Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School

Collaborate for Healthy Lives

07/18/22, 4:48 PM

Good Afternoon Howell Families,

In order to help ensure the health and safety of our entire Howell family, I am asking that we all take the following measures to help prevent the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. We try to call every family, but with so many sick students we are overwhelmed at the moment and wanted to ensure you had the best information available:

If your student is experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms (listed below) please keep them home and notify our office team by calling the Attendance Line at 720-424-2770.

  • Symptoms of COVID-19
    • Critical Symptom
      • Loss of taste or smell
    • Major Symptoms
      • Feeling feverish, having chills, temperature of 100.4F or greater
      • New or worsening cough
      • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
    • Minor Symptoms
      • Sore throat
      • Runny nose or congestion
      • Muscle or body aches
      • Headache
      • Fatigue
      • Nausea or vomiting
      • Diarrhea

Students who are experiencing COVID symptoms should stay home for 5 days following the day their symptoms started; they can return on day 6 as long at their symptoms are improving and they have been without a fever and not using fever-reducing medications 24 hours prior to their return.


If your student has been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 please keep them home and notify our office team by calling the Attendance Line at 720-424-2770. (If your student is fully vaccinated against COVID or had COVID in the last 90 days AND is not experiencing any symptoms they are exempt from quarantining. I ask that you still notify the office so we can make note in the event they exhibit symptoms later.)

Students who who have been exposed to COVID at home or in the community should stay out of school for 5 days following the last day they were exposed to the person with COVID-19. They may return on day 6 as long at they haven't had any illness symptoms while under quarantine. If they have any of the symptoms above while under quarantine please notify the main office.


Please feel free to call my office at 720-424-2746 if you have any questions about the updated illness policy. We will continue to reach out to families, but the best thing you can do to help is call the Attendance Line (720-424-2770) or email the Attendance Line (Attendance_Howell@dpsk12.org) to let us know that you student is absent and the reason so we can focus on following up on our sick students.

Also, I would ask that if anyone if your family has not received the COVID vaccine that you consider coming to our upcoming clinic ... Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) will be at Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School on Tuesday, January 11th from 1 PM to 7 PM to provide COVID vaccines for anyone age 5 or older.

We will get through this current surge of COVID as a school community, but we need your help to ensure we limit the spread as much as possible and keep students who are ill with any cold/flu/COVID symptoms home. There is no way to tell if your student's illness is the cold, flu, RSV, or COVID without a highly accurate molecular test. I continue to encourage you to get a test through your primary healthcare provider or COVIDcheck Colorado as needed.

 

RICHARD RUTHERSBY, BSN, RN, NCSN 
School Nurse, Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School
14250 Albrook Dr, Denver, CO 80239
p 720-424-2746 | f 720-424-2765 | howell.dpsk12.org