Arcadia This Week 1/24/2022

Hello, Arcadia families, students, and friends,

Here’s what’s up at Arcadia this week, the first week of Quarter 3!

Monday, 1/24: No School

Tuesday, 1/25: Day 5, First day of Quarter 3

Wednesday, 1/26: Day 6 

Thursday, 1/27: Day 1

Friday, 1/28: Day 2, Asynchronous Learning Day

COVID Update

Rice County’s COVID-19 case rate for the one-week period ending January 22, 2022 continued to rise since the last reporting period, now at 1,629.04/100,000. A case rate above 100/100,000 in a one-week period indicates a high level of community transmission. 

Here is a link to the CDC explaining more about the transmission levels: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/aboutcovidcountycheck/index.html

For detailed information about this area, here is a link to the Rice County website: http://www.co.rice.mn.us/492/Coronavirus-disease-COVID-19-Current-Sit

Here is a link to the CDC’s Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html

Two additional cases of COVID in the Arcadia community were reported. One of the people would have been able to spread the disease while in the community on or before 1/17/2022, and the second would have been able to spread the disease while in the community on or before 1/21/2022. As usual, we cannot, for privacy reasons, share details about the people. At this time, they have been told to stay home and away from other people (in isolation) until they are well and can no longer spread the disease.

We have worked to identify close contacts, and if you have not been notified, then your child is not considered a close contact, and there is nothing special you need to do.

If you are concerned, and would like your child to test as soon as possible, please contact Gail Setterstrom, our school nurse, or Laura Stelter (executive director) to schedule a CUE test. CUE tests are fast and accurate molecular tests. We complete these at school, and students’ results are immediately reported to us through the associated phone app.

We also have Vault tests that need to be used up this week. We will send kits home on 1/25/2022 for families who are interested (email Gail or Laura), and students will need to return the completed test in the morning on 1/26/2022. These are the tests that involve spitting in a tube with a Vault employee walking you through the process over Zoom. The spit test is helpful for surveillance testing—checking to see if we have any asymptomatic cases, or if the virus is more widespread than we realize.

We still have the BD Veritor tests, rapid tests that can be completed at home, keeping in mind that these tests require certain types of phones to be able to scan them. Here is a list of the devices that should work with the app and allow you to use the test: https://www.bdveritorathome.com/en-us/devices

We also have the BinaxNOW tests, which are rapid tests that do not require the use of an electronic device. Please request this if your phone will not work with a BD Veritor test.

Students, here’s the upshot of this conversation: Wear your highest filtration masks with fidelity, do your best to stay at least three feet apart at all times, and try to limit the time you spend without a mask during lunch. 

Lunch Orders, Due Thursday, Jan. 27th

Here is the link for the lunch order for 2/7/22 - 3/4/22, which contains the menu calendar on the second page: https://forms.gle/TEtuyELN1zA5uLWT9

Upcoming Events

Jan. 25: Beginning of Quarter 3

Jan. 28: Asynchronous Learning Day

Feb. 4: Quarter 2 grades published

Feb. 10, 4:00pm-5:00pm: Finance Committee Meeting 

(online: https://meet.google.com/oir-cihj-vxt, or dial: ‪(US) +1 575-305-4543‬ PIN: ‪952 009 179‬#)

Feb. 15, 6:30pm-8:30pm: Arcadia School Board Meeting, online https://meet.google.com/wpo-dsqd-ahr, or dial: ‪(US) +1 650-466-6043‬ PIN: ‪232 545 378‬#

Feb. 17: Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences, Asynchronous Learning Day

Feb. 18: Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences, Asynchronous Learning Day

Feb. 21: No School, Staff Development Day

Have a great week!

Sincerely,