3 More Cases Of Coronavirus Reported At Greenwich Schools

GREENWICH, CT — Two students at North Street School and a paraprofessional at New Lebanon School have tested positive for the coronavirus, district officials confirmed Wednesday.

As a result, two third-grade classes at North Street and the entire kindergarten and first grade at New Lebanon have been asked to quarantine, officials said.

In a letter sent to families, Alexandra Michaelson, the school's principal, and school nurse Nancy Minowitz said they were notified late Sunday that a paraprofessional at the school tested positive for the virus after "an exposure from a family member."

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After Mary Keller, the district's head of nursing, performed "thorough contact tracing," the school's entire kindergarten and first grade were asked to quarantine "out of an abundance of caution," the letter reads.

Students will participate in classes remotely while quarantining and are scheduled to return to school Nov. 6.

The following day, a similar letter was sent to North Street School families by Principal Jill Flood, school nurse Marilyn Furtak and Keller.

The letter said school officials were notified Monday that two third grade students in two different classes at the school had tested positive for the virus due to exposure from a family member. The two students were last in the school on Oct. 19 and 23 respectively.

"As a result of thorough contact tracing," the letter reads, "it has been determined that two third grade classes will be in quarantine for the required 14 days from the last day of contact and will be participating in school remotely."

One class is scheduled to return to school Monday, while the other will return Nov. 6, according to the letter.

The news comes days after all fifth graders at Julian Curtis School were asked to quarantine for a week after a student tested positive for the virus. They were scheduled to return to school Tuesday.

Additionally, two classes at Old Greenwich School were recently asked to quarantine for two weeks after students at the school tested positive for the virus.

According to a tracker on the district website, there are 12 current active cases of the virus within the district. This number includes students, staff and service providers, according to the tracker.

The tracker also indicates none of the current active cases were exposed to the virus at any of the district's schools; each case originated from either outside activities or family exposure.

Spokesperson Jonathan Supranowitz noted the district follows its guidelines and procedures "very seriously," which is proving to be effective.

"As soon as we are alerted to a positive test, or if an individual has been in close contact with someone that tested positive," Supranowitz said, "we immediately conduct contact tracing and remain vigilant in communicating our findings with families and staff. We implement immediate quarantining for all individuals that come in close contact with a positive case as a safety mechanism designed to force students and staff to stay home and limit exposure."

The district website contains information on contact tracing guidelines and the "do's and don'ts" during quarantine, and officials also closely follow data provided by the state Department of Public Health, which is shared by the district in weekly updates, Supranowitz said.