COVID-19 and 2020-21 Reopening FAQs

List of 14 items.

  • 1. What does opening “in-person” mean?

    In-person opening means welcoming Trevor students, faculty, and staff back to the East and/or West Campus for their classes. We distinguish between “in-person learning” and “distance learning,” in which a family may elect to have their child attend virtual classes only, generally via the Zoom platform.

    Lower School students attend an in-person schedule five days per week. Middle and Upper School students have a hybrid schedule based on A and B cohorts—two weeks in person, followed by two weeks via distance learning. 

    An in-person opening follows all the safety protocols in place throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency, and as outlined by the 2020-2021 Reopening Plan, the most recent of which is dated October 5th.
  • 2. Where can I find my child’s A or B cohort?

    To find your child’s cohort, please review the following spreadsheets:

    Middle School Cohorts
    Upper School Cohorts
  • 3. What are requirements for attendance in-person?

    Testing
    COVID-19 testing and proof of a negative test result is periodically required of all students, faculty, and staff in order to attend Trevor in person. For the convenience of its community, Trevor contracted with Quality Laboratories and offered COVID-19 PCR testing to all students, faculty, and staff.

    Students, faculty, and staff can, instead, be tested through their primary care provider or other available testing facilities. Either the CDC 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)–PCR Diagnostic Panel or the CDC Influenza SARS-CoV-2 (Flu SC2) Multiplex Assay are accepted. Rapid Antigen tests are not acceptable.


    Travel
    All members of the Trevor community must report travel that requires quarantine to a school nurse and homeroom teacher/adviser (in the case of a student) or to a school nurse and supervisor (in the case of a staff member) and follow all current regulations with regard to quarantining after travel. Quarantine is required by New York State after international travel or travel within states with widespread community transmission of COVID-19, pursuant to current CDC and DOH guidance, as well as Executive Order 205. These regulations state:
    • For travelers who were out-of-state for more than 24 hours:
      • Travelers must obtain a test within three days of departure, prior to arrival in New York.
      • The traveler must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine for three days.
      • On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain another COVID test. If both tests comes back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test. 
    • For travelers who were out-of-state for less than 24 hours: 
      • The traveler does not need a test prior to their departure from the other state, and does not need to quarantine upon arrival in New York State.
      • However, the traveler must fill out our traveler form upon entry into New York State, and take a COVID diagnostic test 4 days after their arrival in New York.
    Local health departments will validate tests, if necessary, and if a test comes back positive, will issue isolation orders and initiate contact tracing. The local health department must make contact with the state the traveler came from, to ensure contact tracing proceeds there as well. All travelers must continue to fill out our traveler form upon arrival into New York State to contribute to New York State’s robust contact tracing program.

    The travel guidelines require all New Yorkers, as well as those visiting from out-of-state, to take personal responsibility for compliance in the best interest of public health and safety.


    Health and Safety Protocols
    Community members are required to follow all health and safety protocols outlined in the 2020-2021 Reopening Plan.
  • 4. Is Trevor providing COVID-19 Testing? When and How?

    Trevor has contracted with Quality Laboratories to offer COVID-19 PCR testing to all students, faculty, and staff on Tuesday, October 6th, or Monday, October 19th.

    Details on COVID-19 testing at Trevor can be found in this communication.
  • 5. How does the Magnus Mobile v2 App Work?

    All Trevor parents (for students) and employees are required to complete a mandatory daily health screening on the Magnus Mobile v2 App every school day before they enter a school building. If they do not complete the screening, students will need to be screened upon arrival at school. 

    If you have not yet downloaded the app, please search for “Magnus Mobile v2” in the App Store or in the Google Play Store.

    To login, please follow the instructions found in this communication from Trevor.

    The health screening questions are as follows: 

    1. Have you felt ill or experienced any of the following symptoms within the last 14 days: Fever of 100.0° or above, cough, loss of taste or smell, intestinal upset (including nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea), sore throat, red eyes, headache, shortness of breath? 

    2. Have you been in close contact with someone who recently tested positive for COVID-19 or is suspected of infection and awaiting test results? 

    3. Have you or someone in your home tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 14 days?

    4. Have you traveled internationally or from a state with widespread transmission, as per New York State’s travel advisory, in the last 14 days?

    When the daily screening is complete, take a screenshot of the confirmation page (see image on the right).  Print or email a copy of the confirmation screenshot for your child to show upon entry to the building. If parents are dropping off, they may also show the confirmation screenshot at drop off.
  • 6. Will the Trevor Shuttle be in service?

    Trevor’s shuttle between the two campuses will be available in the morning and the afternoon. The 2020-2021 schedule will be sent out within the week. Shuttle busses will follow all social distancing requirements and other safety precautions. All riders (including the driver) must wear face coverings at all times.
  • 7. What kind of face coverings are acceptable?

    Face coverings should be three-ply, and, if possible, made of cotton with a high-thread count. While at school, all students, faculty, and staff must wear face coverings that securely cover their nose, mouth, and chin. The exceptions to this rule will be while eating or during specified mask breaks, at which time everyone must be socially distanced—and, for our youngest students, while napping.

    Please make sure students arrive at school wearing a face covering and also have a back-up face covering available to them every day. Students, faculty, and staff will receive a set of five cotton Trevor face coverings during the first week of school. Face coverings should be cleaned (reusable) or replaced (disposable) after use and may not be shared.
                                  
    Gaiters, scarves, and bandanas do not provide adequate protection and are not permitted. Face coverings with an exhalation valve or vent are not permitted, as valves allow unfiltered exhaled air to escape to others. Face coverings that completely cover or hide an individual’s face—such as ski masks—are not permitted. Clear face shields may be worn if accompanied by a suitable face covering (as defined above).
  • 8. How does contact tracing work at Trevor?

    In the event of a positive COVID-19 case, Trevor will report it to the NYC Department of Health (DOH). The school nurse at the respective campus (East or West) will lead contact tracing, as per DOH recommendations. This means Trevor will trace everyone with whom the student, faculty, or staff member has been in close contact (more than 15 minutes) while at school, and notify this group to quarantine. On each campus, a team of five trained contact tracers will assist in the process of contact tracing, under the direction of the school nurse.
     
    Families should immediately report any positive results to their child’s respective school nurse. A positive result from any lab is also sent to the NYC DOH, who will notify Trevor and provide further recommendations, as needed.
  • 9. What are conditions under which students may be sent home?

    As mandated by New York City’s Department of Health guidelines, we have developed protocols for safely caring for a student, should they develop symptoms of COVID-19 during the school day. 
    • Symptoms include:
    • Cough
    • Shortness of breath or any difficulty breathing
    • New loss of taste or smell 
    • Fever (100.0° or higher) 
    • Chills
    • Body aches
    • Headache
    • Sore throat
    • Nausea or vomiting
    • Diarrhea
    • Fatigue
    • Congestion or runny nose
    If a student appears to be symptomatic, their teacher will contact the school nurse, who will immediately come to the classroom to assist the student to an isolation room for further evaluation.

    Each building has a dedicated isolation room and other rooms available to convert into an isolation room, if needed.

    Families must have a parent or caretaker available to pick up their child within an hour, should a COVID-19 infection be suspected. In that case, the student will remain with a designated staff member in an isolation room, both of whom will wear appropriate PPE. The parent will be directed to have the student seen by an outside health professional. The student cannot return to school until cleared, in writing, by a physician.
  • 10. What are criteria for closing school?

    Should the percent of positive tests in New York City reach 3% (using a 7-day rolling average), we expect Mayor De Blasio will close NYC public schools. We will also be following the DOH guidelines regarding the confirmed number of cases and their community links and the requirements to close for periods of time, depending upon circumstances. In addition, our information currently indicates that Governor Cuomo plans to close all schools regionally, should an infection rate reach 9% of tests. The Head of School can, however, after consultation with medical advisors and the Board of Trustees’ COVID-19 Committee, close in-person instruction should he determine this necessary to ensure the safety and health of students and faculty.
  • 11. Will teaching and learning look different starting on October 13th?

    The answer is yes—2020-21 will be a unique year at Trevor!

    Lower School
    The Lower School will welcome back all students for full days of in-person instruction on a daily basis, and will also provide a fully virtual distance learning program for those families who choose to have their child/ren remain at home.

    Middle and Upper School
    Middle and Upper Schools students will return to full days of in-person instruction on an A/B schedule. Every two weeks, two groups of students will rotate between in-person and distance learning. This means that Middle and Upper School students will go to class in-person for two weeks and then attend classes virtually for two weeks. Trevor will also provide a fully virtual distance learning program for those families who choose to have their child/ren remain at home.

    All Divisions
    Students will be able to move to distance learning at any time throughout the year. The first opportunity that students will have to request to move from distance learning to in-person learning will be on January 5th, via a survey that will go out in mid-December.

    Some faculty members will continue to teach remotely. This means that students who are in school may have a mix of in-person teaching and classes taught remotely, proctored by teaching assistants. All faculty will utilize best practices from in-person and distance learning models to engage students with the Trevor curriculum across a variety of spaces and mediums.

    Per the Department of Health, classrooms for grades 1-12 will be set up with socially distanced individual desks, all facing one direction, with 6-8 students per classroom, depending on the size of classroom. As an NYCDOH Certified Child Care program, classrooms for students in Nursery through Kindergarten have different regulations, with no more than 15 students per classroom.
  • 12. What measures has the school taken vis-a-vis the facilities to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission?

    Over the summer, Trevor was deep-cleaned and disinfected. The HVAC systems in both campuses were cleaned and disinfected. We also installed higher efficiency air filters in both buildings, based on the manufacturer’s recommendations and DOH guidance. Each classroom has also been equipped with a new air purifier. 

    Drinking fountains have been inactivated. The bottle refilling stations will continue to operate; we encourage everyone to bring their own water bottle, although disposable cups will also be on hand.

    Trevor is following all CDC and DOH requirements regarding hygiene, cleaning, and disinfection. This includes maintaining logs that cite the date, time, and scope of such cleaning and disinfection.  

    The facilities staff maintains hourly cleaning and disinfecting of restrooms and high-touch areas (such as door knobs, stairway banisters, etc.), using EPA-approved disinfectants. Teachers will disinfect desks and chairs after each class.

    As recommended by the DOH, Trevor will eliminate the use of shared surfaces. Students will sit at individual desks. Trevor will limit object sharing; students will be given individual supplies for the academic year. When this is not feasible, equipment will be sanitized after every use. All devices (iPads, Chromebooks, and laptops) will be one-to-one per student. 

    Trevor has installed portable hand-washing sinks. Hand sanitizer will be available in every classroom, office, and common area. All students and staff members must use hand sanitizer prior to entering the building. In all restrooms, hand dryers have been disconnected. In their place, disposable paper towels are on hand. Toilet covers have been added to all toilets to reduce the possibility of water spray during flushing. 
  • 13. How will the community be notified about suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19?

    To communicate about a suspected exposure, Trevor will use the Pushpage email system to reach affected members of the community, as determined by class groupings, cohorts, and other determinations via contact tracing. 

    To communicate about confirmed exposure, Trevor will use the Pushpage email system and the BrightArrow Emergency voicemail and text system to reach affected members of the community.
  • 14. What is the best way to stay informed of state-wide and city-wide infection trends?

    On October 1st, New York state launched a mobile contact tracing app called COVID Alert NY. You can find more details here.
    • Print or email a copy of this confirmation screenshot for your child to show upon entry to the building.