Dear New Hampshire Estates Community,

This letter is to inform you that we were notified yesterday of four more positive COVID cases at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. I informed you of these cases in a Connect Ed call last night. A staff member who was last present at our school on Monday, December 20, tested positive yesterday for COVID. Another staff member who as last present at our school on December 13 tested positive yesterday. Also, a first grade student and a second grade student who were last present at New Hampshire Estates yesterday tested positive yesterday for COVID.  Following Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) guidelines, we notified individuals who were known to have close contact with these individuals and have informed them to quarantine and monitor for symptoms, per CDC guidelines.

Per current DHHS guidance and our contact tracing process, unless you are notified directly, your child does not need to quarantine as they were not in close contact with the persons who tested positive for COVID-19 or they are already in quarantine. Please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/contact-tracing/contact-tracing-plan/appendix.html#contact for additional information on how the CDC, MCPS and DHHS, defines and identifies close contacts.

We encourage you to closely monitor your child for symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough, headache, and shortness of breath. If your child develops any of these symptoms, do not send them to school. You should contact your healthcare provider and have your child tested for COVID-19. Please contact the school if your child develops COVID-19-like symptoms. Students who develop symptoms, or test positive for COVID-19, will not be able to return to the building until they are medically cleared.

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.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to maintain a safe and healthy school environment.