Re-Entry Plan

Mill Springs Academy welcomes all of our K-12 students back for on-campus learning during the 2021-2022 school year. 

Mill Springs Academy's Leadership Team has created updated COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-2022 school year. The protocols have been developed based on the following:

  1. Guidelines provided by the CDC, the Fulton County Board of Health, Georgia Department of Public Health, and the Academy of Pediatrics,
  2. The current rates of transmission for our area. Rates are reported in three categories - low, moderate, and high.  The Atlanta area is currently experiencing high rates of transmission,
  3. The recommendations of our COVID Task Force, with input from our Leadership Team,
  4. Approval by our Board of Trustees.

The following protocols will be reviewed weekly.  As this situation changes, we will adapt, revise, and change our policies in order to adjust to the changing data.  We will keep you informed of all changes.

Updates as of January 8, 2022

We will continue to have our weekly testing program and will continue to monitor this situation carefully. Should we experience a drastic change in numbers, we may revise our plan. We remain committed to in-person learning. Going forward, please note the following:

  1. We will continue to monitor this situation by offering weekly testing on both Monday afternoons for faculty and Wednesdays for the entire school.
  2. The Georgia DPH has recently granted the lab permission to test family members at school site testing programs. Starting on Wednesday, any family member can come to campus to be tested from the hours of 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Families must pre-register online at https://schools.coquihealth.com/registration/d4208a13-7c34-4e63-924b-94ebf55e62ed before coming to campus. We do ask that if you are symptomatic, please notify Nurse Ann in advance, and we will arrange for you to be tested from your car.
  3. Masks will be required on campus.
  4. Our protocol for isolation and quarantining remains unchanged. Our school-wide testing program will satisfy the recommendations for testing.
    • If you test positive, individuals are asked to isolate for five days after testing or until symptom-free. The day you test positive is considered day zero. On day six, symptom-free individuals can return to school fully masked.
    • If you are vaccinated and exposed, monitor for symptoms, but individuals can be at school fully masked provided they are symptom-free.
    • If you are unvaccinated and exposed, individuals are required to quarantine for five days. On day six, symptom-free individuals can return to school fully masked.

MSA continues to adhere to guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We are closely monitoring updates, as guidance is frequently changing due to local and global developments. Please note that the current plan may be subject to change.

COVID Protocols

This policy has been developed based on the following:

2021-2022 COVID Preventative Strategies

  1. Health and Hygiene protocols: This year, we will continue to emphasize handwashing and respiratory etiquette as they are important mitigating strategies.
  2. Cleaning and disinfecting: We are taking additional steps to ensure the campus is clean and disinfected on a daily basis. We have day porters working throughout the school day to keep our campus sanitized.
  3. Ventilation: Teachers continue to be encouraged to keep their windows and doors open and utilize our beautiful outdoor campus.
  4. Staying home when sick and getting tested:
    • We will continue to track school-wide attendance through our attendance@millsprings.org email address. Parents are asked to notify the school of any absences by emailing attendance@millsprings.org.
    • Any student who presents with COVID symptoms will be sent to the clinic for evaluation.
    • Any student who presents with COVID symptoms:
      • Needs to isolate for 10 days, or
      • Can return to school with a negative PCR test.
    • Any student who has a confirmed case of COVID is required to isolate for 10 days.
  5. Contact tracing, in combination with isolation and quarantine:
    • We will continue to contact trace exposures and notify families of students who had direct exposure. Exposure is defined as being within three feet for more than fifteen minutes.
    • Unvaccinated students who have direct exposure will be required to quarantine for 10-days.
    • Vaccinated students who have direct exposure do not need to quarantine, provided they get tested on days 3-5 after exposure and present a negative test result to the school.
  6. Modality of Instruction: We are only going to offer one modality of instruction, either in-person or virtual. Our goal is to stay in person.
  7. Consistent and Correct Use of Masks: Currently, masks are optional while on campus.
  8. Temperature Checks: We are not going to continue daily temperature checks for students arriving on campus. Students who present with fever-like symptoms will be sent to the clinic for evaluation.
  9. Promoting Vaccinations: Vaccination is encouraged but not required.
  10. Physical Distance: We will continue to enforce social distancing of three feet both in and out of the classroom. Lunch will remain in the classroom/advisories.
  11. Visitors: Visitors and volunteers will be allowed on campus only with prior approval and for limited reasons.
  12. Screening testing to promptly identify cases, clusters, and outbreaks: We conducted a poll of our parents and faculty/staff asking about the level of support for on-site testing. The response rate was in favor of on-site testing, with seventy percent of our parents and over ninety percent of our faculty supporting on-site testing. We have reached out to the Fulton County Board of Health to partner with them in this protocol. This is being offered in an effort to help prevent in-school transmission, provide an added layer of protection to our faculty, staff, and students, build confidence in our community and protect the broader community. All families are encouraged to opt-in to the testing program. As we receive more details, we will share them with you.