Dear Rachel Carson ES Family:

We are sending this letter to inform you that your student has been identified as a close contact, based on CDC guidelines regarding close contacts (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/contact-tracing/contact-tracing-plan/appendix.html#contact) of an individual at Rachel Carson ES  who was last on-site on Friday 17 December 2021 and tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) on Saturday 18 December 2021.  We were informed of the positive test result on Monday 20 December 2021. We wish the individual well and look forward to their safe return once they have been medically cleared.  

Your student had close contact during a masked activity.  Based on the updated quarantine guidelines, if you have completed a consent form for your child to participate in the MCPS COVID-19 testing programs, your child does not need to quarantine from school and may attend on-site for the instructional day.  Students must quarantine from all out of school activities, including before/after care programs, athletic or extra curricular activities, and community or public events.  If at any time your child develops COVID-19 symptoms, they must stay home and get tested for COVID-19 before returning to school. 

If you have not completed the consent form for participation in MCPS COVID-19 testing programs, you may complete the form for participation and your student may remain in school: https://www.cognitoforms.com/CIANDiagnostics1/MCPSMarylandDepartmentOfHealthCIANDiagnosticsIndividualCOVID19TestingConsentOptInForm2

If you do not consent for your child to participate in MCPS COVID-19 testing programs, your student must quarantine for 10 days. Quarantine may be shortened for your child to return after 7 days  if they have a negative PCR test on day 5 or after exposure. 

Please visit  https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/coronavirus and https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/ for additional information on COVID-19 resources, including free COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 vaccination sites.