DSHA Community Health Measures | 2021-22

Goodness & Kindness of Jesus, the Savior | Titus 3:4

Our religious theme for the year is to recognize the goodness and kindness of Jesus, the Savior in one another as sisters and brothers made in the image and likeness of God. As we continue to navigate the challenge that is COVID-19, our faith calls us to be the goodness and kindness of Jesus to one another. This is especially important in the coming year as it relates to our COVID-19 mitigation strategies. We are called to respect and support our sisters and brothers. 
 
Our goal is to keep our community safe and that requires the commitment of everyone. As such we are requiring all students and families to acknowledge and agree to abide by the health and safety expectations and measures being put into place during this time. 

2021-22 Back-to-School Community Health Measures

The health and safety of the community remains a high priority at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. The following COVID protocols will be implemented for the start of the school year. Additional updates will be forthcoming as necessary. 

Current Context | August 2021
  • All students and employees at DSHA are vaccine eligible. 
  • Current vaccination/immunity levels among students and employees at DSHA is near 80%. 
  • Milwaukee County transmission levels have fluctuated between low, moderate, and substantial in recent weeks. 
  • The Delta variant is quite contagious, is more likely to impact younger people, and has shown more substantial health risks to unvaccinated individuals. 

Stay-at-Home Guidelines

List of 7 items.

  • Self-monitoring and personal responsibility:

    Self-monitoring and personal responsibility are vital to keeping everyone safe. 

  • Attendance expectations and policy:

    DSHA has revised our sick and attendance policies to support girls staying home when they are sick. 
    • It is imperative that a student who experiences symptoms of illness, especially symptoms associated with coronavirus, stay home. 
    • Parents/guardians are essential partners in keeping all students, faculty, and staff safe by enforcing our stricter sick and attendance policies. 
    • Our faculty and staff will also be required to stay home if they are experiencing illness, especially any symptoms related to coronavirus. 
    • Our school nurse will work with you to set an appropriate return date based on your symptoms, any medical evaluation and vaccination status. 

  • Symptom monitoring:

    DSHA students will be asked to self-monitor for illness daily prior to arriving at school. Click here to view Daily Self-Monitoring Tool.
    • If the student is sick with COVID-19-like symptoms or other infectious illness they must remain home. Parents are instructed to keep their daughters at home if they are ill.
    • Any single symptom below with an asterisk or presenting with two or more non-asterisk symptoms from the list, the student should stay home from school, or the student will be sent home from school. for possible COVID-19. They should be evaluated.   
    COVID-19 Symptoms:
    *Cough (above baseline), *Shortness of breath/trouble breathing, *new loss of taste and smell, *taken medicine to lower temperature, sore throat, unusual fatigue, nausea, vomiting, runny nose or congestion, headache, muscle or body aches, fever of 100.4 or chills, or have taken fever reducing medications, diarrhea.

  • If student is symptomatic:

    If the student is symptomatic:
    • Please call the school attendance office. The school nurse will return your call and evaluate your student’s symptoms through a brief interview.
    • Remember that there are many causes for any of COVID-19-like symptoms. The school nurse will evaluate the student’s risk for COVID-19 and may recommend testing. Students’ should also seek guidance from their personal healthcare providers.
    • Students presenting with vomiting, diarrhea or fever-alone or together-will need to be at home. They may return in 24 hours and when the symptom is resolved and has no fever without use of fever reducing medications per communicable illness guidelines for schools. 
    • Any health information collected will be kept confidential consistent with applicable state and federal laws. 

  • Stay-at-home learning for those affected by COVID-19 isolation or quarantines:

    Web cameras will facilitate stay-at-home learning for those affected by COVID-19 isolation or quarantines.

    • DSHA is committed to in-person learning this year but will evaluate on an individual student basis the accommodation of virtual learning if the student is affected by COVID quarantines, isolation or treatments, or if medically necessary, accommodations may be made for students with serious health concerns or disabilities. 
    • Virtual learning require approval and may take 24 hours to accommodate. 

  • There will be NO opt-out or fully online learning option:

    DSHA will be fully in person and there will be no opt out option.  
    If there are extenuating circumstances, DSHA administration will discuss those concerns with the parents.  

  • Parent programming and visitors:

    Parents and visitors are welcome at school events. Please do not enter if you are on quarantine, isolation, have COVID-19 like symptoms (that are not your baseline), have had a fever in the past 24 hours, have recently been exposed to someone who has or is suspected of COVID-19, or you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days regardless of your vaccination status.  

    Visitors must check in to the Main Office.  

Isolation and Quarantine Guidelines

List of 7 items.

  • Transmission context:

    Someone who is sick with COVID-19 can spread it to others from two days before they show any symptoms until a few days after they recover. Not everyone with COVID-19 will get sick. Those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, but never had symptoms (asymptomatic cases), may still be able to spread it to others. There are multiple variants of COVID-19, and it is possible to have repeat infections. Vaccinated and boostered individuals may be susceptible to new variants, but vaccinations and boosters have shown to provide a level of protection and decrease severity of illness if infected. 

  • Isolation duration:

    If you tested positive for COVID-19 you must meet these criteria before your isolation is over: 
    • At least 5 days have passed since your positive test, or first significant symptoms.
    • You have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without using medication that reduces fevers (examples; Acetaminophen/Tylenol, Ibuprofen/Advil/Motrin, Aspirin, Excedrin, Naproxen/Aleve). 
    • Your symptoms are resolving, and you are feeling well. 

  • Definition of "close contact":

    If any of these apply the individual is considered a close contact: 
    • Has had direct physical contact with a positive person (e.g., hug, kiss, handshake.) 
    • Were within 6 feet of that person for more than 15 minutes total in a 24-hour period.
    • Had contact with the infected person’s respiratory secretions (ie, shared a water bottle, drink, food, towels, dirty tissue, or other personal item.) 
    • Stayed overnight for at least 1 night in a household with a positive person.  

  • Instructions for positive COVID-19 cases: ISOLATE

    Anyone who is presumed or tests positive for COVID-19, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, symptomatic or asymptomatic should stay home. Do not go to school, school events, work, sports, extracurriculars or public areas. 
    • You will need to isolate for a minimum of 5 days from the onset of symptoms or from the positive test day, whichever applies. The first symptom date or positive test date is counted as day zero. Each person responds differently to the virus. If a student needs more days to meet the return criteria, then their isolation will be adjusted accordingly. 
    Criteria to return to school: 
    • At least 5 days have passed since the onset of significant symptoms or 5 days since a positive test. 
    • Symptoms are resolving and the student is feeling well. 
    • There have been no fevers in the 24 hours before returning to school. 
    • No fever-reducing medications have been used in the 24 hours before returning to school. 
    Who to notify of a positive test:
    • Notify the student’s healthcare provider of their positive results.
    • Notify the school attendance office of their absence.
    • Notify the school nurse of their positive test. A brief interview will be done, and school contact tracing will begin. You will receive guidance and a return to school date from the school nurse. 
    How to isolate: 
    • The positive individual should separate themselves as much as possible and should stay in a specific room, away from others in your home. They should use a separate bathroom if available. They should also wear a mask indoors if they cannot maintain separation from others. 
    • Do not share personal household items like drinking glasses, towels or bedding.
    • Postpone all non-essential appointments until the isolation period is complete. 
    • Keep a list of people the student has had contact with from starting 2 days before symptoms started. 
    • Wash hands frequently.
    • Cover mouth and nose with tissue when sneezing or coughing. 

  • Instructions for close contact exposures:

    Regardless of vaccination status, all close contacts should monitor for symptoms and wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days after the last close contact. 

    If a close contact develops any COVID-19 symptoms, they should isolate, get tested immediately, and continue to isolate if they test positive. 

    Notify the school nurse of any exposures. 

    NOTE: DSHA will no longer be doing contact tracing on in-classroom exposures when the active transmission levels are below 2.5% in the school. 

    Guidance for: Unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated individuals who have had close contact with someone who was diagnosed with COVID-19:
    • Get tested when identified as a close contact, wear a well-fitting mask, self-monitor for symptoms, and self-quarantine to protect yourself, your family, and the community.
    • Asymptomatic unvaccinated and not fully vaccinated students MAY attend school through our Test to Stay Option (see below).
    • Unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated students, faculty, and staff who are subject to quarantine should not attend school, sports, extra curriculars, in-person work, use public transportation, avoid public travel or ride-shares, postpone all non-essential appointments, go out only when necessary and wear a face mask around others. 
    • Stay at home/quarantine for at least 5 days from the last date or close contact with the positive individual. 
    • Test again on day 5. 

    Test to Stay Option: 

    If an asymptomatic unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated student is identified as a close contact and is required to otherwise quarantine, she may remain in school for in-person learning and not quarantine if she tests negative for COVID-19 twice in a 7-day period from the date of exposure. To ease the family burden of testing, the testing may be done at the school lab. The school nurse will determine the timing of required testing. Those who "test to stay" must always remain masked in school (apart from lunch) as an alternative to a required quarantine. If a student tests positive, they will be sent home for isolation. The school nurse will discuss this option with families that this applies to. An exposed student will be sent home until the initial test returns negative. Then she may stay in school if she remains asymptomatic and continues to test negative.  
     
    NOTE: Test to stay is not an option for positive COVID-19 cases. 

    Guidance for: Fully vaccinated or boostered individuals:
    • Vaccinated close contacts do not need to quarantine.
    • Get tested upon being identified as a close contact, monitor for symptoms and wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days from last contact.
    • Test again on day 5 or after. 
    If you develop symptoms, get a test and isolate (stay home and away from others) until your test results are back.

    Guidance for: Had COVID-19 within the past 90 days and recovered:
    • There is no quarantine.
    • They should speak to the nurse of their healthcare professional about being tested. 

  • Instructions for no known exposure with COVID-19-like symptoms:

    If an unvaccinated or a vaccinated student has no known exposure and has COVID-19 like symptoms: 
    • The student should be tested for COVID-19, OR they should quarantine for 5 days OR have a medical exam and an alternative diagnosis is made and they have COVID ruled out as a possible source of their symptoms. 
    • Stay home and isolate until the test results are back.
    • Return to school criteria: the student must have a negative test and be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications and their symptoms are improved. 
      OR 
    • The student may return to school when school nurse confirms receipt of an alternative diagnosis from a healthcare provider with instructions regarding criteria for safe return and that COVID was ruled out as a cause of the current symptoms. 
    *If an alternative diagnosis is made the student may need to complete the exclusion period for the diagnosis made.   
    **If the COVID-19 test comes back positive, then follow guidance for positive COVID-19 cases found on this page.

  • Important vocabulary:

    Quarantine | This is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others by staying home, keeping themselves away from others as much as possible and monitoring for symptoms.
    Isolation | This is used to keep people that have or may have COVID-19 away from others by staying home, keeping away from others in the home by isolating in a “sick room and using a sick bathroom” if possible and using masks in times when isolating from others in the home is not possible. This also means staying home and not going to school, work or out for anything unnecessary.  

    Separation |     This is used in school settings by health aides to separate any student or staff member from others on the onset of COVID-19 symptoms or knowledge of a direct exposure until they can leave the building. 
     
    Close Contact: | A person is considered a close contact if any of the following is true. If they: 
    • Were within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes total in a day. 
    • Had physical contact with the person. 
    • Were within 3 feet of a positive case in a classroom setting without a mask for 15 minutes total in a day. 
    • Had direct contact with the respiratory secretions of the person (example: drinking out of positive COVID person’s water bottle).
    • Lives or stayed overnight with the person, even one night. 
       
      Household Contact | A household contact includes anyone who lives, or lived temporarily, with the COVID-19 case patient for at least one night in the same room or household during his or her infectious period. Because of the amount of time and space shared between household contacts, they are at greater risk of infection. Therefore, household contacts have different considerations for quarantine and release from quarantine measures, compared to other close contacts.  

      Booster Vaccine | A booster vaccine is a supplemental vaccine dose given to people with the immune response to a primary vaccine series which is likely to have decreased over time. 

    Face Mask Policy | 2021-22 School Year

    List of 3 items.

    • Face mask requirements:

      DSHA administration, faculty and staff are committed to creating a positive culture where personal health decisions, including the decision to wear or not wear a face covering during school, will be embraced, and welcomed. All members of the DSHA community are expected to respect the health decisions of others.

      All areas of the DSHA campus are mask optional.

      Face Mask requirement for short-term periods: 
      • DSHA may declare that masks must be worn by all students and staff, including both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, for a period of time when an increase in positive COVID-19 cases occur within our school community.    
      • DSHA will declare a short-term mask requirement if the number of current COVID-19 positive cases reaches a substantial level, 2.5% of our total student and staff population. The short-term mask requirement would end when the confirmed positive COVID-19 cases drop below 1% of the DSHA student and staff population. 
      • DSHA community members will be notified in advance if and when DSHA would begin or end a short-term mask requirement period. 
      • DSHA reserves the right to modify the criteria used to declare a mask requirement period over the course of the year to best protect the health and safety of the community.  

    • Transportation:

      • Busing: Students riding the buses must wear a mask while on the bus. Face masks are required for all individuals on school buses and vans per federal order. 

    • Compliance and accommodations:

      Students unable to abide by any of these health or safety requirements should contact the school nurse to discuss possible accommodations. Medical documentation may be required prior to approval of accommodation requests. 

    Physical Distancing at School

    List of 2 items.

    • Classroom instructional space:

      • Physical distancing at school is one of our layered mitigation strategies.
      • Every instructional space will maintain a minimal space of 3 feet between student’s desks. 
      • The teacher may maintain a 6-foot instructional space between student desks and the instructor. 

    • Non-instructional spaces:

      • While every precaution will be taken for maintaining 3 feet of distance between people in instructional spaces, we may not be able to guarantee that precise distance throughout the entire school day such as the passing time, assemblies or lunch. 
      • Current scientific evidence and ongoing COVID-19 research indicates that being within 6 feet for > 15 minutes in 24 hours is considered close proximity OR within 3 feet in K-12 classrooms for >15 min when unvaccinated and masked.  
      • DSHA may provide an option of three feet distancing during school assemblies and six feet distancing in lunch spaces for interested individuals. 
      • Please reach out to your counselor  if you need accommodations.

    Hand Washing

    List of 2 items.

    Physical Plant

    List of 6 items.

    • Cleaning and sanitization:

      DSHA will be cleaned regularly with special attention to most public areas/spaces like bathrooms, hand railings, door handles, etc.: 
      • DSHA will use electrostatic sprayers used to sanitize hard surfaces. This will be used twice daily to clean classroom desks and other hard surfaces. This is in addition to alcohol-based wipes for classrooms.
      • DSHA uses 3M chemicals all of which meet the CDC requirements for killing viruses on hard surfaces. 

    • Classroom spacing:

      • Placement of desks to allow for a minimum of 3 feet of space between student desks in all instructional spaces.  
      • Desks will be facing one way, to the front of the classroom most of the time. 
      • Teachers may use groups as an instructional strategy which will result in time spent in pods or other arrangements.  
      • Teachers reserve the right in his or her classroom to designate teacher-only spaces in the classroom (a “zone of teaching”). 
      • Assigned seating in the classroom with seating charts to assist with contact tracing will be required.

    • Lunch room and procedures:

      • Aladdin Foodservice, DSHA’s food service vendor, is following all COVID-19 guidelines for foodservice safety per CDC guidelines. 
      • Foodservice options will not be limited this year.  
      • Students are encouraged to bring their own lunch to avoid having to stand in any line and to not share food items. 
      • Microwaves will be provided; however, we are encouraging students to bring their own lunch from home that does not require microwaves.
      • Lunch tables will be set up as reasonably close to 3’ but cannot be guaranteed.
      • Vending machines will be operational this year, but students are encouraged to bring their own snacks.    

    • Health room:

      DSHA has established a COVID-19 health room (original health room) and a separate health room for non-COVID-19 symptoms (under the central stairwell in the Commons). 

    • Water fountains:

      Drinking water fountains will be functional and sanitized throughout the day. Students and staff are encouraged to bring water bottles and refill them at the water stations. 

    • Air filtration:

      • Our school is now equipped with a new air filtration system, summer 2021. All instructional spaces are supplied with a bipolar ionization system that mitigates airborne viruses.  
      • We upgraded our HVAC filters to meet or to exceed Merv 13 and replace filters as prescribed by the CDC.

    School Nurse

    List of 2 items.

    • Personnel and contact info:

      DSHA has a school nurse for the 2021-2022 school year. The administration, i.e., principal and dean of student affairs will also lend support in the absence of any nurse. 

      DSHA School Nurse Patti Hughes can be contacted at HughesP@dsha.info, 414-462-3742 ext. 4357.

       

    • Responsibilities:

      • Assist students who may be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms at school. 
      • Provide guidance and education for students exposed to COVID-19 or who test positive. 
      • Provide ongoing education and training for our community on safety measures to mitigate a COVID-19 outbreak at DSHA. 
      • Be the primary point of contact for the City of Milwaukee Health Department (COVID-19 Coordinator). 
      • Manage cases within our building and help make any decisions related to the health and safety of our community. 
      • Reconcile attendance against student-reported symptoms and any students within the established COVID-19 Return to School protocol. 

    Testing

    List of 2 items.

    • DSHA is a testing site for household members:

      COVID-19 Testing Site | Our laboratory partner, Accelerated Analytical Laboratory, continues to serve our DSHA community members with testing available four days a week. COVID Rapid and PCR can be obtained at no charge, and without insurance, for students, faculty, TSC, and their household members and/or carpools.

      After completing the registration, arrive at the back alcove theatre door labeled #12 in the faculty parking lot. You will find door #12 just past the garage dumpster corral. Wear a mask. Knock on the glass door for admittance or call the nurse's office at 414-462-3742 ext. 4357. We can have the lab come to your car if needed by calling the nurse's office to say you have arrived.

      DSHA school testing protocol requires that a parent register all minors for testing. The laboratory uses COVID Connect as their registration software which is used by many Wisconsin COVID-19 testing labs. The registration software is not specific to our school’s protocols. Please remind your daughters to discuss with you all desires to obtain COVID-19 testing at school so you can give approval and complete the registration survey for her.

      There is no appointment necessary, but you must preregister at the link below. Your registration time expires after each use or after 7 days unused. The lab hours are:
      • Mondays | 8-11 a.m.
      • Tuesdays | 12-3 p.m.
      • Wednesdays | 1:30-4:30 p.m.
      • Thursdays | 8 - 11:30 a.m.
      • Fridays | 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.

      Click here to preregister.
      Click here for preregistration instructions. 

      • Overnight trips/retreats:

        DSHA will not require COVID testing before overnight trips and retreats when the school's active transmission level is below 2.5%. 

      COVID-19-related communications & Privacy

      List of 2 items.

      • When a community member tests positive:

        • In the case of a member of our community testing positive for COVID-19, school officials will communicate to the DSHA community depending on the specifics of the situation.   
        • During universal masking periods, we will not be sending home the classroom exposure emails. When all students are masked in the classroom, classroom exposures would be rare. We will continue to report our positivity rate in the Parent eNews.  
        • Privacy considerations, as well as the health and safety of the entire school community, will always be respected. 
        • We will make these decisions in consultation with our Medical Task Force.
                     
         

      • Parent eNews & COVID-19 dashboard:

        A COVID-19 Dashboard will be published in each DSHA Parent eNews including our number of cases, exposures and overall percentage.

      For questions, contact:

      List of 1 items.

      DSHA COVID-19 Testing Lab Hours:
      • Mondays | 8 -11 a.m.
      • Tuesdays | 12 - 3 p.m.
      • Wednesdays | 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
      • Thursdays | 8 - 11:30 a.m.
      • Fridays | 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
      Register for testing here. 

      Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

      4257 N. 100th Street Milwaukee, WI 53222 | Phone: (414) 462-3742
      Sponsored by the Sisters of the Divine Savior
      © 2017 Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. All Rights Reserved