Pelham Middle School goes all remote for two weeks following Covid-19 case

Pelham Middle School will shift to fully remote instruction until Nov. 20 following a student testing positive for Covid-19, Principal Lynn Sabia announced Friday.

In an email sent to PMS parents, Sabia reiterated the events that led to this temporary PMS closure and confirmed that all students in close contact with the Covid-19-positive individual have been contacted and requested to quarantine for 14 days alongside their families. Due to health privacy laws, no identifying information can be provided for the student who tested positive.

Hutchinson School switched to all-online instruction on Tuesday and will stay that way until Nov. 13 because of three Covid cases in the school.

Sabia reminded both students and parents of remote learning etiquette, including keeping cameras on in Google Meet sessions and avoiding parental interruptions. “We appreciate your flexibility and understanding during these challenging times,” Sabia said. “I will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

While PMS students will be remote for the next two weeks, Pelham Union Free School District’s hybrid-model bell schedule will still apply to students and faculty. For more information on middle and high school teaching plans during Covid-19, click here.

A school district spokesman said the district has no set threshold of infections for stopping hybrid and going to all virtual in a building “largely because the circumstances between cases are often very different. Factors that are considered include the number of individuals who test positive within a school, the results of contact tracing, when the individual was last in school and the number of staff who may be impacted within a given school.”