COVID-19 UPDATE

Pinecrest Academy Continues In-Person Instruction with COVID-19 Protocols in Place

February 10, 2021--We are grateful for everyday we are able to be here in person.
Our Pinecrest Community continues to successfully manage our COVID-19 cases and quarantines with limited interruption of in-person study and without cases and spread between students, faculty, or staff occurring on our campus during our school day.

We know from our experience with COVID-19 and data on our students that our protocols have worked well. COVID-19 cases and exposures have not resulted in anyone having to be hospitalized, no spread from one positive case to another within our campus, and virtual learning has been instituted twice, once for the High School for one week in October and once for the entire school for six days in January.

Our COVID-19 response plan for managing active cases, contact tracing, and quarantine, following the Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines to avoid spread within our community, continues to prove a wise course of action. All of our mitigation efforts are working, and overall, students continue to comply with the protocols.

With small class sizes and large spaces, we are able to implement at least two of three mitigation strategies in every space. These mitigation strategies include: face coverings, physical distancing, plexiglass barriers, and limited mixing of student classes or grades. A key factor in our success is partnering with our community to ensure faculty, staff, and students are not coming to school with symptoms. All are taking extra care to stay home if they are not feeling well.

Communication and honest reporting of information also continues to be a measurement for success. The COVID-19 Dashboard, a report card of our school’s health, can be viewed by our parents on the resource page and is updated weekly. COVID-19 updates are also issued bi-weekly or more frequently, as needed.

To minimize the number of students being asked to quarantine after an exposure, we have partnered with our representatives at the DPH to fully understand how contact tracing and quarantine works. Students who need to quarantine begin remote learning for up to a two-week period so that they do not fall behind and may continue to participate virtually in classroom instruction.

We returned to school after the Christmas break to a “YELLOW’ course of action on January 4, 2021 (See our School Reopening Plan HERE, describing Red, Yellow, and Green Courses of Action.) We will remain cautious, we will be flexible, and change course immediately, if necessary. We will keep in place our non-negotiable protocols, continuously reviewing events, activities, and school traditions that we would like to add back. We’ll do so cautiously, with COVID-19 mitigation strategies in place, following all necessary guidelines to keep our community healthy, and with the intention to keep our doors open for in-person learning, while enjoying as many of our traditional school activities as possible.

Non-negotiable protocols: We will continue to follow guidelines/recommendations from any Executive Orders from the Governor and the CDC and DPH.

Remaining in place: Use of face coverings, directional pathways throughout campus buildings, six-foot physical distancing, sanitization and cleaning methods, all classroom mitigation strategies, assigned seats, limited mixing of grade levels/classes, and limiting visitors to campus.

Please continue to refer back to this page regularly for updated information on COVID-19 and our mitigation efforts at Pinecrest Academy. Questions can be directed to our COVID-19 Task Force Coordinator, Charlene Dougal, at cdougal@pinecrestacademy.org.

WSB-TV Coverage

Forsyth County News Article

CDC COVID-19 Travel Page

COVID-19 Task Force

Mr. Larry Blandford -Task Force Advisor, Former CEO of Green Mountain/Keurig Coffee, and current member of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission
Dr. Margaret Boudreaux - Pediatrician
Mrs. Lori Chmura - CEO, Pinecrest Board of Directors member
Mrs. Missy Collins - Pinecrest Nurse
Mrs. Charlene Dougal - Assistant Head of School
Mr. Mark Doxtader - Business Owner, Pinecrest Board of Directors Chairman
Mr. Lenny Forti - PreK-8th Grade Principal
Mrs. Beth Howard - Interim Head of School and High School Principal
Mrs. Laura Kelley - Pinecrest Founding Family, Faculty Member, and Former Healthcare Provider
Dr. Patrick Kindregan, DO - Family Physician
Mrs. Jamie Kutter - Physician Assistant
Mrs. Joan McCabe - Pinecrest CFO
Mrs. Donna Marie Mitchell - Physician Assistant
Dr. Stephanie O’Rourke - Dentist
Mrs. Dianne Patota - Business Owner, Educator, and Pinecrest Board of Directors Member
Dr. John Petros - Emory University, Urology
Dr. Teresa Petros - Urgent Care Pediatrician at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Dr. Manuel Rodriguez, DO - Infectious Disease
Mr. Tan Tam - Pinecrest Board of Directors Member
Mr. Mark Tollett - Pinecrest Facilities and IT Director
Mr. Mark Meersman - Owner of IPC Global
Mr. Alex Caraballo - IPC Global
Mr. Juan Cristian Santa Maria - Coca-Cola

Our Mission: To form Christian leaders who will transform society.