.
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Covid Task Force
We are also grateful for Covid Task Force members, who contribute their medical expertise to lead us safely through these times. They meet monthly or as needed to continue to help ensure the safety of students and staff.
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This newsletter is periodically distributed to connect the Mariners with their families and community partners. For more information about our school, please go to our website: OLGMariners.org
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We are a Catholic educational community providing opportunity for growth in the Light of Christ.
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