Return to School Updates

 Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

As we look forward to returning safely to school next week I want to remind everyone of the continued importance of completing the daily health screener and staying home whenever you are sick or have any symptoms.

In order to return to school after travel we require that everyone follow the MA-Travel Order and provide a negative PCR test result before returning to school. This applies to any travel to any state or country other than Hawaii, North Dakota, or Puerto Rico.

Furthermore, if you did travel, you should also consider additional safety precautions as recommended by the CDC, especially if you participated in any of the following activities that could put you at a higher risk for COVID-19:

• Going to a large social gathering like a wedding, funeral, or party.
• Attending a mass gathering like a sporting event, concert, or parade.
• Being in crowds like in restaurants, bars, fitness centers, or movie theaters.
• Taking public transportation like planes, trains or buses or being in transportation hubs like airports.
• Traveling on a cruise ship or riverboat.

Suggestions for additional safety precautions can be found here and can be discussed with your school nurse or building administrator if you have any questions or concerns: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html

Also, as we look to continue to improve the health and safety of our schools please complete the consent forms for both the Symptomatic and Pooled Testing. These instructions and links were sent to you from your building administrator via email previously.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be establishing a deadline after which you will not be able to participate in the pooled testing so please be sure to complete the consent forms ASAP if you intend to participate.

Please note that vaccinated staff should still participate in pooled testing. Those who have been positive for COVID-19 should not participate.

In closing, please continue to follow all of the safe behaviors that we need for our community and schools to have less positive cases including maintaining six feet of distance whenever possible, wearing masks when with anyone not in the same household, and washing hands frequently.

Enjoy the weekend! We look forward to welcoming students back to our hybrid model on Monday!

Dr. Daly