A Letter from the Principal
Dear Williamsburg Preparatory Families,
Happy New Year! I am hoping that this year will bring everyone health, happiness and prosperity. I am writing today with a few updates and some requests.
As we have all heard, the COVID rate is rising quickly in the city. The DOE has made several changes to help us keep our schools safe. The first change is to the testing procedures that will take effect this week. In the past, we only were required to test 10% of our unvaccinated population. We will now have the opportunity to test 20% of both vaccinated and unvaccinated students.
As always, if your child is not feeling well, please keep them home. If they are feeling COVID-like symptoms, please get them tested. If your child does test positive for COVID, please let us know as soon as possible. Please indicate the date your child was tested. Any student who tests positive will need to be quarantined for 10 days and can return to school on the 11th day after the test collection date as long as they are symptom-free.
We are also asking all families to please send in a consent form to have your child tested. The testing is very gentle and is not at all what most have experienced outside of the school environment. You have two options in regards to covid testing: either you can complete the attached form and send it in with your child to room 424, or email it back to me, or you can go to NYCDOE school accounts at www.schoolsaccount.nyc and complete the consent digitally. With long lines at most testing sites, testing in school will give you and your family peace of mind and less stress.
Finally, with the Omicron variant, wearing effective masks is more important than ever. The CDC names N95 masks as the most effective at keeping us safe indoors so we encourage students to wear an N95 mask. If that is not possible we encourage students to wear a medical mask, which we have available for students if needed. We discourage cloth masks, where possible, since these are less effective at keeping us safe. It is imperative that we are all on the same page when it comes to mask wearing. We need our families to help support us in keeping everyone safe and would appreciate it if you can communicate the importance of mask wearing with your children. Over the past few months, we have been struggling with a few students to keep their masks on and wear them properly. Your support will be greatly appreciated.
As always if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me or the school.
Best-
Kelly Ann Witkowski