Posted November 03, 2020
Glen Head School Positive Covid Test
Dear North Shore Faculty and Staff,
I am so sorry to interrupt your evenings.
Unfortunately, we were informed that two staff members at Glen Head Elementary School have tested positive for COVID-19. Due to privacy laws, information regarding the identity of these individuals cannot be released. Specific instructions regarding mandatory quarantine is provided by the Department of Health. Dr. Rufa, Principal of Glen Head Elementary School, and Glen Head's nurse, Mrs. Leder will soon be in the process of contacting those families who may be considered direct contacts. We respectfully ask that you do not call the school or email us for additional details at this time.
Following guidance issued by the New York State Education Department and the Nassau County Department of Health, as well as the District’s COVID-response protocol, the Glen Head School will be thoroughly disinfected and ventilated this evening. We have been in contact with the Nassau County Department of Health and will follow all necessary protocols to mitigate any exposure to other students, faculty, or staff and assist with their contact tracing investigation. As always, the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our foremost priority. We expect that the Nassau County Department of Health will begin their investigation tomorrow.
In order to enable us to fully collaborate with the Department of Health’s contact tracing efforts as well as to disinfect the building, the Glen Head Elementary School will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4, 2020 for in-person instruction and all instruction will be conducted remotely. A decision beyond tomorrow will be forthcoming once we have more information. Dr. Rufa and I are meeting with our teachers tonight and Glen Head Classroom teachers will be reaching out to their families as we pivot to remote instruction tomorrow. We thank you for your patience.
With the exception of North Shore High School, all other schools will follow their normal in-person or hybrid schedule for tomorrow.
As mentioned, the health and safety of our students and staff is our primary concern and this has obviously been a particularly hard few days for North Shore. From what we can determine this evening, we are not aware of any active cases or direct contacts pending testing from any of existing cases at Sea Cliff, Glenwood Landing, or North Shore Middle School.
We are closely monitoring this situation and will provide you with updates as we learn more. In the meantime, these confirmed cases provides an opportunity to reinforce the work that the District is doing to keep all staff and students healthy.
As a reminder, we must remain vigilant now more than ever and commit to one another as a community that we will do all that we can to remain socially distant, practice healthy hand hygiene, and wear face coverings to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. We are working hard to stay on top of communication and we will be in touch.
Dr. Peter Giarrizzo
Superintendent of Schools