A Message from the Healthy Wheeler Task Force

Dear Wheeler Families,

We hope that you are enjoying summer! As we look ahead to the start of the school year, we wanted to share this summary of key mitigation measures in place at Wheeler. We will also be updating our Q&A document over the next few weeks–this is where you will be able to find current and complete information about our health and safety protocols throughout the school year. We also want to note that, unlike the past few years, the Healthy Wheeler Task Force will not send out its own messages unless a timely communication is necessary. Instead, we will provide relevant updates on health and safety items in the This Week at Wheeler e-newsletter, so please look out for this.

  • Masking: We remain a mask-friendly environment, but a mask will not be required on either of our campuses unless returning after COVID infection and recovery. There may be times that masking will be recommended in situations where a cluster is present.
  • Vaccination: We are requiring that all students (including those under five years of age who are now eligible) become or remain up to date on vaccinations unless otherwise exempted. If you need information about exemption forms, please reach out to School Nurse Kathy McKenna in the Health Center. Otherwise, please submit your child’s vaccination form in the Magnus Health Portal with other required forms. We recognize that the booster recommendations are changing and we will update everyone as we have more information.
  • Isolation: Those with symptomatic COVID-19 illness or those who have tested positive but are asymptomatic must stay home for at least five days from when symptoms first appeared. On day six, students and faculty/staff can return to school if: they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medicine; their symptoms have improved or are improving; and they wear a N95 or KN95 mask days six through 10. If they cannot wear a mask in school, they must stay home for a full 10 days. Please see the CDC Quarantine and Isolation Calculator for more information.
  • Testing: We will test students who are symptomatic during the school day. All other testing should be conducted at home or in the pediatrician’s office. We will not be conducting surveillance testing unless our community experiences an outbreak of infections in a group of students.
  • Communication: Our Wheeler COVID-19 Status Report will be updated at the end of each school day with positive case numbers in each division and across our community. As mentioned earlier in this message, we will not be sending email notifications unless there is a change in protocol in the classroom (i.e. a cluster indicates masking in the classroom for a defined number of days). If you would like to stay updated, please check our Q&A document whenever you need–the document will be updated by the start of school in September and will continue to be updated throughout the school year.

Our Health Center team is always available to answer your questions. Nurse Kathy McKenna will be our COVID point person in that office, and she can be reached at kathymckenna@wheelerschool.org.

Take good care,

The Healthy Wheeler Task Force

  • Candice de los Reyes, Chief of Staff
  • Judy Diaz P’27, P’29, Director of the Health Center
  • Allison Gaines Pell P’23, P’25, Head of School
  • Kathy McKenna, School Nurse
  • Ian Moorhouse, Chief Operating Officer
  • Max Pearlstein, Director of Strategic Communications
  • Young Un P’12, Head of Strategic Innovation