Dear Calhoun Families,
 
I hope this note finds you well and recovering from happy excesses of Super Bowl weekend, Valentine's Day or Restaurant Week. 
 
It has been a while since I updated you on COVID measures. In part this has been because the surge of Omicron cases created some chaos and federal, state and city regulations have been in flux. With prevalence rates now returning to the low levels we experienced in the fall, it's a good time to take stock and look ahead.
 
I want to touch on three broad areas: testing, quarantine/isolation, and masks.
 
Testing
 
I am grateful to the Calhoun community for cooperating with our varied screening programs over the last two years. I think our faculty and students have spit in enough tubes to last a lifetime. The usefulness of weekly or gateway PCR testing of asymptomatic individuals has greatly diminished, however, given the speed with which latest variants can move through a population. Consequently, after the Presidents' Day weekend, we will discontinue weekly testing with Sovereign Labs except for students and teachers in the 3's and 4's classrooms. 
 
We will continue to utilize and send home rapid test kits for symptomatic cases or where known or possible exposure to a positive case has occurred. And I ask all of you to please let Nurse Lisa know whenever one of our students or anyone in their household tests positive for COVID. Finally, prior to spring break, we will send at-home test kits with all students and employees and ask you to test on the Monday morning before school resumes and again later that week, to provide some extra reassurance as we return from break.
 
Quarantine and Isolation
 
These terms are often used interchangeably, so let me clarify –– when an individual tests positive for coronavirus, they are required (by New York State) to isolate at home, limiting contact with other household members. When an individual is deemed a close contact of someone who tests positive for coronavirus, they have been required to quarantine for some period to ensure they do not spread the virus.
 
In light of the latest state guidance, we have adopted five days as an isolation period for those who are COVID-positive, beginning on the day after symptoms emerge or a positive test is received. After five days, we are asking individuals to use an at-home test to confirm they are no longer contagious before returning to school. If the at-home test still shows positive results after ten days, the individual is cleared to return to school.
 
As to quarantines, according to state guidelines, vaccinated students and teachers are not required to quarantine and schools may allow unvaccinated students to "test-to-stay" (using multiple at-home rapid tests) in lieu of requiring them to quarantine at home. We have, since the end of winter break, been employing the test-to-stay strategy to end the disruptive practice of keeping healthy students out of school. I am grateful to the families that have complied with our requests for at-home testing under this policy.
 
In addition, recent DOH guidelines have essentially ended the practice of contact tracing –– within schools specifically, and also more generally. As a result, we are no longer identifying "close contacts" of a positive case reported in school. We are, instead, sending notifications of positive cases to sub-populations in the school (grades, ASP, etc) where an exposure may have occurred. In some of these cases where contact is more likely, such as Lower School classrooms, we may ask unvaccinated students to test-to-stay as an additional safeguard.
 
Masks
 
The topic of masks is very much in the news, and we are bound by state and city regulations that require all students and employees in school buildings to be masked at all times. Based on the most recent statements by the governor, however, it appears likely that the state mandate for masks in schools is likely to end by early March, and that the city would then accept that decision or set its own timetable.
 
While we would not be required at that point to make masks optional at Calhoun, would we? I think the simple answer is yes. Prevalence rates in the city and in the Calhoun community have dropped dramatically, and virtually all the cases we have seen at Calhoun since winter break have been relatively mild. The virus will be with us for the foreseeable future, as will annual (likely) booster shots bundled (likely) with our annual flu shots. It is time for us to map out our strategy for exiting our two-year state of emergency, and for our students to fully reclaim the lives they left behind so abruptly in March 2020. And that includes seeing each other's –– and their teachers' –– faces in school.
 
As we begin this shift, most likely when we return from spring break, we will need to keep a few things in mind. First, we will underscore to everyone in the community that masks will be optional, and that some folks will choose to continue wearing masks because of vulnerable household members, ineligibility for vaccination, or other reasons. Second, and related, some community members may feel this step is overdue and others that it is premature. We are not all in the same place in this pandemic and we all experience it differently. A core value of the Calhoun community is to be respectful and supportive of the needs of everyone in it, not to strive for uniformity. Finally, this pandemic has been a rollercoaster, and there may come another Greek-lettered surge that requires a return to masks or other measures. We will take those steps if and when needed; all the more reason to relax our restrictions now, when that seems prudent.
 
It is difficult to believe that we have been living with this pandemic for almost two full years. I am incredibly proud of how everyone in this community cared for each other in the darkest days of this ordeal, and of how our teachers and our students in different ways modeled resilience and kindness. I am especially grateful to Nurse Lisa and Nicole Nelson –– who devoted endless hours to keeping the community safe –– and to the administrators and division coordinators who managed the logistics of this herculean effort. Our maintenance and security staffs have been incredible. And our parents and caregivers have taken care to do everything we have asked of them.
 
This pandemic is not over, but I feel we are at last at the beginning of the end. I ask everyone to continue to take the basic measures that have safeguarded the community. If you have been waiting to get a vaccination or a booster, please get them (future state or city guidelines may impose different restrictions on boosted, vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals). Do not come to school or send students to school with any symptoms of illness, and inform us of any positive cases in the household. Wash hands. Please wear masks properly and consistently...for at least a few more weeks. 
 

Conflict in Ukraine: A Discussion with Steve Solnick
Wed., Feb. 16, 6pm - Register here
 
And now, for something completely different. As many of you know, a lifetime ago I taught and worked in the area of international politics, specifically Russian and post-Soviet politics. Russia has been very much in the news of late, with a dangerous standoff over the status of Ukraine and the real possibility of a new war in Europe.
 
Given the gravity of the situation, I thought it might be interesting to convene anyone in the community (students and adults) who are following the Ukrainian crisis for a quick briefing and discussion. I'll give a short overview of the history of the conflict and how we got here. And hopefully we can hear from community members with different professional or personal perspectives on the situation. 
 
I realize this is short notice, but the situation on the ground is evolving quickly. Therefore, I'm going to suggest we meet on Zoom at 6pm tomorrow (Wed., Feb. 16) for not more than an hour. All are welcome. You can register for the meeting here.
 
In partnership,
Steve