COVID-19 Testing Information

The test is the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) type, which detects viral genetic material.

The test is minimally invasive and entails a swab of the anterior (just inside/lowest part of) of each nostril. A registered nurse collects the sample from students. Adults self-swab under the direct supervision of the nursing staff. This protocol is based on current FDA guidelines. The school has expanded its Health Office team by contracting additional nurses to collect samples on testing days. An expanded Health Office team ensures efficient testing and contact tracing capacity.

Every member of the community must have received a negative Covid test result before coming to campus each week. If a member of the community misses their weekly testing appointment at school they must make arrangements to be tested independently and send documentation of the negative result to the Health Office at healthteam@newtonSH.org in order to be cleared to come to campus. Information on testing sites located throughout Massachusetts can be found here. In addition, CIC Health, our testing contractor, offers independent testing by appointment in Newton and Cambridge.

If a student wishes to participate in on-campus learning, then she must participate in the testing program. Students choosing not to come to the campus need not participate in testing. All faculty and staff must also commit to participating in the testing program, including outside contractors that work inside the school building.

The school receives notification of all test results.

Negative results: In the case of a negative result, no news is good news. Due to the large number of negative results each week, it is not feasible for the school’s Health Office to contact everyone who has a negative result. 

Inconclusive results: If a test result is inconclusive or the test was not able to be processed due to a technical issue, the Health Office will inform the affected faculty/staff member or the parent/guardian of the affected student via phone and/or email. The individual must be retested and have a negative result before coming to campus. The Health Office will provide information on retesting options.

Positive results: A physician from PWN Health will call the person who has tested positive or in the case of a student, will call their parent/guardian, to inform them. The school Health Office will follow up with a call to provide support, discuss next steps, and begin contact tracing.

The school nurses are the primary point of contact about COVID-19 and can be reached in the Health Office at (617) 559-4777 or healthteam@newtonSH.org.

People who test positive can return to school after 10 days and once they have:
     a. gone for 24 hours without a fever (and without taking fever-reducing medications); and
     b. experienced improvement in other symptoms (for example, their cough has gotten much better); and
     c. received clearance from public health authority contact tracers. 

Repeat testing prior to return is not recommended. Return to school should be based on time and symptom resolution.

The school nurses are the primary point of contact about COVID-19 and can be reached in the Health Office at (617) 559-4777 or healthteam@newtonSH.org. 

Health Office staff will conduct contact tracing to immediately identify and notify "close contacts" of the individual who tested positive. A close contact is defined as anyone who has been within 6 feet of the individual for more than 15 minutes and/or any member of that individual's cohort. Cohort schedules, attendance records and information provided by the person who tested positive are used to quickly identify these individuals and the Health Office will contact them directly.

All close contacts should stay home from school for at least 14 days after the last exposure to the person who tested positive for COVID-19.

However, when certain conditions are met, the option to stop quarantine after day 10 will now be available for an individual who is considered a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

The option to shorten the quarantine period to 10 days is available when all of the following criteria are met: 

• The close contact has not experienced any symptoms up until day 10.

• The close contact has continued to participate in the school’s weekly surveillance testing program throughout the period of quarantine.

• The close contact conducts active monitoring for symptoms through day 14 and self-isolates if new symptoms develop.

• If the close contact experiences any symptoms during the quarantine period, then they must quarantine for the full 14 days, even if they produce a negative COVID-19 test.

At this time, the school will not exempt fully vaccinated individuals from quarantine. 

Close contacts may not come back to school until they have completed their quarantine and have been cleared by the Health Office. If during quarantine an individual tests positive for COVID-19, then self-isolation is for a minimum of 10 days and until at least 24 hours have passed with no fever and with improvement in other symptoms as noted above. 

The school nurses are the primary point of contact about COVID-19 and can be reached in the Health Office at (617) 559-4777 or healthteam@newtonSH.org

During any period of self-isolation or quarantine, students, faculty, and staff can work from home if they are feeling well. The school’s distance learning technology will make it possible for students to engage with their classmates and teachers remotely.

Below is the full list of symptoms for which caregivers should monitor their children, and faculty and staff should monitor themselves:

-Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills
-Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)
-Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
-New loss of taste or smell
-Sore throat
-Headache when in combination with other symptoms
-Muscle aches or body aches
-Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
-Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
-Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms

If students, faculty, or staff have any of these symptoms, they must contact their primary care provider and/or get a test for active COVID-19 infection prior to returning to school.

Please notify the Health Office at (617) 559-4777 or healthteam@newtonSH.org of any symptoms or test results.

Yes. In accordance with public health guidance, parents/guardians are asked to notify the school if their student has been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19. All faculty and staff commit to doing the same. 

Each member of the community has a serious obligation to communicate any possible COVID-19 exposure and especially a positive test result to any and all close contacts. This should be done in partnership with the Health Office by giving the nurses information about all possible close contacts in the school community. This is especially important for contacts outside of one’s cohort, who may not automatically receive such information.

The school consulted with epidemiologist Dr. Helen Boucher P'17 to learn how to handle COVID-19 testing for members of the community who have returned to school from self-isolation after a positive test result.

In such cases, due to residual viral genetic material in the body, it is expected that individuals continue to test positive long after they have recovered. They pose no risk of infecting others and are cured of the infection.

Therefore, a person who has returned to school after quarantine for a positive test result will be taken out of the weekly testing pool for a period of 90 days. After 90 days, the person will resume regular weekly testing.

Protocols for COVID-19 Scenarios in Schools (MA DESE)
Broad Institute
Video: Behind the scenes of the Broad Institute testing process
About COVID-19 testing (MA.gov)
MA COVID-19 testing sites