As COVID-19 continues to cause havoc within the communities and school, students and staff have strategies to protect against it.

It is important to continue with the rules and regulations of the pandemic because it protects the whole community. With all that the district has been doing, since September 17, “the total number of quarantined students and staff has been less than 10 per day in the district” and “the daily number of positive cases has not been greater than 5,” according to a message sent to the community from Superintendent Dr. Mikkel Storaasli.

It is still really important to continue to take precautions.

“Wash your hands, stay six feet away, and if you have shown signs of any symptoms, like fevers or headaches, stay home and quarantine,” said school nurse India Naylor.

The school continues to offer ways to help keep staff and students safe by offering free COVID testing, appointments for vaccines (which are also free) and constant disinfecting from the staff after each period upon entering a classroom.

“There are cleaning supplies located all over the building. We’ve had the testing. We’ve held vaccine clinics which were held by our district offices which the state recognized us and saw how successful it was so they utilized our facility to run a second one,” said Principal Dr. James Roscoe.

The school wants to continue to assure students who contract COVID that there are ways to help them stay caught up in school and not just fall behind for two weeks.

“We have a Schoology in which all teachers have all assignments and materials to use. Teachers are supposed to check in often with their students. Teachers can also offer Zoom if they want to Zoom into class. Counselors will check in if they see your grades start to decline. We also allow students to schedule appointments to catch up,” Roscoe said.

As everyone continues, the school assures everyone that they are doing the best they can to protect both the faculty and student body. They aim to continue doing so by maintaining CDC guidelines and those of the Illinois Health Department by enforcing those guidelines within the school. These will be in place as long as COVID-19 is a threat.