School, Families, and COVID Protocols
DEAR FOUNDATION ACADEMIES FAMILY,
I want to start by thanking the vast majority of our families for their grace and support to the staff and each other during this time. We recognize the importance of having our children back in school with their peers and our caring staff. We understand that this has been a scary transition for many and inconvenient at times. In this letter, I need to address how we at Foundation Academies handle COVID protocols. First, please ensure that when on the grounds of Foundation Academy you have on a mask (#maskup). Following this protocol is dire to protect the health of all students and staff. Let’s be responsible and stop the spread.
SYMPTOMATIC CHILDREN/ AWAITING TESTING RESULTS
Please DO NOT send a child to school who is showing signs of COVID-19. Families will be required to pick up their child and provide either a negative test result or quarantine for 10 days. It is everyone’s responsibility to reduce the spread of the virus to maintain in person instruction. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL IF YOU HAVE GIVEN THE CHILD ANY TYPE OF COLD OR COUGH MEDICATION. If you need to provide your child with a dose of medication that is not provided daily, the child needs to stay home. Sending a child to school after administering a dose of cough or cold medication may mask some symptoms of Covid-19. Please keep your child home, monitor their condition, and consider getting the child tested. Also please note, when families are instructed to pick up their symptomatic child, all unvaccinated siblings or other children living in the home who attend our schools will also need to go home pending the results of the symptomatic child.
MODERATE RISK – YELLOW STATUS
Our school is currently in yellow status on the state’s CALI scoring system. This determines the handling of close contacts. Any close contact to a positive COVID case has to be quarantined for 10 days but can return as early as 7 days if a negative COVID test is presented. However the COVID test has to be taken after their 5th day of quarantine. The siblings of those in close contact must also quarantine. A phone call and letter will be sent home by the school.
BE KIND
Foundation is fortunate to have caring and professional nurses on staff, thus the decisions of our contact tracing team follow the guidelines outlined by the New Jersey Department of Health, and are not subject to debate. We are doing the best that we can to keep everyone informed when our guidelines change to make sure that everyone is safe. We strongly urge you to please engage positively with our nursing, teaching, administrative and support staff. No one has it easy right now, the impact on daily life is a challenge that we all understand.
As a community, we will continue to work together and care for one another to provide the safest learning environment for our children.
Regards,
Graig Weiss
CEO
Graig Weiss served as the Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Academies from 2014-2022. He began 5 years before as Middle School Principal. A 2003 Teach for America corps member, Mr. Weiss taught Math and Science in the Bronx and the Dominican Republic prior to becoming an administrator and was selected as Teacher of the Year in 2007.
Prior to entering the education field, Mr. Weiss worked in the financial services sector with Cambridge Associates, LLC in Boston, MA. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Science in Teaching from Fordham University, and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from the University of Scranton.