COVID-19 – HJIS CMT Announcement 2/26/20

Dear HJIS Parents & Guardians, 

Please see the following Crisis Management Team (CMT) update.

This week has seen the transition to our students and teachers passing through a “health checkpoint” before entering school corridors and classrooms. Per procedure, any student and/or staff member registering a temperature at or above 37.5 ℃ will be directed to the nurses office for further examination. Accordingly, we kindly ask that parents check their children for any influenza-like symptoms before sending them to school, including: fever, cough, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, muscle or body aches, headaches, chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc. And, seek outside medical help if necessary. Also, please inform the CMT Team and/or their homeroom teachers of any anticipated absences.

We are currently training all of our staff to be ready if the need arises to switch to virtual learning. We understand current concerns and desires to keep your child(ren) at home. Our school promotes a 20-day absence policy (a student missing more than 20 days of school may face the possibility of repeating a grade), however, we are willing to be flexible during this time of uncertainty. If you do choose to keep your students at home for the time being, please consult with their homeroom teachers and subject teachers to keep them up-to-date on what they will be missing in class. We also want to focus on continuing learning by all means possible.

In addition to continually anticipating government health announcements, we are in contact with other respected international schools and organizations. We are also keeping up with several of the foreign embassies located in Japan – checking their official websites for any announcements related to COVID-19.

The most current Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education announcement reads as follows. 

“In the case that a student develops COVID-19 infection, the school will be temporarily closed (all or partially). If a student has been in close contact with a person with the COVID-19 infection, the school must direct the student to stay at home for a minimum of two weeks. If a student catches a cold, parents should keep their child at home. And, if it becomes necessary as a public health and infection preventative measure, the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education may direct schools to close.”

Our efforts and decisions have been and will continue to be on maintaining the health and safety of our HJIS students and families. 

Note: We kindly ask that your family makes tentative parent supervision arrangements for a possible switch to virtual (at home) learning. 

Please feel free to contact [email protected] for any questions or concerns. We welcome your input. 

Best regards,

Crisis Management Team (CMT)

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