Dear AISC,
Good afternoon!
We had a delightful full week of school on campus. Here are a few captures of our experiences.
The daily new cases numbers in Chennai have continued to drop precipitously. Cases here peaked at just over 9,000 on January 14 and on Thursday, February 10 dropped below 700. See below in our Data Lab. The pressure of the current Omicron Surge has decreased considerably.
In keeping with our practice of abundant caution, we implemented 2x/week testing this week because we want to limit opportunities for community spread on campus. By testing on Monday and Thursday mornings, two students did not enter campus.
We will continue to require two tests during the week to enter campus. Please bring negative test cartridges to school on Monday and Thursday.
Please take the tests in the morning before school and bring the negative cartridge with you to school. Complete the ParentLocker questions. If the test is positive, inform us through ParentLocker and call the Section Office.
Remember, we are re-evaluating our protocols and our campus routines (see below on Project Get Back!) each week as we monitor community spread in Chennai and on-campus.
Important Updates - Ryan McFarland, Student Life Director
Positive
cases on campus
This week we had one MS student, one ES student, and one ES staff member that tested positive and had been on campus in the two days prior. In the event of a positive case for a student or staff member that has been in campus, we contact trace to try and identify those that may be a close contact. This week that impacted about another 5 students and 0 staff members. Because of cohorting, excellent ventilation and indoor air quality, mask compliance and all of the other measures we take, we expect the number of people impacted by any active case on campus to decrease as we are able to increase our confidence in our measures, protocols, and systems.
Cases in the community
At the time of writing, currently active cases of COVID-19 are listed in the table below by grade level as “positive”. The row for “monitored” are family members or close contacts of currently positive cases, or may have symptoms that could be COVID but we have not yet been able to confirm or eliminate COVID as the cause. We follow the local government directives for someone who has had symptoms should quarantine for 10 days and asymptomatic cases for 7 days. In both cases we want to see two negative tests before returning to in-person work or school. Our monitored cases can return to school 5 days after last contact and clear daily tests if they are able to isolate from anyone that is positive in their household.
Cloth masks on campus. Most cloth masks should not be worn on campus. Surgical and N95-style masks provide optimum protection. (Put away those Raptor Masks for the time being!)
Close contact tracing. We are reviewing how we do this each day. We are maintaining a fairly broad interpretation of “close contact” exposures on campus.
Recycling
of Panbio Testing Waste
AISC’s
bulk supplier of test kits was unable to provide the 4 pack kits recently. Students
and others have mentioned their concern for the amount of waste, so we will
have drop-locations for some of the trash created in our testing. At the ES
entrance the drop boxes will be outside. At the MS/HS entrance they will be
just a few meters inside, near the main reception entrance. The image below
shows what we will collect. Please note that the tube must be rinsed and the
used swab removed.
As the pressure from the Omicron Surge has eased, we are phasing-in new routines and activities on-campus.
By
way of reminder, we are keeping the following questions front and center as we
get back to routines:
- As
we enhance our on-campus life, what are the primary risk factors?
- When
we consider specific actions, what if any enhancements to protocols can we and
will we make to assure optimum health-safety?
- When can we expect to resume specific aspects of on-campus life – assuming all internal protocols and external SOPs/requirements are met?
In the coming two weeks, we are phasing-in the following routines/activities while maintaining our RaptorSafe Protocols:
Here are the other aspects of campus life we are working to bring back soon…
- ASAs
on-campus
- MS/HS
team engagements
- Interscholastic
team play
- ES
Movie Night
- HS
adventure activities
- Field
Trips
- HS/MS
in-person CareerX experiences
- Parents
on campus
- AISC Staff Crèche
We will continue to welcome your questions, ideas and input as we continue to work on Project Get Back. Email Ryan McFarland or Andrew Hoover directly at mryan@aischennai.org or headofschool@aischennai.org.
Reminder - What does RaptorSafe really mean?
Our RaptorSafe Protocols and adaptations to our physical plant demonstrate AISC’s commitment to doing everything we can to protect our community, flatten the COVID-19 curve, and optimize continuity of instruction.
- RaptorSafe Protocols. Testing, daily health and temperature screening, social distancing, mask-wearing, and sanitizing habits are among the pillars of our RaptorSafe Protocols.
- Outdoor Spaces. When appropriate, we utilize our outdoors to optimize health-safety. In particular, outdoor eating spaces allow students to eat safely with masks off.
- Ventilation. More than 100 indoor
spaces – classrooms, labs, studios, offices, and washrooms – have been
ventilated with screen doors/windows and/or exhaust fans. Across campus, we
employ air quality/CO2 monitors to track ventilation effectiveness.
- Air Filtration. More than 300 UV and HEPA filters have been deployed in our air handling systems. More than 200 air purifiers have been placed in classrooms and indoor spaces across the campus.
- Sanitization. All surfaces including play equipment are treated with Chem-Dry’s MicroPro Shield, which inhibits viral contaminations. Hand sanitizers are available in every classroom and more than 50 hand sanitizing stations, 70 water dispensers, and 250 touchless water tap sensors have been placed across our campus.
- Sterilization. We employ UV sterilization tunnels to sanitize shared resources.
Cautious optimism. As we have watched the daily new cases decline, we have maintained our cautious optimism and are looking forward to returning to many on-campus routines.
Board of Directors Update
Reminder
- Board Election Committee
The Governance Committee of the Board of Directors has formed an Election Committee, which is charged with executing the spring Board elections consistent with our By-Laws.
A direct email was sent to the Association Members inboxes today, Friday, February 11 with information on seeking Candidates for the Board of Directors for the term from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023/2024.
Next Week At-A-Glance
Office of Teaching and Learning Update – Joelle Basnight, Deputy Head of School
EAL
Coffee
Join us for an all school parent coffee on Thursday, February 17th at 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. where we will take a look at the process of language learning, how we support ELL students at AISC, and how you can support your child through transitions from virtual to in person. We will focus on practical tips that promote social and academic language growth.
Dave Allen, Elementary Associate Principal and Sabrina Kim Secondary EAL Coordinator
Advancement Office – Gautami Ramachandhran, Advancement Director
Repeat
Information: We Want to Get to Know You!
Whether you’re new to AISC and Chennai or a seasoned Raptor, we’d love to get to know you!
Please take a few minutes to tell us a little bit about yourselves here—it will take only 7 minutes! We look forward to hearing from you!
Reminder - Community Survey Coming on Monday, February 14, 2022
Each year, we seek feedback from parents on aspects of the AISC experience. Most recently in 2019 and 2020, we used the feedback survey of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) as part of our self-study process.
This year, in collaboration with the Governance Committee of the Board, the Senior Leadership Team designed a 30-item survey to invite feedback on a range of items from the parent community. This will be released by direct email on Monday, February 14.
My word for 2022 is GRACE.
Stay connected.
Have a good weekend and a delightful week ahead!
Andrew A. Hoover
Head of School
headofschool@aischennai.org
COMMUNITY NOTES
Reminder – Student Protection – Michele Ness, School Psychologist/ES
Counselor
If any members of the school community have concerns about a student’s safety, please contact one of AISC's counselors (ES, MS & HS), principals or the School Psychologist.
FOR REFERENCE
Illness
Reporting
Despite being in Virtual Learning, it is vital that AISC continues to monitor the health of our student body. While our attendance has been spectacular this year, we also need to know when a student is not well enough to participate in a day’s learning activities.
By way of reminder: Elementary, Middle, and High School parents and/or High School students are expected to email the section offices with the reason for virtual absence when a student cannot attend to/participate in the day’s learning activities. [esoffice@asichennai.org; msoffice@aischennai.org; hsoffice@aischennai.org]
In a typical year, we track illnesses, fevers, and flu symptoms. Now, more than ever, it is so important that we know if a student or household member has flu symptoms and/or has tested positive for COVID-19.
Our Health Office is open virtually. Please use us as a resource.
Our school nurses are Jessy David, Suvitha R and Barkath B and are available on all school days from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Contact our Health Office by email on healthoffice@aischennai.org or by phone on +919840729563 / +919940635827 for any health-related questions or if you need assistance.
Positive
COVID Case Reporting
Given the contagious nature of the coronavirus, the AISC Health Office must stay informed of positive cases in our families’ households. In order to serve and protect community members, positive COVID cases need to be reported to us immediately.
Here
are a few guidelines:
- If
anyone in your household -- including staff (live-in/non live-in) -- tests
positive, please inform the School by writing to the section offices -- [esoffice@aischennai.org; msoffice@aischennai.org; hsoffice@aischennai.org]
or to the Health Office contact details shared above.
- All health information provided by AISC families has always been and will continue to be kept confidential and used by our Health and Planning Teams for record-keeping. When reporting positive cases within our community, the School will not use personally identifiable information.
We thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep our community safe. With collective and personal responsibility, we can all do our part to ensure the health of our community members and to help flatten the COVID-19 curve.
If
you aren’t sure what kind of question you are asking, we are happy to hear from
you, no matter what!
2021-2022
Data Center
Below find snapshots from our COVID-19 Data Lab. During the school year, we update these each week.
Use this information to compliment external sources of information to understand our local context, inform decisions, and as opportunities to ask more questions.
1.
Below, Return to Campus variables remain green.
Return to
Campus Rubric
The
variables on our Rubric have been approved by our partner International SOS and have the support
of the AISC Board.
All of the Decision-Making Variables below must be GREEN (G)) for AISC to consider opening campus for studenrs.
|
GO |
SLOW |
STOP |
|
Decision-Making Variables |
Explanation |
|
Lock-Down Restrictions. |
Tamil Nadu has continued to
rescind lockdown requirements. There are not any requirements that impede the
daily movement of people in the city or the general movement and procurement
of goods and services. |
|
School Campus Opening Status. |
Students in Grades 1-12 are now
permitted to return to campus. |
|
Emergency COVID Health Care Capacity (O2
Beds, ICU Beds, Non-O2 Beds). |
This assessment is based on
data from 9 major hospitals in Chennai and healthcare facilities overseen by
the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, which tracks the
occupancy of more than 13,000 beds in Chennai.
This is GREEN when hospital
vacancy rates are increasing or stable and above 10%.
See the table and graphs below. |
|
|
Emergency care and access to
emergency care facilities are fairly normal. We anticipate some gaps in this
area if healthcare workers are not able to perform their duties due to
COVID-19. |
|
COVID-19 Testing Levels. |
Testing levels are high. |
|
Access to Supplies and
Equipment at AISC. |
Our campus is well-supplied and
remains prepared to be open. |
We also keep our eyes on the following Decision-Informing Variables, among many others, every day:
|
Decision-Informing Variables |
Explanation |
|
New cases below 1,000 per day. |
New cases began increasing on
December 22, rose above 1,000 on January 4, peaked at over 9,000 on January
14, and have been in decline since then. As of Thursday, February 10, new
case numbers were below 700/day.
This is GREEN because the daily
new case numbers are below 1,000 and are also decreasing. |
|
5 Day Moving Average of new
cases over total cases is less than 2% for two incubation periods. |
This number remains low. |
|
Percentage positive test rate at
acceptable level for one incubation period. |
(WHO 3-12%) This number has
been above 12% since January 7, 2022 and fell below 12% on February 2.
This is YELLOW because the
rates are now below 12% and are in decline. When rates are below 12% for more
than 14 days, this will go GREEN. See graph below. |
2. Below, we are sharing daily new case
graphs in Chennai comparing the current Omicron Surge to the two previous
surges -- Alpha and Delta. (The x-axis is the number of days and the y-axis is
number of new cases/day.) This is a highly relevant and useful comparison in
our current Omicron Surge context. Note that the slopes of the rise and decline
case lines are fairly similar.
3. Below, daily new cases in Chennai have
been above 1,000 since January 4th. New cases have been in a precipitous fall
since January 14. Also below, we are
sharing a state-wise comparison of the Omicron Surge lines for perspective on
where the daily new cases line might be heading in the coming days/weeks in
Tamil Nadu.
4. Below, we summarize the availability of emergency COVID Care in 9 major private hospitals in Chennai, and of more 13,000 beds across Chennai in Community Health Centers (CHC) and Communicable Disease Hospitals (CDH). COVID Care infrastructure and resources are steadily returning to normal.
Emergency COVID-19 Care Bed Availability in 9 Major
Hospitals
5. Below the line slope of percent of positive tests relative to total tests shows that it has crested and is falling fast. This number has been below 12% for 10 days.
6. Below we have 492 confirmed COVID-19
cases in our community since January 2021, with 26 active cases currently,
including staff, students and family members. Active case individuals who
expect to be on campus observe a 10-day quarantine at home and require two
negative tests before returning to campus. Confidentiality is strictly observed.
7. Vaccination efforts continue in Chennai. More than 97% of the
adult eligible population Chennai has been vaccinated and more than 78% of the
adult eligible population of Chennai has been FULLY vaccinated. 76% of eligible
children in Chennai between the ages of 15-17 have been vaccinated.
Commitments in 2021-2022
Our Commitments for the 2021-2022 school year are here!
Staying RaptorSafe
Our RaptorSafe information is here!
Information and Reminders:
AISC Annual Calendar – 2022-2023 | Head of School Coffee Presentation – November 11, 2021 | Head of School Coffee Q&A – November 11, 2021 |AGM Head of School Presentation – September 8, 2021 | Head of School Coffee Presentation – August 12, 2021 | Head of School Coffee Q&A - August 12, 2021 | Senior Leadership Team Town Hall Presentation – July 27, 2021 | Senior Leadership Team Town Hall Meeting – Q&A – July 27, 2021 | Learning Models Framework | Student Protection Manual 2021-2022