COVID-19 Protocols

The school continues to consult with local health authorities and medical advisors to promote the health of all in the school community and to ensure that our girls have access to the full Newton Country Day School experience with minimal interruption. We are prepared to augment these strategies as needed to respond to current COVID-19 information in our region and school community.

This information is up to date as of September 1, 2022.

Vaccination Policy

Mask-Optional Policy

Masks are optional for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

The exceptions to the mask-optional policy are when visiting the Health Office and returning to school while in the 10-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19. Additionally, students who are exposed to COVID-19 must mask for a period of 10 days and test on day 6 of exposure. Quality, properly fitting masks (N95, KN95, KF94, or multi-layer surgical style) are required in these circumstances.

The school respects that people have different risk tolerance levels and supports each person’s choice regarding mask-wearing.

Symptom Monitoring

All members of the school community are asked to self-monitor for symptoms and stay home, take an at-home antigen or PCR test, and notify the Health Office if experiencing the following:

Fever (100.0℉ or higher)
Chills or shaking chills
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
New loss of taste or smell
Muscle aches or body aches
Cough (not due to other medically documented cause)
Sore throat
Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
Headache, when in combination with other symptoms
Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to a history of allergies which has been medically documented by a physician and uploaded to Magnus)

If these symptoms arise during the school day, a member of the Health Office staff will evaluate the student and determine the best course of action. The Health Office will have rapid antigen tests on hand for students who have permission to take one at school. If a student goes home with suspected COVID-19, she can return to school with a negative test result (at-home antigen or PCR test), symptoms significantly resolved, and fever free without medication for 24 hours.

Free at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen tests are available at COVID Home Tests | USPS.

Quarantine and Isolation

If a member of the school community tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of symptoms, the person must isolate at home for at least 5 days.

The person can return to school on day 6, assuming the following:

Fever free for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medications
Significantly improved symptoms
Must wear a mask at school until completion of day 10

Note: Day “0” is the day of the positive test result or the onset of symptoms.

Optional Symptomatic Testing

At the start of the school year, NCDS will focus on symptomatic testing in order to keep students safe and in school.

Symptomatic testing will be conducted in the Health Office only when a student develops symptoms of COVID-19 during the school day. If a student has minimal symptoms and tests negative, they may stay in school for the remainder of the day. If students develop symptoms while at home, we ask them to remain at home and obtain rapid antigen or PCR testing independently.

To participate in the symptomatic testing program you must sign this digital consent form on behalf of your student(s). If you have more than one student please sign a separate form for each. Please contact the Health Office if you have additional questions regarding the program.

Veracross Parent Portal