St. Paul Institute Updated Covid Policy
8/26/2021

Because Covid continues to be contagious, and because the landscape is frequently changing, we ask for your cooperation and understanding regarding the following policies, which are in addition to our handbook illness policy, copied for your convenience below the Covid policies.

1. Parents, please continue to be vigilant about illness. Monitor your child before rehearsal and do not send your child if s/he has symptoms of illness, including a fresh cold. If someone in the family is sick with anything likely contagious, please err on the side of caution and keep all of your children home.

2. Masks are welcomed but not required. We will be respectful of everyone's decisions in this matter.

3. If a student/faculty member is in close contact with a person who tests Covid positive, the St Paul Institute student/faculty member must quarantine.

4. If a St Paul Institute student tests positive for Covid, we ask that the parents notify Mr.s Irlbeck and the appropriate director as soon as possible. The child and any siblings must stay home for 10 days, until symptoms improve, and he/she is fever free for 72 hours.

5. If there is a positive Covid case in one of our rehearsals, we will alert all families. We may or may not close rehearsals for a time, and parents can choose to keep their children home if they wish. We will alert those families who have children that had close contact with the person testing positive. Because theater involves lots of loud vocalizations, physical interactions, and close quarters, parents should perhaps consider everyone exposed if they attended practice with an infected person.

6. Finally, we will continue to practice good hygiene and utilize our outdoor spaces for Shakespeare practices when the weather is good. We will also continue to monitor the situation and reassess as necessary.

Illness Policy

Please do not bring your child to rehearsal if they exhibit any of these symptoms. If you bring your child with these symptoms, you will be called to pick them up.

Please remember these policies are set in place to protect the overall health of all of the children and families in our program. If you bring your child to class sick you risk infecting not only the teachers that provide classes for your child, but also the other children in our program, as well as their families, possibly making them miss work or school, birthdays and other important social occasions. The 'Golden Rule' applies here as much as anywhere else -- if you would not want your child exposed to any of the symptoms that they have, others would not want their child exposed, either. Thank you for keeping your sick child home and keeping our troupes as healthy as possible.

Please be very conservative in your judgment about illness in your children - when in doubt, keep them home.

The following are signs and symptoms that should alert you to the possibility of a contagious disease Please consult your child's physician as appropriate and do not bring your child to rehearsal until an infectious cause has been ruled out

1) Any fever. Any headache different from the child's norm. Any sore or scratchy throat. Any nasal discharge. Any body aches/muscle aches/chills.

2) Any type of rash or questionable bumps, and/or red spots (Contagious infections frequently first manifest themselves as rashes in children. Many of these infections are viral and a physician can estimate an appropriate quarantine time. In addition, rashes due to bacterial infection should be treated with appropriate antibiotics to lessen disease severity, prevent spread, and prevent further complications)

3) Green/Yellow/Brown Mucus coming out of the nose, mouth, or eyes (As with rashes, allergies, viruses, or bacteria can cause nasal and conjunctival discharge. The viral contagions are easily spread by children and therefore should be quarantined quickly. For conjunctivitis and bacterial causes of discharge, at least 24 hours of antibiotics should be given prior to return to school. For viral infections, resolution of symptoms is generally when the child is no longer contagious.)

4) Uncontrollable Coughing with or without Congestion, a cough that is different from the child's norm (Coughing is often the sign of infection, asthma, or allergies. If coughing is persistent, appropriate medication should be prescribed/recommended to alleviate the symptoms.)

5) Loose stool or diarrhea more than once in a day (The child will not be allowed back to rehearsals until they have gone 72 hours without diarrhea. As long as the child has diarrhea they should be considered contagious).

6) Vomiting or stomach flu of any kind (The child will not be allowed back to rehearsals until they have gone 72 hours without vomiting. As long as the child has vomiting, they should be considered contagious).

7) If your family has a contagious illness such as influenza, strep, RSV, Covid or any other contagious illness, please don’t send any of your children to rehearsal.

8) If you have any questions regarding whether or not you should send a child, please call Mrs. Irlbeck at 214-783-8480.