Mask use is optional for all students in schools and on school buses in accordance with Senate Bill 739 signed into law by the Governor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s revised order for public transportation.
The wearing of face masks is optional for all non-health services NNPS employees who are fully vaccinated and up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccine. All Health Services employees must wear a face mask. NNPS employees who are not fully vaccinated or up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccine must continue to wear a mask in schools, offices and on school buses.COVID-19 Information
Newport News Public Schools is committed to the health and wellbeing of all students and staff.
Before any student could return to in-person instruction, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) required each school division to develop a health plan. The NNPS health plan includes daily self-health screenings; communication with staff, students and families; mitigation behaviors that reduce the spread of COVID-19; social distancing and the recommended use of face masks..
Each NNPS student and staff member is required to conduct a self-assessment/health screening each day before reporting to school and work. When students report to school for in-person learning, all parents/guardians are required to conduct a health screening of their child each day before the child reports to school or boards a school bus.
Mask use is optional for all students in schools and on school buses. The wearing of face masks is optional for all non-health services NNPS employees who are fully vaccinated and up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccine. All Health Services employees must wear a face mask. NNPS employees who are not fully vaccinated or up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccine must continue to wear a mask in schools, offices and on school buses.
COVID-19 Response
Newport News Public Schools has created a COVID Response Team to address potential and confirmed positive cases within the school division. When a case or potential case is reported, the COVID Response Team (comprised of the supervisor of health services, the executive director of plant services, the supervisor of custodial services, the supervisor of environmental safety, the coordinator of employee relations, the director of human resources and the chief finance and operations officer) will begin its protocols.
If the employee or student is at work or school when the symptoms appear or the positive case is confirmed, the individual will be isolated from others. Students will be placed in the COVID isolation room until a parent/guardian can pick them up. The school nurse, health services supervisor or NNPS contact tracers will conduct contact tracing and personally notify all close contacts. The Peninsula Health District will be notified, and custodial services will clean and sanitize all areas the ill individual has occupied. The school community (parents and staff) and/or worksite staff where the individual is assigned will be informed of the positive case via email, letter or phone call.
The NNPS leadership team has reviewed the recent updates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quarantine and isolation guidelines. At the recommendation of the Peninsula Health District, beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, NNPS is implementing the new CDC guidelines.
The revised CDC guidelines recommend a shortened isolation time for people with COVID-19 from 10 to 5 days if they are asymptomatic or with symptom improvement, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others. Additionally, individuals who are exposed to someone with COVID-19 and are unvaccinated should quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. People who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. Note: the Virginia Department of Health recommends wearing a face mask on days 6-10. If a student is unwilling to wear a face mask on days 6-10, a full 10-day isolation or quarantine is recommended. For all those exposed to COVID-19, the CDC recommends COVID-19 testing at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately isolate until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.
COVID-19 Take-Home Test Kits
Newport News Public Schools is offering a new COVID-19 diagnostic at-home test option called BinaxNOW to staff and students. This testing option is available to all students and staff who develop any symptom of COVID-19 and must isolate, as well as those who are not fully vaccinated or have not had COVID-19 in the last 90 days and have been identified as a close contact to an individual with COVID-19 and must quarantine.
Test kits have been distributed to all schools and may be given to parents/guardians upon request when the symptomatic student is picked up from school. Symptomatic staff members may also receive a test kit.
The test is conducted at home via a telehealth session with a live medical professional as a guide. It is important that the test kit remain unopened until the test taker is directed to open the kit by a certified guide during the telehealth session. To maintain the integrity of the process, the certified guide will not proctor a session using an opened test kit.
More Information on Take-Home TestsPooled COVID-19 Testing
Newport News Public Schools has partnered with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to offer free, pooled COVID-19 testing through the Virginia School Screening Testing for Assurance (ViSSTA) program.
All testing will be completed through pooled polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which can detect the virus that causes COVID-19. Testing will begin with student athletes in middle school and high school with additional students and staff added at a later date. Participation is voluntary. Every participant must have a signed consent form on file with the school site where testing occurs.
Parents/guardians who are interested in having their student athlete participate in this testing program are asked to contact their school's athletic director or athletic coordinator.
More Information on the VISSTA programAs a community, we all must do our part to avoid the spread of COVID-19 and protect our learning and work environments.
CORE INDICATORS (last updated June 9, 2022)
Newport News Public Schools will continue to monitor COVID-19 community transmission. The health metrics provided below will be updated weekly based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days — to determine the COVID-19 community level.
Level of Community Transmission in Newport News
| Low | Medium | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport News |
The CDC has determined that consistent implementation of the five safety measures will lower the risk of exposure to the SARS Coronavirus:
- Social Distancing (recommended 3-6 foot separation)
- Wearing of face coverings and instruction on respiratory etiquette
- Hand-washing
- Sanitizing and frequent cleaning of surface areas
- Contact tracing protocols and tracking
The COVID-19 case data provided below is updated once a week to reflect the positive cases from the previous week. Case data included here is for statistical purposes only and is not meant to serve as official notice of a positive COVID case. When a positive COVID case is reported, the school community (parents and staff) and/or worksite staff where the individual is assigned will be informed of the positive case via email, letter or phone call.
NNPS COVID Statistics* (last updated June 9, 2022)
*Data collected since September 7, 2021
Response and Reporting Protocol
The Health Services Department has identified procedures and actions to respond to the determination of suspected and diagnosed cases of COVID-19, and possible and identified close contacts. These protocols may necessitate waiting for medical/testing confirmation and may identify some unfounded cases and contacts that will not be included on the dashboard.
Positive Cases
Positive case data reflects staff members who are working in an NNPS building and students who are learning or participating in an approved activity in an NNPS building, and are or were in isolation for the amount of time currently recommended by the CDC due to a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 by a medical provider or positive test.
Please note that dates reflect the day that the individual was classified as meeting the case definition for COVID-19 and not the date an individual became ill.
The COVID-19 case data provided below is updated weekly.
Employees
Staff Working On-Site
Staff Positive COVID-19 Tests
Students
Students Learning On-Site
Student Positive COVID-19 Tests
| Cases Confirmed May 30 - June 3, 2022 | Employees: 45 | Students: 96 |
| Location | Staff Positive | Students Positive | Most Recent Reported Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin Building | 31 | 6/1 | |
| Operations | 74 | 5/19 | |
| Staff Support (SSC) | 12 | 5/23 | |
| Denbigh ECC | 14 | 67 | 5/24 |
| Marshall ELC | 8 | 24 | 6/1 |
| Watkins ECC | 9 | 47 | 5/31 |
| Achievable Dream Academy | 16 | 37 | 5/31 |
| Carver Elementary | 14 | 46 | 5/31 |
| Charles Elementary | 4 | 44 | 5/26 |
| Deer Park Elementary | 4 | 72 | 6/2 |
| Discovery STEM | 15 | 13 | 5/19 |
| Dutrow Elementary | 7 | 53 | 6/1 |
| Gen. Stanford Elementary | 15 | 60 | 6/2 |
| Greenwood Elementary | 16 | 67 | 6/3 |
| Hidenwood Elementary | 10 | 46 | 6/3 |
| Hilton Elementary | 5 | 60 | 5/31 |
| Jenkins Elementary | 21 | 42 | 6/1 |
| Katherine Johnson (formerly Lee Hall) | 22 | 47 | 6/3 |
| Kiln Creek Elementary | 28 | 94 | 6/3 |
| knollwood meadows (formerly Nelson) | 21 | 75 | 6/1 |
| McIntosh Elementary | 8 | 50 | 5/27 |
| Newsome Park Elementary | 14 | 17 | 6/3 |
| Palmer Elementary | 18 | 46 | 6/3 |
| Richneck Elementary | 12 | 88 | 6/3 |
| Riverside Elementary | 10 | 51 | 6/3 |
| Sanford Elementary | 8 | 56 | 6/2 |
| Saunders Elementary | 14 | 35 | 5/30 |
| Sedgefield Elementary | 14 | 31 | 6/1 |
| Stoney Run (formerly Epes) | 17 | 25 | 6/3 |
| Yates Elementary | 15 | 71 | 6/1 |
| Ach. Dream Middle & High | 15 | 72 | 6/3 |
| Crittenden Middle | 16 | 43 | 6/3 |
| ella fitzgerald (formerly Dozier) | 34 | 184 | 6/3 |
| Gildersleeve Middle | 11 | 104 | 6/1 |
| Hines Middle | 17 | 52 | 6/3 |
| Huntington Middle | 2 | 18 | 5/17 |
| Passage Middle | 19 | 113 | 6/3 |
| BT Washington Middle | 10 | 85 | 6/1 |
| Denbigh High/aviation academy | 34 | 140 | 6/3 |
| Heritage High | 10 | 123 | 6/3 |
| Menchville High | 38 | 282 | 6/3 |
| Warwick High | 32 | 139 | 6/2 |
| Woodside High | 28 | 119 | 6/3 |
| Enterprise Academy | 4 | 7 | 4/29 |
| Gatewood Bldg. | 1 | 1 | 9/16 |
| Juvenile Detention | 2 | 1/7 | |
| New Horizons | |||
| Point Option | 6 | 5 | 5/27 |
| Telecomm (NNPS-TV) | 2 | 2/2 | |
| So.Morrison Learning Ctr. | |||
| Denbigh Learning Center |
| Location | Staff Positive | Students Positive | Most Recent Reported Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin Building | 8 | 8/30 | |
| Operations | 48 | 8/30 | |
| Staff Support (SSC) | 4 | 3/18 | |
| Denbigh ECC | 5 | 6 | 8/31 |
| Lee Hall ECC | 6 | ||
| Marshall ELC | 3 | 4 | 7/30 |
| Watkins ECC | 5 | 3 | 8/13 |
| Gatewood PEEP | |||
| Achievable Dream Academy | 6 | 3 | 5/18 |
| Carver Elementary | 1 | 2 | 8/10 |
| Charles Elementary | 1 | 9/16 | |
| Deer Park Elementary | 2 | 9/3 | |
| Discovery STEM | 6 | 1 | 8/27 |
| Dutrow Elementary | 4 | 8/9 | |
| Gen. Stanford Elementary | 3 | 3/1 | |
| Greenwood Elementary | 3 | 1 | 8/19 |
| Hidenwood Elementary | 6 | 1 | 8/20 |
| Hilton Elementary | 4 | 2 | 5/25 |
| Jenkins Elementary | 5 | 4 | 9/3 |
| Katherine Johnson (formerly Lee Hall) | 5 | 1 | 2/24 |
| Kiln Creek Elementary | 2 | 4 | 5/6 |
| knollwood meadows (formerly Nelson) | 3 | 3 | 3/24 |
| McIntosh Elementary | 4 | 3 | 8/19 |
| Newsome Park Elementary | 2 | 1 | 5/9 |
| Palmer Elementary | 2 | 1 | 4/30 |
| Richneck Elementary | 5 | 1 | 4/12 |
| Riverside Elementary | 3 | 11 | 6/1 |
| Sanford Elementary | 3 | 8 | 9*3 |
| Saunders Elementary | 7 | 2 | 5/18 |
| Sedgefield Elementary | 4 | 3 | 3/26 |
| Stoney Run (formerly Epes) | 1 | 2 | 4/23 |
| Yates Elementary | 2 | 1 | 8/26 |
| Ach. Dream Middle & High | 4 | 4 | 8/31 |
| Crittenden Middle | 4 | 5 | 8/30 |
| ella fitzgerald (formerly Dozier) | 2 | 1 | 3/26 |
| Gildersleeve Middle | 10 | 6 | 8/30 |
| Hines Middle | 3 | 2 | 8/16 |
| Huntington Middle | 1 | 2/11 | |
| Passage Middle | 4 | 5 | 5/10 |
| BT Washington Middle | 1 | 1 | 5/19 |
| Denbigh High/aviation academy | 11 | 8 | 9/3 |
| Heritage High | 6 | 22 | 8/18 |
| Menchville High | 4 | 7 | 8/25 |
| Warwick High | 6 | 6 | 9/3 |
| Woodside High | 10 | 10 | 8/31 |
| Enterprise Academy | |||
| Juvenile Detention | |||
| New Horizons | |||
| Point Option | 1 | 9/2 | |
| Telecomm (NNPS-TV) | 1 | 3/1 | |
| So.Morrison Learning Ctr. | 2 | 2/3 | |
| Denbigh Learning Center |
The data above does not reflect staff members or students with suspected or COVID-like illnesses with no confirmation, staff and students who are working or learning remotely, or the number of close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 who have been asked to quarantine for 10 days.
Helpful Links
- VDH Algorithm for Evaluating a Child with COVID-19 Symptoms of Exposure
- When Can I Send My Child to School and/or Child Care?
- Scenarios for Evaluating a Child Based on COVID-19 Exposure
- Sample COVID-19 Notification Letter
Key Mitigation Strategies Implemented at All Schools
NNPS has implemented the following mitigation measures to ensure the safety of staff and students:
- Daily COVID-19 Symptom Self-Screening (required for all staff and students)
- Social distancing of at least 3-6 feet
- Student cohorts wherever possible (to support reduced interactions)
- Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette
- Consistent cleaning and disinfection
- Air purification systems (where HVAC systems do not meet current ASHRAE standards)
- In-classroom health stations (cleaning supplies, hand-sanitizer, hand soap, disinfectant wipes and masks)
- Desk shields for use with small group instruction
- PPE for staff where needed (face shields, gloves, gowns)
- COVID-19 isolation and parent/guardian pickup room
- Contact tracing in collaboration with local health district
- Encouraging students and staff to receive the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine (available for age 5 and up)
Stay Informed
For timely, accurate information on the coronavirus, please visit:
- COVID.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Virginia Department of Health (VDH)
- Interim Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in Virginia PreK-12 Schools
- VDOE: A Parent Guide for School-Aged Children
- Questions: Call the VDH Hotline, 877-ASK-VDH3 (877-275-8343).
- Vaccine Information for NNPS Employees
Health & Safety
Newport News Public Schools health and safety protocols address daily health screenings; physical distancing in classrooms; cleaning and disinfecting; the use of face masks; and educating students and staff on behaviors that reduce the spread of COVID-19 and hygiene practices.
Student, Staff & Visitor Self-Screening Questionnaire: Staff, students and visitors must conduct a self-screening questionnaire before coming to school or reporting to their worksite.
