IMPORTANT COVID-19 HEALTH & SAFETY UPDATE

August 31, 2021

Dear Mercy Parent/Guardian,

Our students greeted each other warmly and joyously last week, and it is wonderful to hear their laughter in the hallways. We are grateful to return to a five day in-person schedule with traditional Mercy offerings such as unscheduled hours and open common areas throughout the day!

We are committed to enforcing best practice health and safety protocol to continue in-person learning for all students. We ask for your continued support and partnership for this to be successful.

Face Masks

The current in-school mask mandate by the Oakland County Health Division greatly reduces the quarantine risk for students. Most of our reported COVID-19 close contact exposures occur outside of the school setting. We strongly encourage your daughter to appropriately wear facial coverings outside of school when in close contact with others, especially for those students who may not be vaccinated. It is important to note that breakthrough infections (COVID-19 transmission to fully vaccinated individuals) have been reported within our larger Mercy community. It is for this reason we encourage mask wearing for all students when outside of school in increased exposure risk settings.

Quarantine Guidelines 

• Fully vaccinated persons are not required to quarantine if there has been more than 14 days since receiving the last dose in the series and they have remained asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure.

• People who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to 3 months if they remain symptom-free.

• Remote learning is only available to students required to isolate due to a positive COVID-19 test result or mandatory quarantine. Parents must submit online learning requests to Dean of Student Affairs, Eleasha Tarplin (edtarplin@mhsmi.org) and will be notified of approval within 24 hours.

• Further OCHD quarantine guidelines may be found here.

Vaccination

Vaccination is proven as the primary leading public health COVID prevention strategy, and offers your daughter and those with whom she interacts the best assurance of continued in-person learning. Speak to your health care provider, or visit Oakland County’s Get Vaccinated site for appointment information.

Please visit our Mercy HS COVID-19 webpage for current information and guidelines.

With much appreciation for your continued support,

The Mercy Administration