Some Cherry Valley, Summerdale students, teachers to quarantine for 2 weeks
CHERRY VALLEY — All Cherry Valley Elementary School kindergarten students and staff and two classes at Summerdale Early Childhood Center have been ordered to quarantine for the next two weeks because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Rockford Public Schools sent letters to families and staff over the weekend instructing them to stay home and to prepare for two weeks of remote learning.
The decision to quarantine the students was made upon the direction of the Winnebago County Health Department following confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the schools.
The quarantine affects only in-person kindergartners at Cherry Valley and students and staff in two classes — identified as “Ms. Kelli’s” and “Ms. Nanci’s” classes — at Summerdale. In-person instruction will continue for all other grade levels and classes.
Cherry Valley kindergarten parents and guardians should come to the school, 5764 Armer Drive, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to pick up an iPad and other learning materials so students can continue to attend school remotely.
Parents of children in the two classes at Summerdale should be contacted by their children’s teachers about remote learning, the letter states.
Summerdale students are scheduled to return Oct. 2. Cherry Valley students should return on Oct. 5.
Parents and guardians are being instructed to monitor their children for symptoms of COVID-19, the highly contagious and potentially severe respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
The school district informed families and staff of the positive COVID-19 case at Cherry Valley on Thursday. Summerdale families and staff were informed Sunday.
According to state data from the 2018-2019 school year, Cherry Valley has 95 kindergarten students, 641 students in the entire school.
Cherry Valley is one of 42 schools in Rockford Public Schools.
Summerdale is a preschool teaching primarily 3- and 4-year-olds.
The letters sent to families and staff do not state if the persons with COVID-19 at the two schools are students or employees.
The letter does state that the individuals are in isolation at their homes and will not return to their schools until cleared by the health department.
Less than half of the district’s students are attending school in person this semester. The rest are attending school remotely, an option given to parents to help stop the spread of the virus, which has sickened more than 5,000 and killed 152 people in Winnebago County since arriving in March.
Rockford Public Schools reported its first case of the respiratory illness since opening schools on Sept. 8 at Guilford High School on Monday.
COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past week at Summerdale Early Childhood center, Carlson Elementary, Rolling Green Elementary, Cherry Valley Elementary, Lewis Lemon Elementary, Maria Montessori, Lincoln Middle and Guilford and Jefferson High schools in Rockford.
Cases also have been reported in recent weeks at schools in the Harlem School District, Hononegah High School, Rock Valley College and Rockford University.
Corina Curry:ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry