COVID-19 Plans & Protocols

In order to maintain a safe environment for our students during periods of high transmission rates in our area, campus visitors (including Westridge parents/guardians) are limited to those visiting by invitation.

Upon arrival to campus, all visitors are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative PCR test results (taken within 48 hours prior to the day) to Westridge staff. N95, KN95, or KF94 masks are required indoors and optional but strongly recommended outdoors (please review our masking policy below). Visitors who cannot show either proof of vaccination or negative test results will not be allowed on campus. 

Because widespread vaccination within a community is the single best way to keep people safe and students on campus, all eligible employees and students are required to receive their two-dose vaccination series and the booster shot. Eligible employees are required to receive their booster by February 28. We require that students aged 12 and under have had their two-dose vaccination, and boosters for students 12 and up are required by March 31 (but encouraged as soon as each student meets the 6-month eligibility).

Please upload your students’ vaccination confirmation to their Magnus accounts as soon as possible, either via the app or online. If you are considering applying for a medical or religious exemption, please contact Kendis Heffley as soon as possible at kheffley@westridge.org.

Currently, 100% of faculty and more than 99% of full-time employees are fully vaccinated. If you have outstanding questions about the vaccines, please visit the LA County Department of Public Health webpage or contact your physician.

Proof of Vaccination

Please upload a photo of each student’s vaccination card to their Magnus Health account (under the "Immunization" section) at your earliest convenience. (Even if you previously noted vaccination status in your child’s account, we will need to have a photo of the vaccination card.)

Vaccine Clinics

If you need help locating a vaccine clinic, please contact the health office at hwoffice@westridge.org or utilize MyTurn.ca.gov. Families will also be notified about any upcoming on-campus vaccine clinics.

Exemption

Families may request a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine requirement.

• Please email notification of your request to kheffley@westridge.org as soon as possible. You will be provided a form to complete and return with required documentation to the school for review and decision.
• Students who receive exemptions will be required to isolate at home if they are a close contact of a person with a diagnosed case of COVID-19 or in the case of a COVID-19 outbreak on campus.

*Updated 5/6/22: Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases locally, Westridge will return to mandatory indoor masking with KN95, KF94, or N95 masks on campus beginning Monday, May 9 (please note that surgical masks are no longer acceptable). This applies to students, employees, and visitors. Masks remain optional but strongly recommended outdoors.

We appreciate your support of this decision. Our goal is to keep students and teachers healthy and in classrooms through the end of the year and able to take full part in the many culminating events during this season of transition. 

Please see CDC Mask Guidance for additional information about masking.

A daily morning symptom screening must be submitted for each student 30 minutes prior to their campus arrival and a push notification will be sent each morning reminding families to complete the symptom survey. This year we have moved to the Magnus Mobile app (titled "Magnus Mobile (v2)" in the Apple App Store and "Magnus Health" in Google Play) for daily screenings. This app integrates with the Magnus Health information system which we adopted this summer for the collection of all student health information. Families will use the same login credentials supplied for submitting student health forms. If you have not already downloaded free Magnus Mobile app, it can be found in the major app store platforms.

Employees and visitors to campus will also be asked the same series of screening questions. Students and visitors who are not feeling well or who receive the "stop" signal in the Magnus Mobile app while completing their screening should not come to campus.

Magnus in Apple App Store      Magnus in Google Play store

If you cannot download/use the app, you may download the PDF of the screening questions below and send it completed with your student to school to be turned in at drop-off.

Symptom Screening Questions

Additional Info on Symptom Screening:

As per our broader, non-COVID-related sick policy, if students are ill they should stay home to recover and to help keep others healthy. This is very important to remember as we enter cold and flu season.

Regarding potential symptoms, if any of the identified symptoms are a result of allergies or another non-contagious illness, then the student may come to school. If the identified symptoms are UNEXPLAINED, the student should stay at home. Magnus is asking parents about UNEXPLAINED symptoms. Unfortunately, any one of the listed symptoms can be the start of COVID-19 illness and should be treated with reasonable concern.

Currently, the school requires weekly testing for all (vaccinated or unvaccinated) asymptomatic individuals (employees and students) with no known exposure as recommended in the California Department of Public Health K-12 Testing Strategies Considerations. The frequency of testing may change throughout the school year based on transmission rates in the southern California area. 

On-Campus Testing & Registration

All students, including those who have been vaccinated, are required to be tested weekly. On-campus testing is available at no charge to families and will be facilitated by Omni Pathology on Tuesdays between 11 am-4 pm. Specific appointment times are not needed as students may drop in for their tests when it works in their schedule. Testing will take place inside campus gates; the drive through option has been discontinued.

Registration is no longer required for testing *if you have already uploaded your insurance information on the Omni website. If you submitted paperwork to Dr. Lisa Carruthers for your child to test, you will still need to register your insurance information on the Omni website by clicking here. Once your information is uploaded, your student may attend the on-campus testing.

Off-campus testing

If families wish to test outside of Westridge (PCR only), they may do so and forward their results to covidtesting@westridge.org by end of day Friday.

Per state-issued guidance, distancing is not required in classrooms this year, which allows all students to be on campus full-time. We will implement classroom distancing measures to the degree possible allowing for our academic program and increased distance will be maintained as much as possible during times when students or employees are not masked (e.g., due to eating or drinking). Physical education class will be held outdoors as much as possible, and activities will be selected that allow for physical distancing.

At the start of school and until further notice, visitors to campus, including parents, will be limited and must be approved by division/department staff beforehand. No drop-in visitors will be allowed on campus. Student meetings and activities will be held outdoors and parent meetings will be held virtually when possible.

If you have been recently traveling domestically or internationally, you are required to adhere to the CDC travel guidelines below, which states that quarantine is not required for fully vaccinated people who travel within the U.S.

• Fully vaccinated individuals should wear a mask and self-monitor for symptoms. It is not necessary to self-quarantine or be tested for COVID-19 unless you are experiencing symptoms.
• Unvaccinated individuals should get tested 1-3 days before travel, get tested 3-5 days after travel, and self-quarantine for 7 days, self-monitor for symptoms, and wear a mask.
• All international travelers are required to have negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months before they board a flight to the United States. You are required to get tested 3-5 days after travel, self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; isolate and get tested if you develop symptoms and follow all state and local requirements.

Handwashing stations, established last year, remain throughout campus and each classroom is equipped with hand sanitizer. In addition, expanded cleaning and disinfecting procedures remain in place with high-touch surfaces and restrooms cleaned multiple times throughout the day and all campus rooms cleaned nightly.

ventilation & Air Filtration

All campus HVAC air filters are compliant with EPA COVID-19 recommendations and last year, a purification air-scrubber system was installed in all buildings (classrooms and all indoor areas such as offices and restrooms). Air scrubbers remove 99% of air pollution and airborne microorganisms, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) surface contaminants, pet dander, odors, and dust. The devices usually do 4-6 air exchanges per hour for effective cleaning of our airspace. The air-scrubber system is more effective than room air purifiers, which are designed to clean only airborne particles while the air scrubbers remove particles from the air and surrounding surfaces.

Additionally, classroom doors and windows will be open when practical, and many academic and non-academic activities will be moved outdoors.