COVID FAQs

Holton recently adopted the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) interim guidance to schools regarding COVID-19 quarantine and isolation. As a reminder, this reflects interim guidance from the CDC and is subject to change. The guidance is applicable to asymptomatic AND symptomatic people. To be clear, we’ve highlighted the guidance below and provided Holton-specific examples.

Isolation Guidance for COVID-19 Positive Individuals: All persons who test positive for COVID-19 or believe they may have COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, should complete isolation as follows:

• Stay home for at least 5 full days from the date of symptom onset if symptomatic or the date of the positive test if no symptoms. Day 1 is considered the first full day after symptoms started in symptomatic persons or the first full day after the person tested positive if asymptomatic.
• After Day 5, if the person has no symptoms or if symptoms have improved and they have had no fever for at least 24 hours without medication, they may return to school and continue to wear a well-fitting mask.

For example, any asymptomatic individuals who tested positive from the Thursday, January 6th test, would be cleared to return to Holton on Wednesday (Friday -first “full day”- plus Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, for a total of 5 days). An individual with symptoms who tested positive from Thursday would count the first full day of symptoms (could be before testing happened) and as long as they have no fever (without aid of medicine) and their symptoms are improving, they may return to School. For some, that could be as early as tomorrow. If you have questions about your specific case, please follow-up with Lori Herringa for guidance.

Updated 1.10.22

COVID-19 is still impacting our area, albeit with less severity, and therefore we have to be vigilant in abiding by the Communicable Disease Policy that keeps sick students out of the building. In most cases, if your child has been out sick, we will ask for a negative rapid COVID test and that your child be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to School. We will continue to send students home if they come to school with any of the symptoms listed in the linked Communicable Disease Policy, and ask for your partnership in alleviating this step when possible. 

Updated 1.2.22

Close Contact/Quarantining Guidelines: Fully-vaccinated individuals who are up-to-date on boosters (see guidelines to see if you qualify) OR who have had COVID-19 in the last 90 days DO not need to quarantine following close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual. However, if you come into close contact and DO develop symptoms you should quarantine and get tested. Follow above isolation guidance if you test positive.

For example, a Holton sophomore who is fully-vaccinated (no booster required) would not need to quarantine after being in contact with a classmate or teammate who tests positive unless she had COVID-19 symptoms. Should she have symptoms, she would need to get a PCR test. If the PCR test is positive she would return according to the above isolation guidance. If she is negative, she would return as soon as she uploads her negative results to Magnus.

Individuals who are not fully-vaccinated, must quarantine for 5 days after a close contact. If they experience no symptoms, they should get a PCR test at the conclusion of those 5 days. If they are symptomatic, they should get a PCR test immediately. With more than 80% of our Lower School fully-vaccinated and nearly 100% of our Middle and Upper School students fully-vaccinated, this category represents a very small portion of our student body.

Updated 1/13/22

Holton will continue to monitor key indicators (new cases per million people, hospitalization levels, and test positivity data), consult with medical and epidemiological professionals, and follow federal, state and local health guidance to determine open and closure decisions. Beginning Tuesday, January 4, Holton will test the entire on-campus community of students and employees (regardless of vaccination status) weekly.

Updated 1.2.22

Beginning Tuesday, January 4, 2022 the entire Holton community and employees will be required to test weekly, regardless of vaccination status. More details will be shared via the Sunday Skim each week.

Updated 1.2.22

Under the guidance of the CDC (see exception for K-12 indoor classrooms) and Maryland Department of Health (see page 3), we are no longer performing intensive contact tracing. The Department of Health is only requiring those who live in the same household or have intensive exposure (i.e., sleepover or sports teams without masks) to contact trace. Typical classroom exposure is not a qualifying contact. Given we still have a small fraction of students in Lower School that remain unvaccinated, we will however continue to reach out to students by grade-level when a classmate has tested positive. 

Updated 1.13.22

Yes. In order to help the Holton campus and our community of students and adults remain as safe as possible, we are requiring all employees to be fully-vaccinated by August 16, the week before Pre-Season and New Faculty Orientation begins (August 23).  This means that employees need to have received their final shot (either one J&J shot or a second Pfizer or Moderna shot) by Friday, July 30. Employees must upload a copy of the vaccine card to Magnus by Monday, August 2. 

For the 2021-22 School year all eligible students 12 and older must be vaccinated or have an approved exemption to participate in any on-campus activities (pre-season, orientation, Convocation) or attend  classes. Students in Lower School are STRONGLY encouraged to the vaccine recently approved for 5-11 year-olds, but at this time are not required to do so. As your child receives their first and second doses of the vaccine, please upload a picture or their vaccination card directly to Magnus. A child is fully-vaccinated a full 14 days after they have received the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or  the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.  

For the 2022-23 School Year all students who are eligible are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19; only medical exemptions from the vaccination requirement will be considered.

As a reminder, we are asking all families to update Magnus with their child(ren)’s medical forms per their contract.

Holton-Arms School’s health policies are based on guidelines and information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Maryland Department of Health and Maryland School Health Services, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  When developing policy and making decisions, we first refer to those agencies with a depth of knowledge and expertise focused on keeping our children healthy and safe.

If your child is not eligible to be vaccinated over the summer, but will turn 12 during the school year, they will be required to receive a first vaccination within 30 days of becoming eligible for the vaccine in order to continue attending School. As vaccines are approved and become available to younger children, we will share similar guidelines with those families.

If your child is medically unable to receive a vaccination, you will need to apply for a medical exemption, for which you must submit a letter from her doctor documenting the specific medical reason that she cannot receive a vaccination.  This must be submitted by August 1st and is subject for approval by the School before the student may return to campus. All medical information will be confidential.

Learn more about vaccine clinics in the area through the Montgomery County information portal or nationwide through Walgreens.  Additionally, we recommend parents consult the below resources as they learn more about the vaccine for their child. 

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) White Paper

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) FAQ

Healthy Children FAQ

Yes. As per CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, and local health officials, the Holton-Arms School will require everyone (students, faculty, staff, and all visitors) to wear masks when inside School buildings or on a Holton transportation—regardless of vaccination status. For students, a cloth mask (3 ply in uniform colors of blue, black, white or grey) or disposable medical masks must cover the nose and mouth and fit snugly under the chin.

Mask breaks are permitted outside—regardless of vaccination status—when physical distancing (at least 3 feet of space) can be maintained. This will include LS recess. 

Yes. We continue to closely monitor the recommendations from the CDC and ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers). We are taking the following steps according to their guidelines:

• Maximizing outdoor air in the HVAC system as much as possible;

• Increasing the level of air filtration as high as possible in all locations while still allowing the system to function;

• Increasing the frequency of all filter changes;

• Operating ventilation units 24 hours per day when possible and increasing system running times.

• Continue to encourage outdoor air flow by keeping windows open throughout the building when weather allows. 

​​​​​​After careful consideration and consultation with other NAIS schools, Holton-Arms has decided to continue our policy suspending school-sponsored domestic and international overnight travel until further notice. This includes global journeys, division field trips/retreats and athletic camps and trips. We are still considering league championships where travel may include an overnight stay. 

In considering the various responsibilities that our employees undertake when chaperoning overnight travel, we determined that the unpredictable nature of COVID-19 spread coupled with the varying visitor/guardian policies of hospitals outside of the immediate DMV area if a student were to need medical treatment for any reason posed too much of a burden and risk. We will evaluate our policy regarding league championships as new information becomes available. However, we wanted to share our current thinking so that students and families could plan accordingly.