COVID-19 Status Update

Dear Families,

I hope you are all doing well and will enjoy the long weekend. While we are no longer updating the community in real time on each positive case, we remain committed to keeping our families updated on current COVID-19 activity in the NYA community.

The following are some recent data you may find of interest:

Fortunately, the decreased isolation and quarantine periods have limited the need for remote learning with students. As of today, nine total Middle and Upper School students are accessing their classes remotely.

With many local schools shifting to periods of remote learning for the full school community, it is promising that current cases at NYA are down and trending in the right direction. However, there are still active cases in our community and significant spread within the greater Maine community. With the increased transmissibility of the omicron variant, we need to continue to be vigilant. Our efforts are designed with the interests of everyone’s health and safety in mind.

Keeping students in class and engaged in activities remains a critical goal. To achieve this goal, it is imperative we keep our faculty and staff healthy to ensure we have sufficient personnel to run the daily operations of the school. It is of note that in addition to the positive cases among faculty and staff, some faculty and staff have missed time to care for family members who have tested positive. Still, staff and faculty absences have been manageable thus far at NYA. Faculty and staff on campus have done an exceptional job covering for one other in these cases, and I commend each of them for their extra time and effort to fill any voids. Again, our mitigation efforts are critical to keeping faculty and staff healthy and in the classroom.

The following are continued reminders and information on how we can keep our community safe and minimize the risk of spread in our community:

• Our COVID-19 FAQ contains updated information on NYA policies and guidelines as it relates to COVID-19. The NYA Health and Safety Committee continues to meet at least weekly to review policies and make updates as appropriate.
• We will continue to administer our regular pooled testing on Thursday of next week.
• Continue to contact Ashley Moody when one of your children receives a positive test. Our community has been very proactive and done an exceptional job in this area thus far. Thank you!
• The school strongly recommends vaccinations and boosters. This link contains information on the availability of vaccines and boosters when eligible.
• Updated research has revealed that surgical masks provide significantly more protection against the spread of the latest variant. Although we don’t have enough supplies to provide to all of our students, we are strongly recommending the use of surgical masks when available. Cloth masks will still be an acceptable face covering in school.
• Continue to err on the side of caution and remain home when experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. While at home tests are not a substitute for school required tests, these can be an effective tool in early identification of COVID-19.
• NYA will continue to offer remote learning options for those students that are in isolation or quarantine as a result of COVID-19. Students may reach out to Ms. Markonish or Mr. Austin with questions.

As challenging as this time period has been, I am thankful for the continued efforts, support, and patience of our families, students, faculty, and staff. We will continue to keep you updated and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Sincerely,