Author: admin
COVID-19 - Jupiter Update
Dear Families,
As you know, there is increasing focus on the coronavirus (COVID-19) threat across the country, with more states and counties taking bold actions to close schools. While preparation and prevention is very important, the CDC has noted that “The immediate risk of being exposed to this virus is still low for most Americans…” – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html.
We are fortunate that we have not yet had any reported cases of coronavirus in our immediate school environment. That said, the health, safety and wellbeing of our students and extended community are our top priorities.
We will continue to closely monitor any local coronavirus developments and are preparing ourselves for a variety of scenarios. We are committed to making fact-based decisions—informed by official sources—and will notify you of our decisions as quickly as possible. We are also in regular contact with other providers across the country through a variety of resources and are committed to sharing our best ideas and practices with the utmost safety interest at heart.
We continue to promote overall preventative health hygiene to minimize the spread of infectious diseases within our schools, including:
• thorough handwashing and covering up coughs/sneezes.
• daily “wellness” checks of students—promptly sending students home if they show signs of illness.
• ensuring all staff and students feeling ill stay home until they recover.
• repeated cleaning of “high-touch” surfaces throughout the school day.
• After-hours disinfecting/sanitizing sessions of all areas
As part of an ongoing effort to ensure the safety of all our children and staff and out of an abundance of caution, effective immediately, we are now asking that any children, parents or staff (or those with household members) who have traveled to an area under the CDC’s Travel Health Notice Level 3 or above NOT come to school for a 14-day period from the date of their return. This is not local or national health authority guidance but rather our school policy. We understand that this may pose a significant inconvenience on many, but please know that we make this request with the well-being of our children and community as our priority.
At this time, local field trips are going on as scheduled, however; this is undergoing a day by day review and adjustments will be made as necessary with the safety of the children and staff in mind. This may mean that field trips may be cancelled, and we apologize for any inconvenience in advance but know we do this for the safety of everyone involved. In the event of any field trip cancellations children will still go outside and get exercise in the safest environment possible.
Regarding anyone cruising or international travel conducted during the break we ask that:
1. You monitor your heath and if you or anyone in your household is sick or displaying any flu-like or cold symptoms or if a case of COVID-19 was reported on your ship during the cruise, you must stay home during these 14 days and practice social distancing and contact your health provider and local health department. Children may return back to school once cleared by the health department.
2. If you or someone in your household return from any of the following countries: Japan, South Korea, China, Iran and Italy you must inform us immediately via phone and/or email and stay home for 14 days and no one in the household should have any symptoms before the returning to school.
Once again, we urge everyone to please make sure and use the provided hand-sanitizers when entering the building.
As always please come to us with any questions or suggestions. We are committed to working together to ensure the health and safety of the children and staff.
*** THIS IS AN ONGOING AND CHANGING DEVELOPMENT. WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES VIA EMAIL, FACEBOOK AND OUR WEBSITE REGARDING ANY STATUS CHANGES AND/OR DEVELOPMENTS.
COVID-19 - Fort Pierce Update
Dear Families,
As you know, there is increasing focus on the coronavirus (COVID-19) threat across the country, with more states and counties taking bold actions to close schools. While preparation and prevention is very important, the CDC has noted that “The immediate risk of being exposed to this virus is still low for most Americans…” – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html.
We are fortunate that we have not yet had any reported cases of coronavirus in our immediate school environment. That said, the health, safety and wellbeing of our students and extended community are our top priorities.
We will continue to closely monitor any local coronavirus developments and are preparing ourselves for a variety of scenarios. We are committed to making fact-based decisions—informed by official sources—and will notify you of our decisions as quickly as possible. We are also in regular contact with other providers across the country through a variety of resources and are committed to sharing our best ideas and practices with the utmost safety interest at heart.
We continue to promote overall preventative health hygiene to minimize the spread of infectious diseases within our schools, including:
• thorough handwashing and covering up coughs/sneezes.
• daily “wellness” checks of students—promptly sending students home if they show signs of illness.
• ensuring all staff and students feeling ill stay home until they recover.
• repeated cleaning of “high-touch” surfaces throughout the school day.
• After-hours disinfecting/sanitizing sessions of all areas
As part of an ongoing effort to ensure the safety of our all children and staff and out of an abundance of caution, effective immediately, we are now asking that any children, parents or staff (or those with household members) who have traveled to an area under the CDC’s Travel Health Notice Level 3 or above NOT come to school for a 14-day period from the date of their return. This is not local or national health authority guidance but rather our school policy. We understand that this may pose a significant inconvenience on many, but please know that we make this request with the well-being of our children and community as our priority. Children will still go outside and get exercise in the safest environment possible.
Regarding anyone cruising or international travel conducted during the break we ask that:
1. You monitor your heath and if you or anyone in your household is sick or displaying any flu-like or cold symptoms or if a case of COVID-19 was reported on your ship during the cruise, you must stay home during these 14 days and practice social distancing and contact your health provider and local health department. Children may return back to school once cleared by the health department.
2. If you or someone in your household return from any of the following countries: Japan, South Korea, China, Iran and Italy you must inform us immediately via phone and/or email and stay home for 14 days and no one in the household should have any symptoms before the returning to school.
Once again, we urge everyone to please make sure and use the provided hand-sanitizers when entering the building.
As always please come to us with any questions or suggestions. We are committed to working together to ensure the health and safety of the children and staff.
*** THIS IS AN ONGOING AND CHANGING DEVELOPMENT AND THE ABOVE INFORMATION MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME. WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES VIA EMAIL, FACEBOOK AND OUR WEBSITE REGARDING ANY STATUS CHANGES AND/OR DEVELOPMENTS.
Storybrooke COVID-19 Prevention and Preparedness
Dear Parents,
With the fears and concerns of COVID-19, commonly referred to as the Coronavirus, having a potential impact on South Florida as more cases are reported we thought it would be prudent to put out a notice to our families. As of the writing of this notice, the School District of Palm Beach County has sent out a notice noting that they are working closely with the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to monitor COVID-19 and have furthermore indicated that there are no known cases of COVID-19 in Palm Beach County. While there are very limited steps we can take from our end, we are committed to taking a proactive approach to try and minimize any exposure to our children, parents and staff alike. As part of that approach, we are conducting deep cleaning sessions along with enhanced after hours and weekend specialized sanitation sessions. We would like to encourage everyone to take part in using the provided hand-sanitizer which can be found at the front entrance. While we have procured additional self-serve sanitizing wall pumps, they have not been installed as of today as we anxiously and patiently wait for the sanitation solution to become available; at this time it is currently out of stock. As more solutions become available, self-serve sanitizing pumps will be installed in various locations throughout the school, including but not limited to the exterior of the facility, the playgrounds as well as they will be installed outside of every classroom. For those concerned about the surfaces used in the process of child check-in and check-out procedures please be assured they are cleaned thoroughly throughout the day, however; we highly encourage everyone to use the provided hand-sanitizing solution after every use. We discussed this internally and temporarily going back to pen and paper would pose an even greater exposure as we cannot effectively wipe the surfaces onto which things are written to, the paper. In addition, it would require the wiping of writing instruments, binders, counter surfaces, etc. after every use which would be extremely hard to follow with accuracy, and yet still it would leave the paper surface exposed as it cannot be effectively wiped down.
We realize that for many, we are just one of many stops on everyone’s normal day-day ventures and so our efforts are only strong as those carried out by others in that chain. We are also proactively monitoring any developments and we reserve the option to cancel any out of school activities and/or field trips at any time due to health concerns for the students and staff.
As many of you may already be aware, Spring Break is right around the corner. We ask that you please monitor and review the travel advisories that have been put in place and we ask that you notify us if you travel internationally so that we can assess the impact to the school and advise our parents accordingly.
As communicated by the School District of Palm Beach County on 3.9.2020:
“Upon returning to Florida, self-monitor for fever, cough, or other respiratory symptoms for 14 days. If you do feel sick within 14 days of returning from China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea, the CDC advises you should:
• Seek medical care; contact the health care provider by phone ahead of your visit and tell them about your recent travel and symptoms.
• Contact your county health department: (floridahealth.gov/chdepicontact)
Avoid contact with other people.
• Delay any additional travel plans until you are no longer sick.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
Please continue to monitor information provided by the FDOH, the CDC, and information provided on the District’s dedicated Coronavirus website.”
At Storybrooke, our commitment is to the safety and care of all our children, parents and staff alike. We sincerely thank you in advanced in your mindful cooperation of the above guidelines.
Additional information regarding any changes or potential impacts to our schools will be proactively and effectively communicated as they become available. Along with e-mail, please monitor our website and Facebook page for any school developments.
For any updates and/or developments regarding COVID-19 we urge you to visit the Florida Health Department website as well as the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website. For a list of actively reported and positively diagnosed cases refer to the Florida Health Department website.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us immediately.
Thank You,
Karina Nunez
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information
The following information has been provided by the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, The Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County School District (In no particular order):
The Center for Disease Control has released the new COVID-19 guidance for schools. It can be accessed here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/guidance-for-schools.html
Main CDC site for all Coronavirus updates: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Department of Children and Families has also setup their own resource site at: http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/COVID-19/index.html
The School District has activated a website dedicated specifically to updates and educational information about Coronavirus. PalmBeachSchools.org/Coronavirus.
The Florida Department of Health has activated a Coronavirus hotline.
Call: 1-866-779-6121 or email COVID-19@flhealth.gov. The FDOH Call Center is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
In addition to the above please take time to review the following as provided by the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County: 2019-ncov-factsheet.pdf and stop-the-spread-of-germs.pdf.
Click on the respective download buttons below to view and/or download the file