Dear Families,
Edgecomb School will be adding a new strategy to our COVID-19 prevention measures in the new year: pooled testing in grades PreK-6. With pooled testing, enrolled students and staff will have a COVID -19 test once a week.
Pooled testing is a free and voluntary program.
Students participating in pooled testing will not need to quarantine from school if they are considered close contacts of a positive case, as long as they do not have symptoms.
We believe pooled testing will be an important part of keeping classrooms safe and will greatly reduce the number of days any students will need to be out of school in quarantine.
To get started, please fill out the consent form with permission to perform a COVID-19 pooled test at EES. This process should take not more than 5 minutes to complete using a computer or smartphone.
First, click here (https://testcenter.concentricb... ).
Then, enter this access code: NPC9C9.
Finally, enter your child’s information, and you are done!
Note: This process will need to be completed for each individual child.
Sincerely,
Christina Boursaw, Principal
HOW POOLED TESTING WORKS
One day per week, each student who is enrolled in the program will do a nasal self-swab in class. Each child will be given a swab. They will put it just inside each nostril, and all swabs will be placed in one testing tube.
The tube will be sent to a lab. In about 48 hours, the school nurse will see the results of the test. If the tube, or “pool” is negative, nothing needs to be done. The class will continue to be tested on a regular basis.
If a tube is positive, each person in that group must have another test. The school nurse will do a rapid “BinaxNOW” test at school. Each student with a negative BinaxNOW test can return to class.
Any student who is positive must stay in the isolation area and the parent will be notified. The parent must come to school to pick up the student. A student who is positive for COVID-19 cannot stay in school and cannot ride the bus home. Please have a plan to pick up your child from school during school hours in the event your child becomes ill. Please make sure the school has your up-to-date contact information.
Following current CDC guidelines, anyone who is a close contact of a positive case and is NOT part of pooled testing or fully vaccinated will need to quarantine for 10 days. A COVID-19 test is recommended 5-7 days after exposure.
Any student who is a close contact and IS a part of pooled testing can continue to come to school, as long as they do not have symptoms of COVID-19. Students who are part of pooled testing can continue to come to school because they are being tested weekly for COVID-19.
IMPORTANT: Any student who has symptoms of COVID-19, regardless of whether they are part of pooled testing or not, must stay home until symptoms have resolved and/or they have been cleared by their physician.
For more information on pooled testing from the company we will be working with, click here (https://www.concentricbyginkgo.com/families/).
Pooled testing is slated to begin at the end of January.
To learn more about pooled testing, read the attached overview of Concentric’s pooled testing program and watch this video from another school using this service.
For more information, visit Concentric by Ginkgo’s website