Siempre adelante, nunca atrás! Always forward, never back.

Serra is using the online tool, Ruvna, to complete health screening for students before they arrive on campus. Parents and students will receive a text and an email on the morning that students are expected to be on campus from Ruvna. This message will include a link to a survey that must be completed before the student arrives at school. Once the survey is completed, students will receive an electronic “entrance ticket” on their smartphone that will be scanned by the supervisor at their campus entrance that morning.

Accommodations will be made for students who do not have a phone or whose phone is not available when he arrives on campus. If a student arrives at school without having completed the pre-screening, his temperature will be taken and the supervisor will ask him the screening questions before he is allowed to enter campus. Since this will delay his entrance into school and impact the entire program, it is important that all students comply with the Ruvna pre-screening requirement on a daily basis.

Serra has developed enhanced campus cleaning protocols that meet or exceed the local, state and federal guidelines. Common areas will be cleaned throughout the day, and Serra’s maintenance team is supported by an outside cleaning service, Service by Medallion, to ensure thorough, daily deep cleaning during evening hours. Medallion is also contracted to provide deep cleaning in the event of a positive COVID-19 case. In addition, the school has made a significant investment in upgrades to the ventilation systems throughout the campus.

Students will be instructed to wash or sanitize their hands in transition between classes and before and after lunch. Each classroom has a hand sanitizer station and hand washing is available in every restroom. Additional hand sanitizing stations are available throughout the school campus.

All students, staff and visitors will be required to wear a disposable surgical mask or cloth mask at all times when indoors on campus, except during designated meal times. (A good cloth mask has a double layer of washable, breathable fabric.) Masks are optional when outdoors on campus. Only individuals who meet criteria established by the California Department of Public Health will be exempt from wearing a mask on campus.

A mask should be considered essential clothing and worn to school each day. Cloth masks should be laundered daily at home by hand or machine; disposable masks should be worn for one day only, then replaced. The school will have disposable masks available for anyone who arrives on campus without one or whose mask is damaged during the school day.

Masks must comply with Serra’s dress code. They can be plain, patterned or Serra-branded. They cannot display any offensive or sexually-suggestive language or anything related to tobacco or vaping products, alcohol or drugs. They cannot display political ads or slogans, images or acronyms.

More detailed information on masking is outlined in Serra’s School Safety Plan.

All bathroom fixtures, faucets, paper towels dispensers, urinals and toilets have been converted to touchless operation to limit contamination of surfaces. In addition, touchless bottle fillers have been installed throughout the campus. Communal drinking fountains are not permitted and have been turned off. Students and staff are required to bring their own water bottles.

Serra will test unvaccinated faculty and staff weekly in accordance with mandates established by the State of California, the San Mateo County Pandemic Recovery Framework and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Further testing requirements are under review and will be shared shortly.

Families must notify the school immediately if any of the following applies to their son:

• Student has tested positive for COVID-19
• Student is being tested for COVID-19 based on his symptoms
• Student is prompted to get a COVID-19 test as a result of a Ruvna screening
• Student is identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. In this case, the rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated students differ. Details are outlined in Serra’s School Safety Plan.

Please keep your son at home and send an email immediately to covid@serrahs.com. Mrs. Ortiz or Mr. McGrath will contact you and will work with your family and with San Mateo County Health.

Review Serra’s School Safety Plan for more information.

Definitions:

• Fully vaccinated: Two weeks have passed since this individual received their second vaccination.
• Close Contact: A close contact is someone who was within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 cumulative minutes while the case was infectious whether or not face coverings were worn. Cases are considered infectious starting two days before developing symptoms or, for asymptomatic cases, two days prior to the date of their positive test. In some school situations, it may be difficult to determine whether individuals have met this criterion. In this case, an entire cohort, classroom, or other group may need to be considered exposed, particularly if people have spent time together indoors. 

Guidelines for Individuals Fully Vaccinated:

• Should continue to participate in classes and extracurriculars as long as they remain asymptomatic
• Must get COVID tested 3-5 days after the exposure. A PRC test required.
• Send results to covid@serrahs.com
• Should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days after exposure

Definitions:

• Fully vaccinated: Two weeks have passed since this individual received their second vaccination.
• Close Contact: A close contact is someone who was within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 cumulative minutes while the case was infectious whether or not face coverings were worn. Cases are considered infectious starting two days before developing symptoms or, for asymptomatic cases, two days prior to the date of their positive test. In some school situations, it may be difficult to determine whether individuals have met this criterion. In this case, an entire cohort, classroom, or other group may need to be considered exposed, particularly if people have spent time together indoors. 

Exposure outside of school - full quarantine:

• Must quarantine from active participation in classes, all extracurricular and social activities for 7 days
• Need to test on day 6 or 7 to return to activities
• Send results to covid@serrahs.com 

Exposure at school - modified quarantine:

• Must quarantine from active participation in all extracurricular and social activities for 7 days
• Can participate in classes and wear a mask both indoors and outdoors (assuming all tests are negative and student is asymptomatic)
• Must be tested 2x/week over a 14 day period -- PCR test required (It is important to understand that a negative test result does not shorten the length of the quarantine period.)
• Send results to covid@serrahs.com

Due to strict safety screenings upon arrival to campus, students should not arrive earlier than 7:40 a.m. unless they are scheduled for an early morning class or event. Students can enter campus at any of the five points of entry where they will present their RUVNA entry ticket to a campus supervisor.

Families are asked to strictly abide by the student drop off and pick up procedures outlined in the Parent-Student Handbook. Any student who takes Uber, Lyft or a similar transportation service to school should instruct the driver to drop him off on the 20th Avenue side of the school.

We have submitted our 2021-2022 School Safety Plan to the San Mateo County Office of Education as required by San Mateo County Health.

Students are required to display their official Serra student ID photo card at all times; Serra will provide lanyards. This will allow staff members to identify students when they are masked. Students who violate this policy will be sent home.

Students will be required to keep all of their books and supplies in their own backpack while on campus. Students will not be assigned nor use a locker; they must bring their books and supplies to and from home every on-campus school day. The sharing of supplies in classrooms--such as in science labs and art studios--will be allowed following appropriate cleaning protocols between use. Student-athletes in season will be assigned an athletic locker for storage of sports gear.

Given the very low risk of transmission of COVID-19 from surfaces and shared objects, there is no need to limit food service approaches to single use items and packaged meals; therefore, FLIK Independent School Dining, Serra’s food-service vendor, will provide a complete dining program for students and staff. 

Serra will arrange for students and staff to eat outdoors as often as feasible. When students and staff are eating indoors, we will maximize physical distance as much as possible.

Serra has adopted the CDPH’s recommendations for visitors to campus and has developed a visitor policy.

• Serra will limit nonessential visitors, volunteers, and activities involving external groups or organizations with people who are not fully vaccinated, particularly when there is moderate-to-high COVID-19 community transmission.
• Serra may request that visitors provide proof of vaccination status before entering campus. If visitors are not vaccinated or refuse or are unable to provide this information, they must follow all school policies related to unvaccinated individuals.
• Serra will not limit access for direct service providers but will require they comply with school visitor policies.
• Anyone, including visitors, who have symptoms of infectious illness, such as flu or COVID-19, should stay home and seek testing and care.
• All visitors are required to wear masks while indoors on campus.
• Serra will implement measures to communicate to all visitors the mask requirements on their premises.

• Students who are not vaccinated may not participate in extracurricular and athletic activities after an exposure to COVID-19.
• Students who are vaccinated and have been exposed do not require quarantine unless symptomatic.
• Students who are not vaccinated and have been exposed must quarantine for 10 full days for all extracurricular activities (e.g., at school, within the community settings).
• All students who participate in indoor sports and other higher-risk activities must continue to wear masks and should maintain physical distance as much as possible.
• Serra is currently reviewing testing procedures for high-risk sports and extracurriculars such as musical theater arts. More information will be provided shortly.

We strongly advise families to avoid any unnecessary travel during the school year; this is particularly important for students who are not vaccinated because they will be subject to testing and quarantine requirements as outlined by the CDC. See our School Safety Plan for more information.

Our success in returning to campus last November in the midst of the pandemic was the result of the commitment and collaboration among our school community and community partners. Once again, we will ask our Padres to make a pledge to do what it takes to keep themselves, their friends, and our community safe and healthy—because being a Padre is about doing the right thing for the greater good. Students will review and sign this pledge upon their return to campus in August.