Return to School After Break
In keeping with our plans to safeguard the School from potential exposure and outbreak after prolonged school holidays, there will be no classes on Monday, January 3. This will allow everyone an opportunity to be tested within 3 days before returning to campus on Tuesday, January 4. Results can be from either a lab-processed PCR or an Antigen test (Home test results will not be accepted). Families may opt to have their children PCR tested at Gillispie with UCSD’s EXCITE Lab on Monday, January 3, anytime between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM with no appointment needed. The County’s free testing sites and your children’s pediatricians’ offices are other options. All employees and students, regardless of vaccination status, must show proof of a negative PCR test taken within three days of returning to school after a major break.
“Surveillance testing” at Gillispie is performed by UCSD’s EXCITE lab. It occurs every week in any given classroom for half of those students whose families have opted in to the program (The following week, the other half is tested). We do not plan on adjusting our recommendation that students (vaccinated or not) take part in surveillance testing, especially with the new variant complicating things in the coming months. Because surveillance testing is a recommendation and not a policy, you are within your rights to remove or add your child to the regular testing schedule when you see fit. If you choose to do either, please contact Michele Greene in writing at [email protected].
Regardless of a Gillispie employee’s or student’s vaccination status, “response testing” is required if an individual is considered a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19 or is displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
Voluntary Vaccination Clinic: Round 2 on January 5
Open to students, employees, and their families, the second and final vaccination clinic in Gillispie’s gym sponsored by Costco Pharmacy is planned for January 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. In addition to the pediatric Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years old, Costco medical personnel will also be administering adult vaccines of Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and boosters.
Whether you are a new or returning participant, you will not need to pre-register. If you are returning, please come at the same time you were scheduled on December 15. For new participants, you should arrive between 1:15 pm and 2:00 pm for on-site registration. Yes, the first vaccine will be available, though you’ll need to get the second dose at another site.
Returning and new participants will need to complete the Costco consent form and Gillispie student version and adult version waivers again. Please remember that you are required to accompany your child to the clinic in the gym.
