NFS Health & Safety Plan

Newtown Friends School is committed to having our students learn in a safe environment. Since March 2020, Newtown Friends School administrators, in coordination with a Covid-19 Task Force composed of members of the board, faculty, parents, and physicians have worked diligently to safely keep our students in school. The group has actively and creatively developed health and safety plans including modifications to the schedule and calendar, health and hygiene measures, using the school building differently, policies for group gatherings, and ways to apply our longstanding educational strengths that will meet the needs of our school community.

Our plans reflect information and recommendations from the following sources:

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania School Resources for School Communities During COVID-19

They also reflect best practices in creating a robust learning environment under the current conditions.

2023-2024 Covid Quarantine/Isolation Protocols:
Families and staff should alert the school about positive COVID cases.

Students who test positive for Covid should remain home for five full days. The day of the positive test result is Day 0. On Day 6, if symptoms are resolving, and the student is fever-free for 24 hours without meds, they may return to school, even if still testing positive. During this time, we will recommend masking to the classroom and grade of the student who tested positive. We will recommend the returning student mask for five additional days upon return to the campus.

We will notify class parents if there is a second positive case within the off-campus time of the first case.

This policy is subject to change based on the number of fall and winter positive cases in the school and the surrounding area.

Guided by our mission, we continue to work in close partnership with our families to help keep our community as safe as possible.