Current COVID-19 Protocols

Families should consult their children’s primary care physician with any questions regarding vaccines and their children’s health.

Cannon School encourages two vaccines for approved age groups. The Influenza (flu) vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to help prevent community spread, limit widespread absences, and keep vulnerable community members safe.

If your children get vaccinated, we are asking parents to share their children’s COVID-19/Influenza vaccination status via the Magnus Health app as it helps us understand the percentage of our population that is vaccinated and aids our decision-making. Click here for instructions.  

The Influenza (flu) vaccine is recommended because this highly infectious respiratory virus has the largest negative impact on school attendance year after year. We strongly encourage students to get the latest flu vaccine when available this fall. 

The COVID-19 virus is more contagious and potentially more dangerous to vulnerable groups, and we strongly encourage families to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 if they are in an approved age category. The FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for ages 16 and up in December 2020 and 12-15-year-olds in May 2021. We recognize that various sources and perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination can create uncertainty and raise concerns about this vaccine. We respect the right of any parent to defer vaccination. 
 

If you are having any symptoms of COVID-19 or other illness, or think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home and check in with your health care provider and Cannon's nurses.  

Symptoms include fever (>100º), body aches/chills, sore throat, cough, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, vomiting, diarrhea, new onset of severe headache (especially headache with a fever), or rash or other symptoms of a contagious infection where symptoms may mimic COVID-19. (For people with chronic conditions, symptoms should represent a change from baseline.)

By following this protocol,  it is no longer necessary for students, faculty, and staff  to complete daily health screenings via the Magnus app as we did last year.  

The number one key to Cannon’s success during the worst of the pandemic was our families’ cooperation in not sending sick or exposed children to school. Daily vigilance by parents in the home will remain essential to keeping the COVID-19 virus from coming to campus.  

Please click on this Stay at Home Policy document for more detailed instructions for COVID and non-COVID illness, as well as quarantine.  The amount of time an individual must stay at home may vary based on their scenario. Please refer all questions to Cannon’s nursing team.
 

• Cannon School can perform diagnostic testing of symptomatic individuals via rapid, antigen tests on campus. 
• If a student presents with symptoms at school, the parents will be contacted and offered the option to have their child tested.
• The purpose of contact tracing is to identify individuals who may have come into close contact with a COVID-19 probable or positive individual. Cannon’s nursing team will instruct families on staying home, testing, quarantining, and returning to campus.
• When feasible, students participating in overnight trips, will be tested for COVID-19 prior to departure. The school will facilitate and provide instructions for the testing process at that time.
   

• All quarantine and isolation guidance at Cannon School is based on CDC and NCDHHS guidance, in consultation with Cabarrus Health Alliance.  
• Vaccinated students will not need to quarantine unless they are symptomatic. Please remember to upload your vaccination status in the Magnus Health app.
• Individuals do not need to quarantine if exposed to an individual who has tested positive, provided that both individuals were masked for the entirety of their contact in a classroom setting. However, if individuals were engaged in athletic activities or strenuous physical activity, there may be a need to quarantine.
• Students who are quarantined may be able to return to campus after 7 days of quarantine, provided that they do not have any symptoms and can produce a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the anticipated return date.

Please click on this Stay at Home Policy document for more detailed instructions for COVID and non-COVID illness, as well as quarantine.  The amount of time an individual must stay at home may vary based on their scenario. Please refer all questions to Cannon’s nursing team.

In addition, during quarantine or isolation for COVID-19, families must ensure that students follow these rules to keep others safe: 

• Do not go to school or sports practice.
• Do not allow visitors into your home.
• Do not mingle with friends from school.
• Monitor your temperature and symptoms daily.
• Siblings of a close contact are allowed to come to school unless the close contact begins to experience symptoms. If the close contact begins to experience symptoms, please keep all siblings home, and contact the nurses at nurse@cannonschool.org for further guidance. 
• If in isolation, the student should stay in a separate room from other household members, if possible. If avoiding other household members is not possible, the student should wear a mask around others.
• Student-athletes will also follow Cannon’s Return to Play protocol.  
   

• Lower School Remote Learning Policy
• Middle School Remote Learning Policy
• Upper School Remote Learning Policy

Masking  for the School Day:

• Masks are required for all students, faculty, staff, parents, and visitors while indoors.
• Masks are required while riding the bus.
• Masks are not required for outdoor activities.

Updated Masking Policy for Athletics:

The policy below is currently in place. We will provide an update with any changes. The policy below aligns Cannon with the current North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) policy.

• Bench coaches, spectators, and non-active athletes must wear a mask at all times indoors.
• Athletes actively participating in practices on Cannon’s campus can be unmasked if they choose.
• When competing on Cannon's campus, active players on both teams may be unmasked if the visiting school agrees to play unmasked. 
• When competing away, active players will abide by the host school's athletic masking policy. For example, many Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association (CISAA)  schools are required by Mecklenburg County mandate to wear masks during active competition indoors.
• While in the weight room, masks will still be required due to long periods of very close contact.
   

• Signage will be in all restrooms, reinforcing proper handwashing techniques.
• Hand sanitizer stations will remain at numerous locations throughout campus, including heavily trafficked areas, entrances, and exits.
   

All classroom, indoor, and outdoor campus spaces will be leveraged to accommodate distancing of faculty, staff, students, and visitors whenever possible throughout the school day.
 

• Classroom sanitation supplies will be available to clean high-touch surfaces after class changes.
• Classrooms will be cleaned and disinfected nightly.
• Water fountains will be disabled for button use and enabled for bottle fill use only.

Cannon School will maintain a COVID-19 Community Metrics page to provide a regularly updated view of our school community health information. My Cannon login is required.
 

With Cannon’s multilayered prevention strategies in place, the school will welcome parents and volunteer visitors to campus. At this time, we  are not allowing drop-in visits with your child at lunch or in the classroom. As has always been the case, we kindly request that parents schedule an appointment for any in-person meeting.
 

Campus events will be held following Cannon’s multilayered prevention strategies and protocols.

Please note that Cannon Athletics and individual divisions and departments will follow up directly with their age group and audiences as needed.