COVID-19 Protocols

We have installed sanitizing stations around campus, and students are regularly encouraged to wash/sanitize their hands.

If any child exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, we call their parents and expect the child to be picked up immediately. People exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms will be required to either present a negative COVID-19 test (PCR or rapid) result or complete five days of isolation in order to return to campus. The details surrounding returning to campus can be found here. 

Under no circumstances will any person be allowed to return to campus with a fever. Students must always be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication before returning, regardless of test results. If the twenty-fourth hour post-fever falls during a school day, please wait until the following school day before your child returns.

Any absence from school, regardless whether it is caused by COVID-19, must be reported through the AUXS Safety App. If the absence is related to illness, one of the School Nurses will follow up with the family. Any reports of illness submitted through the AUXS Safety App over a weekend or holiday will be addressed during the next business day. In such instances, families should plan to keep children home until one of the School Nurses can speak with you and provide the necessary next steps. 

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fatigue

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Congestion or runny nose

• Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

We adhere to the CDC guidelines and allow people to return to campus 5 days after testing positive as long as they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving. (If symptoms still persist, ten days of isolation still applies.) Note that students must always stay home for 24 hours after a fever resolves regardless of the type of illness. Click here for a complete list of protocols for those who have tested positive.

Our complete list of protocols for those identified as close contacts can be found here.

Click here for a complete list of protocols for those who are identified as close contacts.

When we have a positive case on campus, only the parents of the children in the shared class (JC/LS) or grade level (MS) will receive a direct notification via email as soon as we are notified of the positive case. The full community will receive a weekly case update on Mondays that reports the number of new positive cases on campus. 

Identities of those who test positive for COVID-19 will be kept confidential.

We encourage all community members to get vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19 as soon as they are eligible. Research shows that the best defense against hospitalization and/or death due to COVID-19 is the vaccine. We care about the health and well-being of our entire community and want everyone to be as protected as possible. 

We will never share any individual vaccine data about AOS employees or students. This is protected, private medical information and no family should ask for this information or expect to receive this information regarding any AOS employee or classmate.

AOS created a COVID-19 Response Team to quickly engage the situation from all angles if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed in our community. Emily Benton leads this team, and it includes members of the Administration Team and our school nurses. This team meets regularly to review and assess our COVID-19 policies.

All absceneces, regardless of whether or not they are related to COVID-19, must be reported through the AUXS Safety App. Please report all absences by 8:00 AM the day of the absence. This practice will replace our prior policy of requiring a “parent or guardian (to) telephone or email the school before 9:00 A.M. regarding the reason for the absence.” When completing the form, please provide specific details in the “Reason for Student’s Absence” field.

As a reminder, AOS does not have separate categories for excused or unexcused absences.  Students are marked tardy if they arrive between 8:00 and 10:00 AM and absent if they arrive after 10:00 AM.

All classrooms are adequately equipped with disinfectant wipes for teachers to use throughout the day to spot clean surfaces as needed, and classrooms, restrooms, offices, and other common spaces are cleaned nightly per our standard practice. 

The Health Clinic is divided into two separate areas. In one room, nurses will tend to minor cuts and bruises, etc. The other room will serve as a quarantine room for any student exhibiting potential COVID-19 symptoms. Routine, standard cleaning will be conducted after a student is seen in the clinic.

The AOS campus is now fully open to visitors, spectators, and audience members.

Water fountains will be turned off, but bottle filling stations will remain on.

We are lucky to have modern buildings with well-maintained HVAC units. During the summer of 2020, we installed an air purification system in our HVAC system that is designed to reduce the amount of pathogens (including COVID-19) in the air. The system is a Global Plasma Solutions Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization system. It produces an electronic plasma field in the air ducts of the HVAC system, which ionizes the air particles. This breaks down pathogens and aggregates tiny particles in the air so that they will be trapped by our filtering system. This system has been installed in all buildings on campus. Not only will it help reduce the COVID-19 virus in the air, but it will also help reduce cold and flu pathogens. For those students, faculty, and staff with allergies, the system will also clean the air of allergens, odors, and VOCs in the air. This system will provide a healthier air supply for everyone in all buildings on campus.