Columbia Heights Public Schools (CHPS) continues to monitor the developments with COVID-19.

We want CHPS students, families, and staff to know that we are in communication with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to have the most up-to-date information and to implement district and school protocols as needed. We are also using the Center of Disease Control's (CDC) recommendations as guidance. 

*Please refer to MDH and MDE for your most up-to-date resource.

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

• Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority.
• Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.
• Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
• In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as screening testing.
• Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
• Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.
• Many schools serve children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together consistently) to protect students, teachers, staff, visitors, and other members of their households and support in-person learning.
• Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies (e.g., physical distancing, screening testing).

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)

It is important that everyone in the school, child care, youth-serving program, and camp community take steps to reduce COVID-19 transmission, particularly to those who are not vaccinated, while balancing the need to maintain a strong system that effectively supports children, youth, staff and communities.

• Best Practice Recommendations
  Approaches that schools, child care, youth programs, and camps can use to promote health and safety while mitigating COVID-19 transmission risk.
  
  
• COVID-19 Testing During the 2021-22 School Year
  Testing recommendations and options for families, educators, and staff.
  
  
• COVID-19 Vaccinations
  Information about the COVID-19 vaccines, who is eligible for vaccinations, how to get the vaccine and other vaccine related information. Information specifically about vaccinations for children is also available through the Minnesota Department of Health.

Anoka County Public Health Vaccine Clinic

Anoka County Public Health is partnering with Columbia Heights School District to provide pediatric Pfizer vaccine for eligible students: those who have turned 5 on or before the vaccine clinic date through age 11 students who have not yet turned 12.

Anoka County is hosting a 1st dose Pfizer vaccination clinic at the Hylander Center in Columbia Heights on Saturday, November 13th, 2021 from 8:30am-12:30pm. Below is the link to register for a vaccination appointment.

Please consider the following information when registering:

• All children receiving a vaccine must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
• Please arrive at the clinic wearing a medical mask, as all clinic attendees must wear a medical mask while in the building. If you and/or your child do not have a medical mask, it will be provided by clinic staff.
• The primary contraindication (medical reason for not getting the vaccine) for the vaccine is allergy to a component of the vaccine (Lipids ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate), 2[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, and 0.2 mg cholesterol), potassium chloride, monobasic potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate, and sucrose).
• For more information about the vaccine, please refer to the attached Fact Sheet.
• If you will be in isolation or quarantine during this scheduled clinic, you will need to schedule an appointment through a future vaccination opportunity as being in isolation or quarantine is a contraindication for receiving COVID-19 vaccine.
• Please plan to stay 15 minutes following vaccination for observation
• In order to have vaccine information recorded accurately and to receive information about 2nd dose appointments, please review information before completing registration.
• The second dose clinic will occur on Saturday, 12/11/2021 at the Hylander Center in Columbia Heights.
• Registration to this clinic is on a first-come, first-served basis. If there are no appointments available, the clinic is full.
• If you need assistance, please call 763-324-4250.

The PREPMOD link below for registration only works in Chrome. Please copy the link and paste into a Chrome web browser if you have Internet Explorer or another platform.

Date: Saturday, November 13th 2021

Time: 8:30am-12:30pm

Registration Link: https://acappt.co.anoka.mn.us/appointment/en/reg/2654627109

Fact Sheet

COVID-19 Testing

1. No-cost, at-home testing through Vault
2. No-cost, community testing sites