Illness Toolkit

Find messages regarding COVID and illness for the 2022-23 school year below. You may also review the "My Messages" section of your Veracross Portal for all past emails from the School.

• Aug. 24, 2022 - Important Health News About Our Community
• Aug. 8, 2022 - Health and wellness of our community

Students and employees who are experiencing symptoms of any kind should stay home. Please see this decision map for more guidance:

Vaccination
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine and booster when eligible is our best defense against serious complications from COVID infection. St. Anne's-Belfield is a highly vaccinated community among students and employees, and encourages everyone get vaccinated when eligible.

Staying Home When Sick
We ask that every morning, parents check their student for symptoms of cold, flu, or COVID-19. Symptomatic students and employees should not come to school, and if they do, they will be sent home. Symptoms include:

• Runny nose
• Cough
• Fever of 100.4 or higher
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Sore throat

Face Coverings

We are a mask-friendly environment. Students, faculty, staff, and guests should consider their personal situation regarding masking, including wearing a face covering when physical distance can not be maintained. Caveats:

• Individuals who have been recently positive with COVID should wear a mask for a days 6-10 past positivity, unless they test negative on day 6-10, per the Virginia Department of Health.
• If we have a significant increase in positive cases within a division, campus, or the Charlottesville/Albemarle community, it is likely we will return to required masking for a period of days. 

Please see this summary of when the VDH advises individuals to wear a face mask.

Physical Distancing
Three feet of distance between students remains the standard inside classrooms. When eating indoors, students will remain at least six feet apart.

Cleaning and Disinfection
A few years ago, the school upgraded its cleaning services by contracting with The Budd Group, a leading facility service company in the country with over 5,000 employees serving many independent schools across the southeast. In 2021-22, The Budd Group will again deploy two additional disinfectant technicians to assist the School with cleaning and disinfection protocols that are safe, environmentally-friendly, and in accordance with CDC recommendations.

Air Quality
In 2021-22, we worked closely with Southland Energy and Envise to create new protocols to ensure improved air quality and flow in our HVAC systems. These efforts focus on maximizing outside air supply and distribution, increasing particulate filtration, UV light disinfection, and alternative filter technologies where needed.

Handwashing and Hand Sanitizing
Students will continue to wash hands and use hand sanitizer frequently while on campus. Many spaces are equipped with hand sanitizer, and teachers are provided hand sanitizer for use within the classroom and before/after meal times.

We are tracking absenteeism and test results closely to inform our decision to return to required masking for a few days, or in extreme cases, to pivot a class, grade, or division to remote learning. If this decision is made, we will message the contacts we have on record for you. Please ensure your information is up-to-date in Veracross. 

• BRHD testing sites
• UVA Riverside (2335 Seminole Ln Suite 200, Charlottesville, Va.): (434) 975-7700
• Virginia Department of Health’s statewide testing site locator.
• TestHere site in Charlottesville
• Central Virginia Health Services (2 locations in Albemarle County):
  • Charlottesville (Neighborhood Family Health Centers): 434-227-5624 (offering antibody testing)
  • Southern Albemarle: 434-286-3602 (offering antibody testing)
• Med Express on 29 North (1149 Seminole Train, Charlottesville, Va.): 434-978-3998
• Pediatric Testing Resources:
  • Pediatric Associates: 434-296-9161
  • Piedmont Pediatrics: 434-975-7777
  • UVA Pediatrics: 434-982-3816
• Four free antigen (at-home) tests per household are available from the US Government. Your insurance will also pay you back for 8 at-⁠home tests each month for each person on your plan.