January 12, 2025

Dear Egremont Families,

We hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well.

Once again, we would like to extend heart-felt wishes to all of our families who have been affected by the recent winds and fires.  Our thoughts are with you.

The relentless winds and ravaging fires that have devastated Los Angeles continue to threaten areas throughout the county. As such, Egremont is constantly monitoring these situations to determine the proximity of the threat to our campus... and to logistically prepare for any emergencies which may result at Egremont or in our local community.

At this point, the only major concern affecting our school property is that of poor air quality throughout the San Fernando Valley.  

As such, school will remain open for the coming week... January 13th-17th.

Should the need arise for Egremont to cancel school, we will notify you as soon as possible via text message and/or email.  

If you do not receive a school cancellation notification, our school will remain open for students to attend classes.

Throughout the coming weeks, we will continue to take precautionary measures to help protect our students, families, faculty, and staff.

  • PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
  • Masks are encouraged to be used as necessary (Egremont provides N95/KN95 respirator masks to faculty and staff members, but students must bring their own masks according to their own parental authorization).
  • Classrooms will operate with closed doors... using HVAC upgraded filtration units and air purifiers.
  • The outdoor playgrounds will be closed for the week... and thereafter as necessary.
  • In addition to the classrooms, the library, cafeteria, and gymnasium will be used for activities. 
  • Water stations are located in all grade level classrooms for use by students to fill up water bottles.  Please be sure your child brings a water bottle to school for use. 
Should you choose to keep your child home during this time, please notify your grade level teacher so that the absence may be documented as excused.

EMERGENCY CONTACT, MEDICATION, AND PICK UP REMINDERS:
  • As a reminder, please be sure your contact information is current through Gradelink... as we use the email and cell phone information provided to contact our families regarding emergency announcements. 

  • Medications for your child should be updated with our health office.  Students may not carry medications in their backpacks.  All medications must be registered and stored in the health office for administering as necessary.
  • If an emergency occurs at Egremont, you will be notified immediately and will be required to pick up your child without delay (within a 15 minute period).  Please keep this in mind with respect to who you authorize for your child's pick up... as you should have alternative authorized individuals close by to pick up your child... in the event you are delayed.

RESOURCES:

ready.lacounty.gov
lacounty.gov
airnow.gov

POSTPONEMENT OF OUR THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH OPEN HOUSE:
Egremont will tentatively reschedule our OPEN HOUSE to Thursday, January 23rd.  Your grade level teachers will be reaching out to you regarding the food portion of the projects for our International Fair presentations.   

Your safety and well-being are our top priorities.

Thank you for your cooperation... we sincerely appreciate your partnership with us!  

With gratitude,
Tina Struve
COVID-19 UPDATES for the 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR 
Dear Egremont Parents,
​
We are mindful of the continued focus of health and safety for our entire Egremont community.

While currently COVID-19 is less risky for most individuals than it has been in the past, reducing transmission of COVID-19 remains an essential strategy to help protect those most vulnerable for severe illness, to minimize disruption at school, and to reduce the chances of experiencing Long COVID.   

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recommends simple steps to help stop COVID from impacting our school community as we get back to school this fall.
  1. As a precaution, we’d like to invite all students to test regularly using an at-home COVID antigen test at least once a month... or more frequently as necessary.  If you need tests to administer, you may pick them up from us at the main office entry.
  2. If you think your child has been exposed to COVID recently or if you are worried they might be more susceptible to catching COVID, we encourage them to wear a mask for the first two weeks of school. 
  3. Finally, the best defense against COVID is for your child to be up-to-date on their COVID vaccines. COVID vaccines are not mandatory for school entry at Egremont, but LACDPH highly recommends all eligible children to be vaccinated.  For information about where to get vaccinated, visit the LA County Public Health How to Get Vaccinated webpage.

Our entire Egremont team will be following precautionary measures throughout the 2024-2025 school year. 

Thank you, as always, for being our most important partners in this journey!
Currently, our safety protocols require any individual who tests positive for COVID to remain in isolation at home for at least 5 days (day 1 begins the day after the positive test date). 

Please inform us immediately, if your child tests positive for COVID. 

If you test positive, whether you have symptoms or not (regardless of your vaccination status or infection history):
  • Isolate for at least 5 days
    • Sleep and stay in a separate room from those not infected
    • Use a separate bathroom if you can
    • Wear a mask around others, even at home
  • You can end isolation early, after Day 5, if:
    • You have no fever for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medication, AND
    • Your other symptoms are gone or improving
  • If you still have a fever, continue to isolate until the fever is gone for at least 24 hours
  • If other symptoms are not improving, continue to isolate through Day 10
  • After you end isolation:
    • Wear a mask around others for 10 full days after the start of symptoms. If you have no symptoms, wear a mask for 10 full days after your positive test.
    • You may remove your mask sooner than Day 10 if you have two negative tests in a row, at least one day apart.
If you were exposed but have no symptoms (regardless of your vaccination status):
  • Get tested immediately and 3-5 days after last exposure* (we have test kits available at the front office for your use).
  • It is suggested to wear a mask when around others for 10 days after exposure, even at home if other people are present.
  • If you test positive, isolate.
*If you had COVID-19 within the last 30 days:
  • You don’t need to test after exposure unless symptoms start.
  • If symptoms start, isolate and get tested.
Learn more in What to Do if You Are Exposed from CDPH.
Additional Resources:

For questions about insurance coverage of COVID-19 tests during the end of the public health emergency please visit: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/140-catastrophes/upload/Ending-the-COVID-19-PHE-Fact-Sheet.pdf
​
For information about RSV and new medications for children and vaccines for older adults: https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/high-risk/infants-young-children.html; https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/high-risk/older-adults.html

​CONTACT: LA County Department of Public Health | (213) 240-8144 [email protected]

Other pertinent information and resources can be found on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health website at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/