covid-19 faq

This webpage was last updated on August 24, 2022.

Though we have cleared most of our FAQs from the 2021-2022 school year, we have kept a few on this page that may be of current interest to families.
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UPDATED – THE TESTING QUESTION: Have there been any changes to the protocol for students to return to school after an illness?

The SFDPH has stated that caregivers may now use a home-administered rapid antigen COVID test for school re-entry if their child has been ill and exhibited some symptoms* attributed to COVID under certain circumstances, including:
– Their student has had no known exposure to a positive case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
– Their student, although experiencing some symptoms that have been attributed to COVID, has NOT experienced any loss of taste or smell.
– The caregiver is confident they have taken the swab sample from their student correctly as dictated by the at-home test instructions.

If these conditions are all met and the COVID test result is a negative, a student may return to school once they are feeling better, once they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medicine. All COVID test results, including those administered at home, should be reported to health@sffriendsschool.org.

If your student has been exposed to a positive COVID case, a COVID test, administered by a healthcare professional, will be required for your student to return to school. You can read more here.

* COVID symptoms may include: fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher) or chills • cough • headache • sore throat • loss of taste or smell that started in the last 10 days (children may say that food “tastes bad” or “tastes funny”) • feeling out of breath or having a hard time breathing • diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting • fatigue • muscle aches or body aches. Note: Runny nose has been removed as a COVID symptom in the SFDPH guidelines and as a stand-alone condition is no longer a reason to test students prior to return.

What should I do if my student is sick? Should I contact someone at SFFS?

If your student is sick, it is important that you keep them at home and email the school at both attendance@sffriendsschool.org AND health@sffriendsschool.org. Once you have contacted us via the Health Office email account, our health coordinator or another school administrator will ask you some questions to determine next steps and then provide you with instructions on how your student can return to school once they are well enough to do so (this may involve getting tested for COVID, depending on their symptoms and whether they have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID). When in doubt, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at health@sffriendsschool.org for guidance. Thank you!

What is the school doing to monitor air quality in San Francisco? What will you do if the air quality gets bad, considering the windows are now all open in order to promote increased ventilation during the pandemic?

The SFFS administration tracks a number of AQI monitoring resources on a daily basis. When the air quality index rises above 150 (the “unhealthy” or red zone), we will close the windows in our building and continue to run our air purifiers in every classroom (they run continuously at all times, regardless of air quality, and will continue to support our air quality in the building in the case of a smoke-related event). We also have three air-conditioned spaces—the gym, the black box theater, and the fishbowl classroom on the 1st floor)—that have been recently upgraded with Merv 13 filters, among other innovative filtration technology. Additionally, outdoor activities like recess and PE will be limited and moved indoors..

In the event that the air quality index rises above 200 (the “very unhealthy” or purple zone), we will close the school; if air quality is predicted to continue at unhealthy levels, we will mobilize our Friends@Home remote learning mode in order to maintain continuity in our academic program and connection for students.

What and when will families hear from the school if someone tests positive for COVID on campus?

In the case that someone in your child’s cohort (in Lower School a cohort is a class, and in Middle School a cohort is an entire grade) tests positive for COVID-19, that person will be sent home to quarantine, and the rest of the cohort—if unvaccinated—will follow what the SFDPH has termed a “modified quarantine,” wherein students may continue to attend school but will also need to fulfill certain health and safety requirements. (Vaccinated students will not need to follow the modified quarantine requirements.) You will be notified if your child is a close contact in this context.

If someone at the school who is NOT in your child’s cohort tests positive for COVID, you will not receive a direct communication about this case, as your child will not be considered a close contact. However, we will begin tracking positive cases at school this year on an online dashboard, and you will be able to use this as a resource to see when cases at school may arise.

What should I do if my kid has a close contact who tests positive for COVID? Do they need to quarantine?

There are a few scenarios that the San Francisco Department of Public Health has shared guidance on in recent weeks:

If your child is a close contact of someone with a confirmed case of COVID at school and is unvaccinated, they should get tested for COVID as soon as possible and if asymptomatic follow modified quarantine guidelines, which include:
– The child may attend school and may ride on public transportation to and from school
– The child may NOT attend music lessons, sports practice, and/or other extracurricular activities both in and outside of school
– The child should test twice a week for COVID–19
If your child had a COVID close contact at school and IS vaccinated, they should monitor for symptoms for 14 days; no quarantine is necessary if they do not develop symptoms, though a test is recommended for speedier reassurance.
* Please note that a “close contact” means that your student was within six feet of someone who tested positive for COVID for at least 15 minutes.
If your child has a confirmed COVID close contact OUTSIDE of school and is unvaccinated, they must follow standard quarantine procedures, which include staying out of school and at home for 7–14 days, depending on whether or not they are showing symptoms of COVID. They should be tested for COVID.
If your child exhibits symptoms of COVID, we will ask you to keep them at home, get them tested for COVID right away, and share those results with us. If your child does not get tested, then they must stay out of school until 10 days have passed since their initial symptoms appeared and 24 hours have passed since they last had a fever.
If your child has a confirmed case of COVID, they must quarantine at home for 10 days after receiving their positive test and you must report this to the school within the hour of receiving the positive result. Your teacher and division head will work with you and your student to help them keep up with their schoolwork while they rest and quarantine at home.