COVID Mitigation Plans
The following is based on Los Angeles County requirements (which are not always the same as the State of California's rules for reopening). All schools in Los Angeles County are subject to the County's rules, even if other municipalities are operating under a different set of rules or standards.

TREE Academy's Mask Requirement

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    TREE Academy strongly recommends students wear a well-fitted, surgical-grade     

    face-covering while indoors, per the recommendations of the Los Angeles

    Department of Public Health protocols.

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    Students who would like to come to campus to attend their classes in person -- but

    who are not yet vaccinated (for any reason) -- will be tested 3 times a week at TREE

    Academy before classes begin.

 

    How our on-campus testing will work:

 

    Unvaccinated students will need to contact TREE Academy's Covid Taskforce at

    testing@treeacademy.org on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

 

    Testing will be conducted in our Peace Garden. This outside space provides safety

    and some privacy as trained, certified members of our staff guide unvaccinated

    students to self-administer a lower nasal passage swab (not to be confused with the

    uncomfortable, upper-nasal passage swab method).

 

    The antigen tests will produce results within 15 to 30 minutes. Students will remain in

    the Peace Garden until our staff has determined the result of their test to be negative.

 

    Prior to testing negative for COVID-19, unvaccinated students will be required to wear

    their masks indoors.

 

    With a negative-for-COVID-19 test result, unvaccinated students will be allowed to

    remove their facemasks if they choose to do so.

 

    Should a student receive a positive-for-COVID-19 test result, the student will

    immediately be given a confirmatory PCR test. PCR test results takes between 24 and

    48 hours to complete, however, our Covid Taskforce will immediately contact the 

    student’s family and begin contact tracing procedures.

 

    Students who test positive for COVID-19 will be escorted back out onto Holloway,

    walked to our parking lot’s entrance, and down to a pre-designated area of our

    parking lot to be promptly picked up by a family member.

 

    Families with unvaccinated students who come to campus will need to be available to

    quickly pick up their student in the event of a second positive-for-COVID-19 test result.

 

    If any other student or staff members came into close contact with the potentially

    COVID-19-positive student, they will be alerted and tested for COVID-19.

 

    The student whose initial test was positive-for-COVID-19 will need to isolate at home

    until the PCR test results are available from the lab. Should the PCR test indicate a

    negative-for-COVID-19 result, the student will be able to return to campus the next

    school day and resume the weekly testing procedures. 

 

    Should the PCR test indicate a positive-for-COVID-19 result, the student will not be

    able to return to campus until they have fully recovered and completed a subsequent

    PCR test with a negative-for-COVID-19 result. 

 

    We are required to report any PCR positive-for-COVID-19 test results to the Los

    Angeles Department of Public Health.

 

Important to know:

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    90% of our students are vaccinated against COVID-19. 

    98% of our admin/staff/teachers are vaccinated against COVID-19.

 

 

    Testing will remain optional for our vaccinated community. As of January 3rd, 2022,

    all unvaccinated students wishing to attend in-person classes or come to campus for

    any reason must be tested 3 times a week by a recognized testing entity, including

    those with a medical exemption. Those test results must be submitted and verified

    prior to coming to campus.

 

    Our Covid Taskforce has been trained and certified by The State of California to

    administer the COVID-19 tests.

 

    Wearing well-fitted, surgical-grade face coverings and getting vaccinated are by far

    the best strategies we have to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. We urge

    any of our members of our community who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated as

    soon as possible.

 

    In crafting our anti-COVID-19 measures, we have had the benefit of consulting closely

    with one of our nation’s leading epidemiologists and emerging disease specialists

    every step of the way.

 

What you can do:

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    1.  Please keep us informed if you travel and quarantine your family following your

        travels.

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    2. Observe COVID-19 precautions in your own lives, especially at gatherings.

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    3. Pleae plan on arriving early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to allow

        enough time (15-30mins) for your unvaccinated student to receive their COVID-

        19 test results before class.

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    4. Keep your student(s) at home rather than send them to school if they are

        experiencing any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or they have come

        into close contact with anyone confirmed positive for COVID-19.

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    Please report any student updates, positive test results to our Covid Taskforce by

    emailing testing@treeacademy.org 

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    COVID-19 conditions continue to improve in our community, and TREE's COVID-19

    response plan continues to evolve. Although wearing masks indoors is no longer

    required, masks will be strongly recommended in crowded indoor settings. TREE

    Academy's response plan also contemplates reinstating or introducing new protective

    measures, should it be necessary, for the health and safety of our community.