COVID-19 Resource Page

Catherine Cook strongly recommends that all families, faculty, and staff remain up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccinations per their physician’s recommendations.

• Cook is mask-optional. Students may be asked to mask if there is an outbreak, a COVID-19 positive case within their household, or situations that require individuals to work in close quarters. The school reserves the right to require masks at any time.
   
• If an outbreak occurs in a classroom/cohort, that classroom/cohort may move to required universal masking for 5-10 days from the point of last exposure.
   
• The individual choices members of our community make about masking should be respected and affirmed by all. No one should be questioned, teased, or otherwise shamed for masking choices. 
   
• Cook expects individuals to mask when they return to school after colds or other non-COVID-19 illnesses until the symptoms go away or for 10 calendar days if symptoms remain. This expectation recognizes that rapid home antigen tests are not 100% sensitive. This act of thoughtfulness will reduce the number of students who miss school to get tested, and help our faculty and staff remain healthy and present. 

• Cook reserves the right to conduct weekly or random testing through partnership with SHIELD and rapid testing via the Nurse’s Office, or require submission of at-home testing results. 
   
• The school reserves the right to require negative at-home tests for individuals prior to or following school-sponsored travel, events, or following school breaks. 
   
• If an individual is deemed a close contact, the school recommends at-home testing.

• All-school assemblies will resume in the Gymnasium. Masks are optional but recommended. 
   
• Families and guests are allowed to attend events, performances, and assemblies by invite only. Masks are optional for all guests.
   
• Lunch for SK-8th Grade will be held in the Cafeteria every school day.

• Anyone who develops symptoms of COVID-19 should not come to school or school events, and the School Nurse should be notified. Per CDC/IDPH recommendation, COVID-19 positive individuals are required to isolate at home for 5 days (the day of the positive test or the onset of symptoms is day 0). If symptoms have improved at home and individuals are fever free for a full 24 hours without medication, they may return to school wearing a mask for days 6-10 (a KN95 or equivalent or double masking is required). They will also be required to eat lunch and snack distanced 6 feet from others for that same period.
   
• Individuals who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should monitor for symptoms and stay home if symptoms develop. Per the new CDC/IDPH guidelines, quarantining following exposure is not necessary for asymptomatic individuals. For prolonged, close exposures (such as household members), we expect 10 days of masking for the exposed individual with the last date of exposure as day 0.
   
• Quarantine of close contacts is no longer recommended for unvaccinated or vaccinated individuals. The test-to-stay protocol is no longer required; however Catherine Cook School reserves the right to implement this and further mitigations if school and/or community infection rates are on the rise.
   
• An outbreak is considered to be 3 or more individuals within the same classroom/cohort, advisory, team, or after-school program that are connected through contact tracing within a short period of time.
   
• If an outbreak occurs, individuals within the designated group will be required to wear masks at school for at least 5 days. These groups may also be assigned to specific tables in the Cafeteria.

• As with other infectious diseases found within the school community, only classrooms/cohorts, sports teams, or after-school groups with an infected individual will be informed via email by the school.
   
• Catherine Cook will no longer maintain a COVID-19 dashboard online, nor will it send community-wide emails about individual cases unless necessary due to a significant school-wide outbreak.

As in prior years, students out sick with COVID-19 will develop a learning plan with their teacher/advisor with daily access to coursework via the Cook Portal.