We sincerely hope you are having a great week. It has been a terrific week at ACS. Wow! The Powder Puff was a great event. Close to $500 was raised for the Avon Food Pantry. This does not include the food donations received. Thanks for an incredible event.
Next, we want to pass along some information about ACS.
Elementary Open House-
Open House for Grades UPK-2 will be held from 6-7 on Thursday, September 30th at Avon Elementary School.
Open House for Grades 3-4 will be held from 6:30-7:30 on Thursday, September 30th, 2021 at Avon Elementary School.
As a reminder, at this time, face coverings are to be worn at all times while indoors at ACS per New York State. Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.
COVID Screening and Testing-
The NYS Department of Health has mandated that schools offer weekly Screening testing and Diagnostic testing for students. We will be offering these testing services through the school in the coming weeks. However, we need to gather some information first.
Diagnostic Testing is response testing in the event someone displays symptoms or is identified as a close contact. It is sometimes simply referred to as Response Testing.
Screening Testing is proactive testing done on a weekly basis to monitor for COVID.
Individual students are NOT required to participate in the school's screening testing program.
DIAGNOSTIC or RESPONSE TESTING
Schools are required to identify systems to offer both forms of testing. As it relates to Diagnostic Testing, this is not 'on demand testing.' In some cases we may be able to provide a diagnostic test at school, or this response/diagnostic testing may be done through LCDOH. We will do our best to provide timely access to a test, but it will not be instant access. Also, families need not depend on the school for this testing as families are still able to work through primary care providers or community health care providers for tests.
STUDENT SCREENING TESTING
In order to develop a student screening testing program, we need to determine the interest level in this voluntary testing. We will send a survey next week to families that will allow families to opt in to the testing. Please complete this survey, so that we can plan the size and scope of our Student Screening Testing Program. A negative response or no response at all will indicate that your students will not participate in the school screening testing for COVID.
Further communication regarding the actual testing process will be shared once we review the numbers and needs. If interested, additional consent to participate will be requested at a later time. Saying "Yes" to this survey means that you are interested in the screening testing and want more information.
Updates about COVID Cases-
We were notified of a positive COVID case in Grade 6. The notification was received on Thursday, 9/23. Upon learning of the case, we worked with LCDOH to conduct the collective contact tracing. The student was last in attendance on the morning of 9/21. The collective contact tracing revealed three additional close contacts who were notified on 9/23.
At this point, we are aware of 104 cases in Livingston County. Six cases in the Avon community. Two cases involving the school, and five total close contacts of the two active school-related cases.
Thank you for your continued support. Please enjoy the weekend.