Community Wellness Frequently Asked Questions

High-risk symptoms (those that are common and relatively specific for COVID) include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath/labored breathing
• Loss of sense of taste of smell

Low-risk symptoms (those that are more common and alone do not necessarily indicate COVID-19) include:
Sore throat

• Nasal congestion/nasal discharge
• nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
• Myalgies (muscle aches)
• Headache
• Fatigue

If a student or faculty member has a temperature of 100.4 or above, he or she will be asked to return home or report to the Health Center in Persons Hall for further evaluation.

No. We will communicate with relevant groups based on who would have had contact with the student or adult who has tested positive. While we will maintain patient privacy as per HIPAA guidelines, we will always keep you informed of any suspected or positive COVID-19 cases that could impact your family.  

Upon notification of a positive case and with guidance from local health officials, Darlington will engage in a contact tracing investigation to determine which members of our school community might have had close contact with the person who tested positive. Darlington is certified in contract tracing, the key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19. Families in this situation will be contacted individually. 

Students and faculty impacted by a teacher testing positive will receive communication from the school. Darlington will work with the Georgia Department of Public Health to determine the appropriate next steps. A positive test by a teacher could result in the class engaging in distance learning until all close contacts have been identified and contacted. A substitute teacher will replace the teacher in the classroom during the time period recommended by the CDC and Department of Public Health.

Please contact your child’s appropriate division director regarding enrollment in our hybrid learning program. Communicating that you are choosing to learn from distance allows teachers and staff to provide the best experience for the student. 

Darlington School welcomes our parent volunteers. We know parent support is a critical component of our community engagement and partnership. Unfortunately, during the current health crisis, we will limit parent volunteer activities and limit parent visitation during the school day until further notice. Regular volunteers who work will be required to follow the Visitor Protocol.

Face coverings will be required for all faculty, staff, and students in grades 3-12. Some exceptions will include recess, Physical Education, and sports. While we are not requiring students to wear face coverings in pre-K through second grade, we encourage parents to assist children in gaining comfort in wearing a face covering and should have one at school each day. Students may wear face coverings of their choice that are appropriate and not offensive. Face coverings may display the Darlington mascot/logo or a college mascot/logo. No other writing will be allowed on face coverings.

All athletic programs will follow the policies, rules, and regulations of their governing body as it relates to conditioning, practice, training, and competition. Varsity athletics are governed by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA). Click here for guidelines regarding fall athletic events.

Darlington continues to work with GHSA as well as the other schools in our region to determine the best procedures for fan attendance at athletic contests. At this point, we imagine that fans will be allowed with significant restrictions.

All hot and cold meals will be pre-packaged for students and faculty, and multiple choices will still be available. There will be three lunch periods at both the Pre-K to 8 and Upper School divisions. The dining halls will be cleaned and disinfected between lunch services.

Yes, every Wednesday is Late-Start Wednesday. Regular Morning Drop-off begins at 8:30 a.m. for Pre-K to 8 students. In order to utilize morning Extended Care on Late-Start Wednesdays, Pre-K to 8 students must be dropped off at 7:30 a.m. for daily health monitoring. In order to plan for proper Extended Care coverage on Late-Start Wednesday, we ask that our parents sign up ahead of time. “Drop-ins” are difficult to plan for and accommodate; therefore, we discourage them. Please reach out directly to Virginia Guth, Extended Care Program director, if you plan to enroll your child in the Late-Start Wednesday Extended Care Program. Mrs. Guth can be reached at vguth@darlingtonschool.org.

Power Hour will be offered in grades 3-8 until 4 p.m. Following Power Hour, students in grades 3-8 will be dismissed using normal afternoon dismissal procedures. The Extended Care Program is available for all students in Pre-K to 8 until 6 p.m. In order to plan for proper extended care coverage, we ask that our parents sign up ahead of time. “Drop-ins” are difficult to plan for and accommodate; therefore, we discourage them. Please reach out directly to Virginia Guth, Extended Care Program director, if you plan to enroll your child in the Extended Care Program. Mrs. Guth can be reached at vguth@darlingtonschool.org. Parents are billed monthly for Extended Care.

College advisors will include all students learning from distance in any scheduled advisory meeting. These meetings will be recorded in case a student cannot attend. Students should expect to engage individually with their advisor utilizing Google Meet or another chosen medium.

It is our plan that boarding students choosing to remain on campus will be allowed to do so with the exception of Winter Holiday Break.

Yes, students will be able to travel home during the first semester.  We are asking that parents have students stay on campus during the first 3-4 weeks to ensure that we keep the risk of exposure as low as possible.  Traveling back and forth and having a lot of engagement outside of the residential community increases the likelihood of exposure to people that may be COVID-19 positive.  

We ask that in the first 3-4 weeks you not visit students.  If you do you will be able to spend time with your son or daughter.  We just ask that you do not go into the residential buildings so we can limit traffic in the building to those that live in the building. We also ask that if you need to visit students you do so on campus and not take the student off campus.  

A student that has direct exposure (having significant time with someone that is COVID-19 positive without social distancing for more than 15 minutes) will be moved out of his/her room to Persons Hall to be monitored and tested according to the current CDC guidelines. 

CDC guidelines and industry professionals state that testing should not be done earlier than 3 days from the original point of exposure.  A 3-5 day window is the earliest time frame for a student to be first tested.  Following a test, it will take 2-4 days for test results to be returned if the current state of the virus is not significant in the Rome area.  If the rate of spread in Rome is high, the turnaround time may increase.  

Likely, at the start of the school year some students may not have a roommate because some boarding students will not be attending classes in person. However, it is very likely that all boarding students will have a roommate at some point in the school year.  Students should be prepared to have a roommate upon arrival. 

More so than years past the residential duty faculty will be having a great deal more contact with students to ensure that students are following the guidelines to keep everyone safe.  So students will see and hear more from the faculty throughout the year when they are on duty or simply engaging with students around campus. 

The residential houses will be cleaned daily.  The facilities staff will be using PureBio Hard Surface to disinfect houses on a daily basis.  They will disinfect rooms on regular bases as well as continue cleaning restrooms and common spaces each day. During that time they will ask any students that are in their rooms to step out to properly disinfect the room.  In the event a student is determined to be positive with COVID-19 the facilities team will follow a cleaning protocol to clean all impacted areas.  

Doug Hamil, Weekend Activity Coordinator, is working hard along with the other Heads of House and residential duty staff to come up with engaging activities for the weekends.  This includes outdoor movies, intramural competitions between houses, bingo nights, trivia nights, on campus performances, and more.  We will also have activity opportunities off campus that will allow for appropriate social distancing and limit interaction with many people outside of our community.  

Not at first.  To decrease points of exposure, we will not allow boarding students to go to day student’s homes for day or overnight visits.  As we move further into the semester we will work to reduce these types of restrictions.  

Boarding students may remain on campus during Thanksgiving Break, Saturday, November 21 through Monday, November 29, 2020. Campus will be closed during the Winter Holiday Break and all students will leave campus during that portion of the school year. A decision has not been made yet regarding Spring Break. Students will be provided meals, activities, and housing.  More information will be provided later in the semester.