Strategies for Everyday Operations

Illness Management - Staying Home When Sick

In order to enter Friends Select to attend class or perform their work, members of our community must be free of symptoms potentially related to infectious illnesses. 

Early detection of symptoms and subsequent isolation will be utilized to reduce transmission of any communicable disease. Any student or employee who develops symptoms of illness is asked to remain home or will be assessed by the school nurse for evaluation, treatment, or dismissal home.

Common symptoms can include one or more of the following:

• Fever/chills, temperature greater than or equal to 100.2℉
• Runny nose or new sinus congestion with fatigue
• Muscle pain/headache
• Sore throat with swollen tonsils
• Frequent cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
• New GI symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Students and employees should remain home with the onset of the above symptoms. 

• If available, take an OTC rapid COVID-19 test with respiratory symptoms.

You can return to school when respiratory symptoms are resolving and you have the energy to make it through the day. 

• Improving symptoms means the person is starting to feel better and can do their usual daily activities.
• You must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
• On your return to school or public, take transmission-based precautions for five additional days:
  • masking, physical distancing, and using caution around others, improving air quality at home or spending time in well-ventilated areas.
  • testing for COVID or other viruses before gathering with others.  
  • remember to use best hygiene practices, including covering coughs and sneezes and washing or sanitizing hands.
• If recovering from COVID, a mask should be worn for five days after recovering.
  • If you retest after symptom improvement and are NEGATIVE, the masking requirement can end early. A negative rapid antigen test post-illness is reliable in predicting that a person is less likely to be infectious.
• For GI viruses (vomiting and/or diarrhea), you must stay home for 24 hours after the vomiting/diarrhea has stopped.
  • Please note Norovirus, the most common stomach virus, is resistant to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Soap and water are the most effective defense.

If seen by a doctor, please share any medical notes about the diagnosis and treatment plan. A note may be requested by your division for extended absences.

Students who become symptomatic while in school will be tested for COVID-19 with a rapid antigen test by the school nurse (as supplies last). If a parent or guardian has not given permission for testing, they will be required to pick up the student immediately and follow the respiratory illness protocol including masking for five days on return to school.

Friends Select has partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Project ACE-IT and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to supply COVID-19 tests for use in schools. This program uses Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests provided by the federal government. The purpose of the program is to provide quick testing for individuals who become symptomatic while on campus, post-exposure monitoring, and inclusion of certain high-risk school-related activities. Consent will be obtained via SchoolDoc student profiles.

Consistent with both notification requirements for communicable diseases and legal confidentiality, Friends Select will follow PDPH regulations for exposure to a communicable disease. Please inform the school if diagnosed with a specific illness or a reportable communicable disease.

Vaccinations
Friends Select strongly encourages all members of the community to maintain all recommended vaccinations, including COVID-19 and influenza. We will keep records of required vaccinations for school-aged students through SchoolDoc. Remaining up to date with recommended annual COVID-19 and influenza vaccines is highly encouraged. More information can be found here. Medical exemptions for any required vaccinations must be submitted to the school nurse.

Hand Hygiene and Respiratory Etiquette
Washing hands can prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Friends Select expects and reinforces proper handwashing to lower the risk of spreading viruses, including those that cause COVID-19 and Influenza. Hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol is available in all classrooms and common areas throughout the school.

Please teach and reinforce covering coughs and sneezes to help keep individuals from getting and spreading infectious diseases.

Cleaning and Disinfecting of Buildings
The Friends Select facilities team and a third-party custodial service are responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of school buildings during the day. The facilities team will continue to monitor, clean, and disinfect entrances, railings, restrooms, common areas, and other high-touch points in these spaces. A third-party custodial service is being used to clean the buildings every evening. 

We continue to use disinfecting supplies that meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criteria. Key products include: Eco Labs Peroxide-based, multi-surface disinfectant/cleaner and Victory electrostatic sprayer system, both a handheld and backpack. Other cleaning and disinfecting supplies that meet CDC and EPA standards also may be used.

All Friends Select faculty and staff are provided with cleaning supplies to use in classrooms and offices to allow them to clean as needed and during periods of high use. Students, faculty, and staff are instructed to clean their classroom areas and workspaces before and after use and before and after meals, with particular attention to high-touch surfaces.

Proper Ventilation / HVAC System
Our heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems are professionally evaluated and maintained by a third party vendor on a regular basis. Updates utilized during COVID include:

• We use MERV 13 filters for better filtration, and we are increasing the frequency of filter changes.
• We are increasing the run time of our HVAC system to increase circulation. This will pull air from the room and supply the filtered air back in.
• We are limiting our economizer mode so we keep a higher level of outside fresh air coming into the building.
• We are running our bathroom exhaust system 24/7.
• UV light systems have been installed into all possible HVAC equipment. 
• We have installed ionic polarization systems on all of our large air handlers. (This puts a charge in the air that helps capture small molecules and is more effective at killing COVID than UV lights. We are using both.) 
• Ceiling fans have been reversed to pull air upwards.