COVID 19 Response

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) requires school districts to prepare a mitigation plan for the 2022-2023 school year detailing how student safety will be prioritized while also keeping in-person learning as the primary focus.  The plan must be updated a minimum of every six months. The plan is created with input from local, state and federal health experts.

 

Districts must also provide an opportunity for public input on the plan.  We welcome our community's thoughts on this plan - an updated version of the plan is likely before school opens this fall.  Please click on the link below for a simple response opportunity - the document is available in the File Library on the left side of this page.

 

Public Comment is now closed

 

 

 

 

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021. The ARP Act provides an additional $122 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER III Fund) to help school districts meet a wide range of needs arising from the Coronavirus pandemic, including reopening schools safely, sustaining their safe operation, and addressing students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs resulting from the pandemic. School districts were required to create a publicly visible ARP Act plan that included a description of how the funds will be spent and how the public was involved in the process. Please follow the directions below to find and view a school district’s ARP Act plan.

 

Step 1: Go to the Grants Management System (https://gms.education.alaska.gov/).

 

Norton Sound Health Corporation has identified a small outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the Nome school-aged population. All close contacts of each case have been notified and are in quarantine. Nome currently has a total of nine active COVID-19 cases.  The health advisory team does not feel it is necessary to close schools at this time.

 

NSHC is strongly recommending COVID-19 testing for students in grades Kindergarten through Fourth over the weekend on Friday, Saturday or Sunday at the NSHC Operations Building Testing Center. The testing center is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. each day and is located at the corner of Greg Kruschek Avenue and K Street. Many children can have the virus and be without symptoms. Testing is the best way to find out who might have the virus and be spreading it to others without knowing.

 

If you have students who are ages 12 and older, there is now COVID-19 vaccine available to them. The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for use with this age range. You can find the fact sheet for this vaccine as well as the parental consent form at the NSHC website www.nortonsoundhealth.org/covid-19-vaccination-updates/.

 

If you have any further questions feel free to call or email either the school or NSHC. Thank you for everything you are doing to help keep our community safe and healthy. We appreciate the partnership with families and NSHC, which allows us to keep schools open safely.

 

Nome Public Schools was informed this evening of a small cluster of cases connected to two schools. Affected individuals and close contacts are identified and in quarantine. Out of an abundance of caution, we will hold a distance learning day for Nome Elementary, Anvil City Science Academy, and Beltz Middle School on Thursday, May 6th. High School students will report as usual. Friday May 7th is still a planned day of no school.
 

We strongly recommend any middle school student who did not test at school on Tuesday to set up an appointment with the testing center as soon as possible.

 

Nome Elementary students should complete their Blizzard Bag Day 6 assignments; teachers will be in touch throughout the day.

 

ACSA and NBMHS Middle School students should complete their Blizzard Bag Day 5 assignment; teachers will be in touch throughout the day.

 

NBMHS High School - all after school activities are cancelled except for eSports practice. There will be no activity bus. COVID testing for Prom will still be available.

 

Prom is still happening at this point since students must have a negative test on Thursday to attend, and masks will be worn throughout the event.

 

eSports State Championship on Saturday will still occur; players and spectators must wear masks and socially distance.

Nome Public Schools was informed that an individual tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, May 2, and may have exposed middle school students or staff to COVID-19 during the week of April 26-30.

 

Close contacts of the individual have been notified and are in quarantine.

 

Out of an abundance of caution, Norton Sound Health Corporation is recommending the following actions:

 

1. Anyone vaccinated or unvaccinated who is a student or staff member in grades 6th, 7th or 8th AND are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should get tested as soon as possible. Visit the NSHC Cough and Cold Clinic inside the hospital, open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday or 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on weekends.
2. If you are an unvaccinated student or staff member in grades 6th, 7th, or 8th and are not experiencing symptoms, you should get tested twice at least three days apart.
3. If you are vaccinated and without symptoms, you are welcome, but not required to get tested.

Greetings NPS Families! The District will be delivering Grab "n' Go Bags for student meals along the bus routes. Please read the following information carefully!

 

1) The buses will depart Nome-Beltz at 10am and drive along each route (Red, Blue, Green) as follows:
Red Route: Stops 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 16 (no stopping at 15, 14 or 25)
Blue Route: Stops 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17

 

Green Route: Stops 7a, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
All buses will then proceed to the elementary school and drop off leftover meals.

 

2) Families who miss the bus stops can pick up meals at the elementary school from 11am until 1pm. There will be NO door to door delivery during the shutdown. Parents can pick up meals on behalf of their children - please make sure you know your child's LUNCH ID#.

 

3) Due to the current school lunch program guidelines, we can ONLY provide meals to children who are currently enrolled in NES, ACSA or NBHS (this includes Nome@Home students). Staff on the buses will be checking off deliveries against our current rosters - please make sure children have their LUNCH ID# ready.

 

4) The last day of each week the bags will contain weekend meals - these may be heavy for small children, so please plan accordingly.

 

5) If the weather is severe enough, the buses will not run.

 

Please feel free to call the school secretaries if you don't know your child's lunch ID# - NES 443-5299, NBHS 443-5201, ACSA 443-6207.

 

A copy of the bus route is available here

 

As a result of discussion with our Health Advisory Team, and due to the rapidly rising cases within Nome proper, the administration has made the difficult decision to close schools through the end of the semester. Effective Monday, November 23rd, schools will be closed to students.
Over the next couple of days, teachers will be sharing information with students and parents regarding what to expect over the next several weeks. We have been preparing for this possibility all year long, and will be working hard to deliver the best possible distance learning experience for your students.
Our highest priority is to keep our students safe, and we want to keep COVID-19 out of our schools. We ask our community members to reconsider holiday travel, and if they must travel, to please adhere closely to quarantine restrictions to keep our children and community safe. We are hopeful that this closure will assist in bringing our case numbers under control, and that we will be able to re-open to in-person learning for spring semester.
We will update our community members regularly through our normal channels. Thank you in advance for your support - we love our children and are so grateful we have had our children in schools with their teachers over the past few months.

 

 

 

Nome Public Schools Re-Opening Plan (Initial Plan as of 7/10/2020)

 

As we plan for the start of the 2020-2021 school year, our guiding principles are 1) Prioritize safety of students and staff 2) Students in school for as many days possible for as long as possible and 3) efforts must be made to ensure equitable access to education for all students. We must balance the educational, social and emotional needs of our students with the need for a safe and healthy school and community. As health conditions evolve and more information is available, some areas of this plan may need to change. We will work to communicate school specifics and student details as we get closer to the first day of school. Our planning is based on guidelines from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS), and we will work closely with our health partners at Public Health and the Norton Sound Hospital to anticipate shifts between Learning Models based on community case numbers and risk of community spread.