COVID Exposure Information
The protocols below are written for parents/students, but the same protocols are in effect for Waynflete employees.
Have you been informed that you or your child is a close contact or had a recent exposure to someone positive for COVID-19? Given the high risk of transmission in the community at this time, and because each situation is so nuanced, the steps we follow after someone is a known close contact or has had a recent exposure to someone positive for COVID-19 will depend on a number of factors, including the nature of the exposure, the rate of community transmission, and the timing of the latest pooled testing, among others.
Please contact us right away at if you or your child has been deemed a close contact and let us know the following:
- What was the nature of your contact? (Indoors/outdoors, masked/unmasked)
- How long did the exposure last?
- Was it a one time exposure or do you have continuous exposure (i.e., living in the same household)
- Have you, or anyone else that was exposed, developed any symptoms?
The guidelines below may be adjusted depending on the answers to these questions. Regardless of your vaccination or pooled testing status, you must be cleared by the health team prior to returning to campus.
Unvaccinated students in pooled testing
- If your child is experiencing any symptoms, please contact your health provider and notify right away. Any symptomatic individual who is a close contact needs to be isolated, should wear a mask around others, and get tested for COVID-19.
- When completing Ruvna screenings:
- School-based exposure: select “no” on the exposure question.
- Outside-of-school exposure: select “yes” on the exposure question.
- If a close contact is identified outside of pooled testing, we will not be following up with rapid antigen testing. If a pool returns with a positive result, we will follow up with rapid testing for pooled testing participants.
- If your child is not showing symptoms, they do not need to quarantine from school activities unless they become symptomatic.
- Per CDC, your child does need to quarantine from outside-of-school activities until ten days post exposure.
Your child may not need to get an additional COVID-19 test if they participate in our weekly pooled testing and have not missed any weeks of testing. Due to the timing of the exposure and pooled testing day, the health team will determine if an additional COVID-19 test is required to fulfill the CDC protocol of post-exposure testing.
Unvaccinated students NOT in pooled testing
- If your child is experiencing any symptoms, please contact your health provider and notify right away. Any symptomatic individual who is a close contact needs to be isolated, should wear a mask around others, and get tested for COVID-19.
- When completing Ruvna screenings:
- School-based exposure: select “no” on the exposure question.
- Outside-of-school exposure: select “yes” on the exposure question.
- Per CDC, your child must quarantine from all school and outside-of-school activities until ten days post exposure.
- Your child must obtain a non-rapid COVID-19 test five–seven days after exposure. Please send a copy of your test results to —results must be received prior to being cleared to return to school.
- Your child must be cleared by the health team prior to returning to school.
Vaccinated students in pooled testing
- If your child is experiencing any symptoms, please contact your health provider and notify right away. Any symptomatic individual who is a close contact needs to be isolated, should wear a mask around others, and get tested for COVID-19.
- When completing Ruvna screenings:
- School-based exposure: select “no” on the exposure question.
- Outside-of-school exposure: select “yes” on the exposure question.
- Per CDC, if your child is not showing symptoms, they do not need to quarantine for any activities (school affiliated or not) unless they become symptomatic.
Your child may not need to obtain an additional COVID-19 test if they participate in our weekly pooled testing and have not missed any weeks of testing. Due to the timing of the exposure and pooled testing day, the health team will determine if an additional COVID-19 test is needed to fulfill the CDC protocol of post-exposure testing. CDC recommends wearing a mask around others indoors until the results return.
Vaccinated students NOT in pooled testing
- If your child is experiencing any symptoms, please contact your health provider and notify right away. Any symptomatic individual who is a close contact needs to be isolated, should wear a mask around others, and get tested for COVID-19.
- When completing Ruvna screenings:
- School-based exposure: select “no” on the exposure question.
- Outside-of-school exposure: select “yes” on the exposure question.
- Per CDC, If your child is not showing symptoms, they do not need to quarantine unless they become symptomatic.
Your child will need to obtain a non-rapid PCR test three-five days after exposure. Your child can continue to attend school while awaiting testing and test results. CDC recommends wearing a mask around others indoors until the results return.
A member of my household has COVID-19 symptoms. Do other family members need to stay home too?
We strongly recommend that you keep other members of your household home if a member of your household has symptoms and COVID-19 has not been ruled out. Please contact if you have any questions.
Is your child experiencing one major or two or more minor symptoms of COVID-19?
All students, regardless of vaccination status, or pooled testing status…
If you child has one of the following symptoms, they cannot attend school:
- new, uncontrolled cough
- shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- new loss of taste or smell
- fever
- chills
- rigors
- sore throat
If your child has two of the following symptoms, they cannot attend school:
- new headache
- significant myalgia (muscle pain)
- unexplained runny nose or congestion
- nausea/vomiting
- diarrhea
- Your child must follow the “Return to School” protocol after being symptomatic.
- If your child is not feeling well, we strongly recommend that you consider the “wait and see approach” at home, even for just one minor symptom.
- We strongly recommend that if a member of your household has significant symptoms and COVID-19 has not been ruled out, that you keep other members of your household home.
- Even after COVID-19 has been ruled out, your child must be fever-free without medications for more than 24 hours in order to return to school (and other symptoms must be improving). If they are still experiencing new or worsening symptoms, please keep them home until their symptoms have improved.
Has a member of your household has been diagnosed with COVID-19?
If you are unvaccinated and have continuous exposure...
If you are either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated (less than two weeks after final vaccine) and are exposed to anyone diagnosed with COVID-19, you must quarantine for ten days after the last day of exposure. If you have ongoing exposure—i.e., you live in the same household and are not separated from the individual who is positive—your quarantine period is 20 days from initial exposure if you continue to test negative. The 20-day period is required because you must quarantine for the length of the infected person’s isolation period (ten days), then starting the last day of your exposure during their infectious period (day ten of the infected individual’s isolation), you begin a second ten-day quarantine. Your total quarantine is 20 days starting the day after you were first exposed.
During this time, you will need to obtain a non-rapid PCR test upon learning of your exposure, then again five–seven days after the infected individual ends their isolation period (which is often around day 15 of initial exposure). We recommend that you consult with your primary care provider to determine if additional testing is necessary during this period of time. If you become symptomatic at any time during your quarantine, you should obtain a test and consult with your provider. You will need to submit PCR results to and be cleared by the health team to return to campus.
Email us with any questions.
If you are vaccinated and have continuous exposure...
If you are fully vaccinated and have continuous exposure to an individual diagnosed with COVID-19—i.e., you live in the same household and are not separated from the individual who is positive—you will need to quarantine and obtain a non-rapid PCR test immediately after learning of your exposure, then again five–seven days later. Additional testing may be required. The length of quarantine will be determined by Waynflete’s health team in consultation with our consulting health providers and CDC (factors include the nature of the continuous exposure and test results). You will need to submit PCR results to and be cleared by the health team to return to campus.
Email us with any questions.
