Dear SMSA Parents and Guardians,
At SMSA, the health, safety and well-being of each of our students is of the highest priority. With the emergence of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and recent confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that more cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified, including those in the United States, I wanted to provide an update on the measures we are taking. In addition to working with the FDL County Health Department, we are focused on preventative measures and updating protocols to respond, as best we can, to this evolving situation. To date, there have been no cases of COVID-19 in Fond du Lac County and the one laboratory confirmed patient in Wisconsin is healthy and has been released from isolation. For the latest updates and resources regarding COVID-19 please click here and click here.
In addition to updating our emergency plan, focusing on components to address infectious outbreaks, we are deploying basic prevention measures which experts agree can help to limit the spread of viruses in schools. As a safeguard, we have been monitoring absenteeism and increasing efforts to clean and disinfect surfaces. Each classroom is equipped with Re-Juv-Nal disinfectant spray (click here for more information on the spray), bottles of hand sanitizer are in all classrooms as well as at entrances, and we are installing wall mounted hand sanitizers in both cafeterias.
Additionally, we ask that families follow CDC recommendations, please click here to review these, by engaging in everyday, preventative measures designed to reduce the spread of germs.
Let me reiterate the importance of keeping your child home from school if they are ill or in the event you believe they may have come in contact with someone exposed to COVID-19. If your child has: temperature greater than 100.4, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, any rash not yet diagnosed by a physician, red or pink itchy eye, and/or drainage from eye, and any contagious illness such as chicken pox, strep throat or flu, please keep them home and seek medical attention as necessary. As a reminder, here is a link to our handbooks which contain guidelines for keeping students home from school. Per the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication in order to return to school.
Please know that we will be monitoring this rapidly evolving situation, working collaboratively with local and state health agencies, the Archdiocese, and community partners while receiving guidance from the CDC. We will keep you updated as new, relevant information is available.
Lastly, as a Christian community committed to The Ledger Way and proactively demonstrating our core value of responsibility, we invite you to consider clicking here to participate in for SMSA’s voluntary travel form, should you plan on traveling or have recently traveled. Do know, any information in this form will not be shared, publicly or internally, as your privacy is very important to us. Thank you for your support.
In your service,
Stacey Akey, President