Dear Parents,

As you know, we sent notifications yesterday about a second faculty member testing positive. In the event a faculty member or student tests positive, you will receive an email notification. The parents of students in a class that has a positive case receives an email first with information about their quarantine period. Then, faculty and staff are notified to make them aware of the situation. Finally, an email is sent to all families with a general notification. We are not identifying the individuals for privacy reasons, but, going forward we will specify the grade. The two classes in quarantine currently are JPK and PK. Again, if your child was in contact with the individuals, you will receive a detailed notification.

The school is contacting students and faculty who are considered close contacts, which means they were within six feet of the infected individual for 15 minutes or longer, and providing quarantine guidance. The health department may reach out to close contacts. The school has a specific liaison at the health department, but the health department representatives who contact families are different people and sometimes provide different information and timelines. We are trying to work through guidelines that sometimes differ as we communicate with our families. We are fortunate to be able to consult our own COVID-19 task force that includes Dr. Jay Sizemore, infectious disease specialist; Dr. Kathleen Hunt, pediatrician; Philip Byrum, trustee and human resource law expert; school nurse, Rachel Gentry, and school administrators. Our main goal is to keep our students and faculty and staff safe and to communicate important information as it becomes available.

Thank you for your cooperation.

As the year continues, you may encounter more situations that lead to questions about whether your child should stay home or come to school.

First, always complete the Ascend online survey each morning, whether your child comes to school or not. This includes JPK students who only come three days a week and iBright students. Ascend helps us monitor symptoms and other situations. The person dropping off children in the morning must show the completed Ascend screen in the car line. If this is not the person who completes the survey, please share a screen shot with the drop-off person or have him or her complete the survey on his or her device.

On the Ascend survey, you only mark your child as a possible exposure if your child was within 6 feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or longer. These are considered "close contacts," and you will be contacted by the health department.

If you have children attending other schools and they have possibly been exposed or you have a family member who tests positive or you have any other health questions, please contact Nurse Rachel Gentry at [email protected] or 423-267-8546, ext. 109.

If you need assistance with your Ascend account, please call Base Camp directly at 423-443-4532 or email [email protected].

Watch the video to hear Mr. Morgan's challenge for the Bright Fund this year. What's he going to do if 100% of families give? It has something to do with a cow. Oh, and our students will enjoy a Chik-fil-a lunch as well. Click below to donate your gift of any amount.

We're full of hope at the beginning of this school year. Let's celebrate our wonderful school and teachers by supporting the Bright Fund. Give today! Thanks to Cut Rate Tree Service for taking this picture last week while they were working with a bucket truck on campus.

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