Health & Wellness

Due to COVID-19, Holton's campus is currently only open to current students and essential personnel, including faculty, staff and facilities support. Holton is not open to parents (except for drop-off and pick-up via vehicle), prospective families or the general public. 

Prior to arriving on campus every day parents are required to take the temperature of their child(ren) and answer questions about symptoms and exposure. Parents must submit temperature and screening information through the SchoolPass app or website by 7:30 a.m. each day. Students with a temperature of 100º F or above or show other symptoms may not come to campus. If a student will not be coming to campus, please notify the appropriate division assistant and the School Nurse. All students and staff are required to complete their daily SchoolPass screening when School is in session regardless of whether they will be on-campus. They will also be required to complete the screening on weekends if they are planning to be on-campus for any reason (athletics, organized social gathering, etc.).

The school’s communicable disease policy has recently been updated to include new guidelines specific to COVID-19. Adherence to this policy is part of each family’s contractual obligation to the school. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

The School will be checking temperatures of each student in the middle of the school day while on-campus and may also periodically check the temperature of students on-campus at other times. If a student presents with a temperature or other symptoms of COVID-19 while on campus, the student will be isolated and the contact on record will be notified. The student must be picked up within 60 minutes of the parent/contact being notified. If necessary, emergency medical personnel will be called. The student will be directed to consult their physician and may be required to submit a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to campus.

The School will report the situation to the appropriate Montgomery County and Maryland State health officials according to current regulations and work with them to determine next steps. The School will follow and communicate immediately any health directives for quarantining, testing, or campus closure.

While the School will work with county health officials, the School may also make its own determinations about moving groups of students (a homeroom or cohort, a grade, or a division) or possibly the whole school to Holton@Home. A number of factors will inform such decisions including but not limited to the number of suspected or actual cases and their location(s) (a single homeroom or cohort, a single grade, a single division, or multiple divisions). How long we remain in Holton@Home learning will also depend on a variety of factors as well as direction/mandates from the county health department.

Symptomatic and/or Positive Test: Students who shows symptoms of COVID-19 and tested positive for COVID-19 must consult a health care provider and must stay home until:

• 10 days since symptoms first appeared and
• 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
• Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving. (Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation.)

Asymptomatic and Positive Test: Students who did not show symptoms of COVID-19 but did test positive for COVID-19 must consult a health care provider and must stay home until:

• 10 days have passed since you had a positive viral test for COVID-19.
• Most people do not require testing to decide when they can be around others; however, if your healthcare provider recommends testing, they will let you know when you can resume being around others based on your test results.
• If a student develops symptoms, follow the guidance for Symptomatic and/or Positive Test above.

Anyone who has had close contact with someone with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days after their last exposure to that person. However, anyone who has had close contact with someone with COVID-19 and who has:

• been diagnosed with COVID-19 illness within the previous 3 months and
• has recovered and
• remains without COVID-19 symptoms (for example, cough, shortness of breath) does not need to stay home.

Close Contact includes the following:

• The student was within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes regardless of whether face coverings were worn.
• The student provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19.
• The student had direct physical contact with someone who is sick with COVID-19 (touched, hugged, or kissed them).
• The student shared eating or drinking utensils with someone who is sick with COVID-19.
• Someone who is sick with COVID-19 sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on the student.

During Hybrid@Holton and "10 Grades in 10 Days" School starts at 8:15 a.m. every day with the exception of Wednesdays when the day starts at 9:25 a.m. to allow for faculty meetings and professional learning. Students will not be permitted on campus more than 30 minutes prior to the start time. This means no earlier than 7:45 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and no earlier than 8:55 a.m. on Wednesday. Unfortunately due to the need to avoid mixing the homerooms and cohorts, there will be no before-school care or breakfast. Students will go directly to their first class upon entering the building. Students will be assigned entrances and exits by cohort.

Students will be dismissed directly from classrooms when their bus or caregivers arrive on campus. Students must be picked up by the end of the academic day --no later than 3:30 p.m. There will be no Homework Zone from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Aftercare programming will only be available to those that absolutely require it and will end at 5:30 p.m. each day, as the campus will close at 6 p.m. If you will require aftercare programming when your daughter is on-campus please email your Callie Oliver by September 15th.

In accordance with the Shared Responsibility clause, we strongly encourage students not to mix outside their cohort. If done, it should happen outside with masks and strict social-distancing. We expect that any socializing or participation in non-Holton sports will follow strict virus-related protocols (social distancing, masks, hygiene). It is up to the school’s discretion on behalf of the larger well-being of the School community to determine if any behavior brought to our attention violates this Share Responsibility clause.

Please refer to the Maryland Policy but we recommend a Covid test 72 hours after returning from travel outside of the DMV and to not return to campus until a negative result is returned.

Yes. Students can opt out of Hybrid@Holton by trimester, including all three if they so choose. Once a family has decided to opt out of on-campus learning, they cannot opt back in until the next trimester. This policy is to maintain a level of continuity for students and faculty. However, if a student must quarantine or is sick, they can of course engage with Hybrid@Home until cleared to return to Hybrid@Holton. A student who is sick and unable to participate in Hybrid@Home should report their absence to the appropriate division assistant, the School Nurse and normal absence policies and notification procedures will apply. If you already know your child will be opting-out for the first trimester, please complete this form by Friday, September 18th. Students can choose to opt-out at any point in the trimester, but it is helpful for our teachers to know as soon as possible about decisions that have already been made.

COVID-19 is extremely contagious and is believed to spread by person-to-person contact; and, as a result, federal and state health agencies recommend social distancing and various other measures to mitigate the risk of contracting the virus. The School has implemented reasonable preventative protocols, policies and procedures designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Students and their families are expected to adhere to these protocols in order to reduce the risks of contracting or spreading the virus at the School.

Despite the Safety Policies and other measures in place to mitigate the risk of transmission of COVID-19 on campus, there are inherent risks that students and/or their families may become infected with COVID-19 due to the student’s participation in-person classes at the School. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following: exposure to COVID-19, becoming infected with COVID-19, or becoming a symptomatic or asymptomatic carrier of the virus. It is possible that a student is already an asymptomatic carrier of the virus before and that the student may infect other students, employees, or other individuals at the School as a result of their attendance. Any person who receives a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, including a student or their family member, may encounter extended quarantine/self-isolation, additional tests, medical care, hospitalization, other potential complications, and the risk of death. By allowing their child(ren) to come to campus for any reason, parents understand, acknowledge and voluntarily assume these risks on behalf of themselves and the student(s).

Yes. Students must wear a face mask at all times while on campus except when eating. Students are expected to know how to properly use and remove a face mask. Students must arrive at campus with their mask and may choose to use either cloth or surgical masks. If students are using fabric masks, the mask must be cleaned regularly. Students needing a medical accommodation should contact the School Nurse.

We will provide students with 3 school-approved masks (uniform colors, 3-ply cotton) at the beginning of the year and will have disposal masks available if they are without one. Students can purchase additional School-approved masks through the vendor of their choice, we just ask that it comply with uniform colors and is at least 3-ply cotton. Students can wear their own preferred masks of the same quality or greater, we just ask that there are no distracting logos/artwork/phrases that would otherwise not comply with the school dress code.Faculty and staff will also be provided school-approved masks.

Holton consulted with system design engineers with knowledge of current research and standards to optimize the performance of our HVAC systems. Our equipment includes air handlers which bring in outside air and filter and recirculate inside air and fan coil units in each room to condition and filter the internal air. We’ve increased filtration to the maximum possible in each system. Increased outside air percentages to max possible. We have followed guidance to seal gaps in multi-filter systems

Studies show that UV light systems can be up to 85% effective which is the same level as our current filtration system. Engineers have advised that installing UV light systems in our HVAC system will not increase the effective filtration. We will be running systems 24x7 for constant air flow and conditioning.

Lower School Precautions

• Air handlers bring in almost 100% outside air. 2 sets of filters on outside air. Approximately 10 complete air changes per hour
• Fan coil units also have filters – filters have been increased to max filtration possible without damaging the equipment
• Windows can be open – depending on heat and humidity outside will impact comfort in the classroom
• Doors can be open or closed when rooms are occupied

Middle and Upper School Precautions

• Air handlers flow is automatic. We are overriding the automatic system to increase the outside air percentage to the maximum possible which depends on the heat and humidity outside.
• Fan coil units also have filters – filters have been increased to max filtration possible without damaging the equipment.
• Windows can be open – depending on heat and humidity outside will impact comfort in the classroom.
• Doors should be closed when rooms are occupied for maximum outside air circulation.

Signage will be placed throughout the building to indicate six-feet distance, directional flow and other virus-related reminders. Students must adhere to all posted signage, including those directing social distancing, use of elevators and common spaces.

Classrooms have been set-up to accommodate 6-feet social distancing between desks. There will be plexiglass barriers between teachers at the front of the classroom and students.

The School will limit the number of people in a restroom (including multi-stall restrooms) at a time. While the School will be performing regular, frequent cleaning, restrooms will have sanitizing wipes or sanitizing spray which should be used on any surfaces the students touched before and after each use.