Liebe TCGIS Gemeinschaft / Dear TCGIS Community,

As has been our commitment throughout the year, we write today to share COVID-related information to help you make informed decisions for your families. We also share the following after consultation this afternoon with the school team from the Minnesota Department of Health.

Due to our current COVID case count of 20, TCGIS will return immediately (as of Tuesday, April 26), to required in-school masking. (See TCGIS masking policy below.) We will return to optional masking after two weeks of fewer than 20 positive cases. 
Between Tuesday, April 19 and today, April 25, twenty individuals at TCGIS tested positive for Covid-19. Fourteen of these stem from last week’s 6th- and 7th-grade trip to Waldsee at Concordia Language Villages. The Waldsee-related cases occurred in spite of TCGIS’s active mitigation measures, including required pre-departure PCR testing and on-bus masking. While current CDC community level in Ramsey county remains in the low category, this sudden spike in Covid-19 cases at TCGIS is concerning and triggers the temporary return to mandatory in-school masking described above. 

In accordance with today’s guidance from MDH, we strongly recommend the following:
  • N-95 or KN-95 masks for students.
  • Weekly PCR testing for all students. On-site testing will take place tomorrow (and every Tuesday). If you wish to sign your student up for testing, please forward completed registration and parent consent forms to Dani Nicholson, Covid Testing Coordinator: dnicholson@tcgis.org. Any forms submitted tonight or tomorrow will be tested starting on Tuesday, May 3rd, as the registration deadline for this week's testing event has passed. You can also see community testing options here.
  • Any students who are out of school tomorrow (Tuesday, April 26) who are already registered for Zepto testing should consider drive-up testing if possible (ideally between 10:40 and 11:10. Outside of that time period, staff will do their best to be out quickly to test students in their cars). Drive-up testing takes place in front of the Como Ave. entrance.
  • Please note: Siblings of 6th- and 7th-grade students who are not yet registered may also be tested via drive-up tomorrow. They should bring completed forms.
  • Please also consider testing between PCR tests with rapid antigen tests. Every home in MN is eligible to order 2 rapid antigen test kits for free (total 4 tests) through this website. TCGIS also has test kits available to families who need them. 
  • Keep students at home if they are feeling ill, with even mild symptoms, and even if COVID test results are negative.

Note that all TCGIS classrooms continue to operate with high-quality HEPA filters and with windows open whenever possible.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our school community safe.

Sincerely,

TCGIS Incident Response Team
Kirsten Christensen, Executive Director
Ashley Weston Miller, Director of Operations and HR, Covid Coordinator
Julie Alkatout, Chair, Board of Directors
Monika Avery, Health Associate
Dani Nicholson, Covid Testing Coordinator
Twin Cities German Immersion School: www.tcgis.org