PDS Together

Princeton Day School is requiring all eligible faculty, staff and students to provide proof of having received the Covid vaccination. We are calling upon all eligible individuals to support our efforts to become a highly vaccinated community and assist us in providing a safe learning environment for our community.

• Families need to upload their child’s vaccination card to Magnus.
• Faculty and Staff need to email their vaccination card to the Human Resources office at hr@pds.org.

Students who are not eligible for the vaccination because they are under the age of 12 will not be required to be vaccinated in the 2021-2022 school year. We anticipate recommending it to this segment of our student population but will communicate information on this topic only when the vaccine becomes available for students younger than the age of 12.

Exemptions to the Covid vaccination may be granted for documented medical contraindications or sincerely held religious beliefs. The standard for an exemption is established based upon applicable federal and state law, and recommendations from local authorities.

• Families need to complete this form and return it to the Princeton Day School Health Office at healthoffice@pds.org.
• Faculty and Staff need to complete this form and return it to Princeton Day School Human Resources at hr@pds.org

In accordance with the Executive Order 251 issued by Governor Murphy on August 6, 2021, masks will be required for everyone in indoor spaces throughout campus effective August 9, 2021. Masks are not required outside.

Our school community’s high vaccination rate leaves us optimistic that we will be well positioned to consider a variety of options related to our masking protocols once the Governor’s mandate is lifted.

Symptom screening, masks and hand hygiene are proven strategies to reduce risk.

Vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals should monitor their health daily.

Please review these symptoms daily.  If an individual has any of them, please do not come to campus.

• loss of taste or smell

• fever, chills and body aches

• nausea, vomiting

• headaches

• shortness of breath 

• new onset cough, sore throat, congestion and runny nose

• Have you taken your child’s temperature today and is the temperature below 100.4 degrees?

The School requires strict adherence to our policy of being free of a fever (temperature <100.4) for 24 hours before returning to school.

We recognize that all illnesses are not Covid but for the benefit and safety of the community, we will always err on the side of caution. The Health Office will contact individuals and ask them to be seen by their doctor before returning to campus.

As we continue to keep up-to-date with safe practices our current understanding is that parental screening for general health (temperature-taking and review of signs and symptoms), as well as constant assessment of possible Covid contacts, allows us as a community to better gauge who can be on campus and who should stay home

If a student or household member tests positive:

• The student and household members should not come to campus.

• The student’s family should contact the Health Office.

• A member of the Health Office will interview, contact affected community members, and implement response protocols. The affected community member's identity will be protected. 

• The household member who tested positive should remain home isolated as recommended by the CDC for 10 days since the symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) have improved.

• Household members of the affected person should monitor for symptoms. Unvaccinated household members should follow close contact protocols. Fully vaccinated household members can return to campus and should monitor for symptoms for 14 days. 

Students and household members who have had Covid in the previous three months, confirmed by a positive viral test, or if vaccinated and who submit a copy of their test to Princeton Day School do not need to quarantine but should monitor for symptoms as recommended by the CDC.

Close contact exposure for indoors and outdoors is 3 feet or less for more than 15 minutes to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Please note that members of the same household are considered in close contact.

Close Contact Protocols

Fully Vaccinated:

• People who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated (two weeks after the final dose of vaccine) against the disease and show no symptoms. 

• Fully vaccinated students, faculty, and staff who have had a close contact exposure should report the exposure to the Health Office, ensure that their vaccination record is on file, and monitor for symptoms for 14 days. 

*Individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous three months do not need to quarantine or test, but do need to monitor for symptoms for 14 days per CDC guidance.

Unvaccinated/Not Fully Vaccinated:

If a student or household member has a known close contact exposure (to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, the student and household members should not come to campus.

• The student’s family should contact the Health Office.

• A member of the Health Office will interview, contact affected community members, and implement response protocols. The affected community member's identity will be protected.  

• The student and household members can choose from two different options for returning to campus

  • Option One (Testing):

    • Return on the 8th day with the date of the last exposure to the positive person being day 0 under the following circumstances;

      • with a negative PCR test administered on day 6 or day 7,

      • no symptoms.

  • Option Two (No Testing):

    • Return on the 11th day with the date of the last exposure to the positive person being day 0 under the following circumstances;

      • no testing is required,

      • no symptoms. 

Parents are asked to notify their child’s specific division assistant as well as the health office when their child is ill. They must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. The health office may follow up with families and may recommend that they see their health care provider prior to returning to school. There will not be a remote learning option for children who are home sick.

All faculty, staff and students will be on campus each day. There will be no remote learning options available for students. Students who are required to be off campus for Covid health-related reasons will work with their teachers and the division specific specialist to create a learning plan for the student’s time when they are not able to attend school in person.

Students and faculty in different divisions can access large common spaces (i.e. Campus Center, McAneny Theater, Princeton Day School Athletic Center, Matthews Arts Wing).  Divisions no longer need to “bubble” in their specific divisions.

In classrooms, students will be assigned seats and teachers will keep seating charts for their classes. Social distancing is no longer required, but we encourage it whenever possible.