COVID-19 Health & Safety Protocols

All students, employees, and volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated (primary series) against COVID-19 or have a medical or religious exemption on file with the school. We also strongly encourage all to stay up to date on any boosters as recommended by public health or a healthcare provider. Email [email protected] to request an exemption.

Masks are optional indoors and outdoors unless otherwise directed by public health or in the event of an outbreak.

In the event of a known exposure on or off campus, close contacts are strongly encouraged to mask indoors for ten days. The school retains discretion in requiring masking such as in response to a suspected outbreak.

We will continue to fully support the individual masking choices of each family and student, acknowledging that there are those who are immunocompromised or have other high risk factors that require additional protection while attending school.

Students or staff who have one or more COVID-19 symptoms are required to stay home (quarantine) and should get tested and/or see a healthcare provider and follow the return to school guidance accordingly. If symptoms develop while at school, students or staff will be rapid tested and sent home.

Please note:

• Siblings of sick students or other family members do not need to stay home unless they develop symptoms.
• If a student has a documented medical condition that may occasionally present symptoms similar to COVID-19 (such as seasonal allergies), we can accept a letter from a healthcare provider to serve as an exemption from staying home in certain situations (email this to [email protected] and inform the teacher).

Please report positive cases as soon as possible to [email protected], including over weekends and breaks. The school is also required to report all positive cases to public health.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are required to isolate at home. Individuals are eligible to return to school after 5 full days of isolation are complete and they are asymptomatic or symptoms are improved and they have had no fever for the past 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. A mask must be worn at all times if returning on days 6-10, except while eating lunch outdoors. Refer to the return to school guidance for additional information.

**PLEASE NOTE: Public health does not require a negative test to return to school after 5 days of isolation. However, if your student takes a rapid test and it is positive, they may still be infectious and must continue to isolate. Repeat the test every 24-48 hours. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

• Students and siblings of a confirmed COVID-19 positive household member do not need to stay home if they are asymptomatic, however we strongly recommend a mask while at school and home testing every 24-48 hours until five days after the last positive household member's isolation has ended.

Bertschi will notify families by classroom when there is a known exposure to COVID-19 at school along with the recommended guidance from public health to follow at home. If a family needs access to additional rapid tests for use at home, we can provide those. We strongly encourage masking indoors for ten days following exposure.

Bertschi will periodically ask families to participate in screening testing including administering tests at home before the first day of school and before returning from school breaks.

Rapid testing is available in the main office for individuals who become symptomatic while on campus or if families need access to additional tests for use at home.

Order free at-home tests here (WA State residents) and here (federal program via USPS).

Frequent hand washing and sanitizing will be part of the school day. Learning spaces feature the following:

• Touchless sink faucets
• Touchless toilet flushers
• Hand sanitizer dispensers

Students in all grades will eat snack and community lunch in classrooms. We encourage students masking at school to tip their masks when taking sips of water or bites of food during their brief snack period.

If a family requests an exception for lunch, a communal outdoor location will be arranged. Email assistant head of school, Jennie Bloch Garcia, and your teacher if you would like your student to eat lunch outdoors.

Extended day programming welcomes students across grade levels to play, learn, and relax together in a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces.

The ventilation in all learning spaces has been optimized using the following measures:

• Three or more HEPA ionizer air purifiers in each classroom depending on square footage
• Classroom window fans with reversible air flow

Bertschi School was recently evaluated by the Seattle & King County Public Health program called COVID-19 Recovery Ventilation & Indoor Air Quality. Our school met or exceeded all recommendations and was commended for the measures in place.

Classrooms, bathrooms, and all common areas throughout campus are cleaned regularly by the facilities and custodial staff according to the latest public health guidance.

If your student is unvaccinated, please contact [email protected] before planning any travel through a travel hub to ensure alignment with the latest protocols. Following school breaks, students may be asked to test upon return.

Bertschi does not offer a distance learning program for students in quarantine or isolation. Teachers will continue to provide or suggest school work that can be done at home, as possible, as they would any other student home with an illness.