Letter to Salpointe Families from Kay Sullivan - October 2

Dear Lancer Families,

Thank you once again for your patience and commitment to Salpointe Catholic as we move forward together to serve our Lancers. 

While we are delighted to have Lancers back on campus, we are aware that this reopening is somewhat fragile. On campus, our efforts at mask wearing, hand washing, sanitizing public spaces and effective air filtration are highly successful; however,  enforcement of social distancing by students, especially before and after school, is quite challenging. And so we plead with all Lancers: please practice health and safety  measures 24/7! Do not get together in groups outside of school. Parents, please do not allow student gatherings at your homes. It will only take a few careless individuals attending a party or simply hanging out to spread COVID and shut down the school, end our extracurricular programs and dash plans for us to deliver the signature Salpointe experience. 

As you know, we experienced two positive cases this week: the cases are not linked and the affected students did not contract the virus at school. These confirmed cases are in isolation and a few other unrelated potentially exposed students are in quarantine. We are closely collaborating with the Pima County Health Department and we will continue to rely on their guidance.

At the risk of being overly redundant, I want to once again review our protocols regarding positive COVID tests by students.

  1. Parents should inform the nurse Ms. Kara Kohnke, RN, (kkohnke@salpointe.org) and attendance clerk Ms. Cecelia Parsons (520-327-1990 or attendance@salpointe.org) that their student tested positive.
  2. Nurse will record the information.
  3. Nurse will inform parents of the required isolation time of 10 days.
  4. Nurse will ask the student if he/she was in close contact (within six feet for longer than 15 minutes) with anyone on the Salpointe campus for the past several days. If so, those persons will be notified that they may have been exposed, possibly sending them into quarantine.
  5. Nurse will stay in touch with the family over the next two weeks.
  6. Nurse will inform the student's counselor of COVID positive test.
  7. Student’s counselor will inform the student's teachers (and others who may need to know such as coach, STUCO, etc.) of the positive COVID test. Student confidentiality and privacy will be respected as much as possible.
  8. Communications Manager will send an email to Salpointe parents informing them that a student (no name) has tested positive.
  9. Nurse will contact the Pima County Health Department, which is responsible for contact tracing. PCHD will contact you directly if your student has been exposed, which means that he/she has been in close contact (within six feet for longer than 15 minutes) with the positive case.

Parents should also inform the nurse and the attendance office if their student has been exposed to COVID. At that time, the nurse will explain quarantine requirements. FYI, a student may not test out of quarantine. We appreciate your partnering with us to protect the health and safety of our community and to safeguard the success of our reopening plan. If you have questions regarding COVID at Salpointe, please contact Ms. Kara Kohnke, RN, in the Health Office at kkohnke@salpointe.org or 520-327-1990.

Thank you once again for your patience and support. Stay safe. Be well. Pray!

Kay Sullivan
President
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Salpointe Catholic High School

1545 E. Copper St.,
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 327-6581
Attendance: (520) 327-1990
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