TIPS continues to monitor health conditions in Tokyo and hopes each of your families is well. As the COVID vaccine becomes more prevalent in Japan, we are returning to pre-pandemic levels of activity at school. We ask families to check the temperature of students before coming to school. If a student has a temperature of over 37.5 degrees, the student is sent home to monitor any other symptoms until the fever remains in the normal range for 24 hours. In this case, students may find assignments on Google classroom.
Close-Contact Requirements
If someone in your immediate family at home is infected with the COVID-19 disease, contact us with that information and keep your son or daughter home until advised by health authorities that it is safe to come back to school.
Even though COVID infection rates are currently relatively low, we may become classified as “close-contact persons”. TIPS continues to follow Setagaya Ward School Board policies advising safety for close-contact persons.
A person is considered a close-contact if
1) they have spoken (maskless, face-to-face and within 1m) for fifteen minutes or longer with a person who has been positively diagnosed or have symptoms within two days of the contact.
or
2) they live with someone with a positive diagnosis.
Close-contact persons should be tested for COVID as soon as possible after being exposed. If a test kit is not available from the local health department or clinic, TIPS can provide a kit as long as supplies last.
If the result of the COVID test is positive, please follow medical advice.
If the COVID antigen test is negative, and remains negative for three consecutive days, and the student has no symptoms, the student is welcome back to school.
The most common four symptoms of COVID are:
- fever of 37.5 degrees
- coughing
- fatigue
- throat pain
We hope our community understands this policy is designed to protect the members of our school by preventing the spread of COVID.
The following precautions are still in effect:
1. Face Masks
All people in the building wear face masks that cover the nose and mouth at all times, except for when eating and drinking. For those who forget to bring a mask to school, a face mask will be purchased (child and adult sizes available) at the front window before they enter. The cost is 30 yen per mask.
2. Hand washing
Everyone washes their hands as they enter the building, before eating and after using the restroom. Hand sanitizer is in each classroom and students are required to use it as they enter and leave the classrooms.
3. Fever Protocol
The most common symptom of COVID-19 is fever. If a person in the school (employee or student) has a fever higher than 37.5 degrees, we require that person to go home (or remain at home) until the fever remains in the normal range for 24 hours.If the fever of above 37.5 degrees recurs for two days or longer, we ask the person to consult a doctor. The medical professional will make a decision about the necessity of a PCR test.
4. Lunch Room Rules
・Masks must cover your nose and mouth except when eating and drinking.・Face the same direction during lunch.
For consistency sake, students will face the bookshelves in the common room, except for those at the bar. Those students who sit at the bar will face the wall.
We ask parents to cooperate in the following ways in order to keep us as safe as possible:
- Take your son or daughter’s temperature each morning before sending him/her to school. If the temperature is higher than normal, please keep your child home until the temperature returns to normal.
- If anyone in our school building is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will follow the instructions of the health authorities.
- If two or more people in our building have a positive COVID-19 diagnosis on the same date, we respond. If both people have symptoms that occurred within 48 hours of being in our building, we will inform our school community as soon as possible and describe the safety measures we are taking as a response. In case the infected person(s) have no symptoms, we will take a similar response.
- We at TIPS will not allow any disparaging remarks about victims of the illness.
- The school counselor service continues to service our families, including parents, to promote good mental health in this stressful time related to COVID-19.