Covid & Air Quality PRECautions

Where we stand in the 2023-24 academic year:

Anti-Covid Safety and Risk Mitigation have been paramount for over 3 years at Three Dragons. From March 2020, we set and maintained a high standard in our program; setting the minimum bar that was always “Above & Beyond” the reliably-scientific WA State Public Health Dept’s guidance: careful research and preparedness paid off & kept everyone safe. At the start of the Stay At Home order, Three Dragons attained Essential Business status with Olympia, reopened in-person in June, and from June 2020 through September 2023, Three Dragons has maintained a 3 and 1/2 years record of zero outbreaks / transmissions between participants.

While the vaccines and preparedness have done the heavy lifting in Covid risk mitigation, we’re maintaining a careful watch on Public Health policies and best practices.

Current Covid Safety key points -until further notice- for TDA, SPARK, and ALL CAMPS:

  • I. Self-Screen: Come if healthy, Stay Home if any symptoms.

  • II. Masks not required*, but respect is mandatory (*However, masks are required if on day 6+ (though day 10) after positive contact; -or- if exhibiting key symptoms per Public Health recommendations - see footnote [2]. ). Everyone must Give & Expect Respect w/r/t personal health/safety choices.

  • III. Vaccinations Recommended among participants; Required for staff.

  • IV. Families & TDA will openly communicate news/updates. Guests must be informed of & honor our policy.

  • V. From TDA: Good hygiene & Sanitation practiced; Ventilation/Airflow & Filtration will be optimal; Class sizes will be kept smaller.

  • Come if healthy, Stay Home if any symptoms: Families may screen themselves for symptoms, and if anyone is feeling like fever, confirm with temperature-taking at home & before coming to our camps/classes. If fever or other clear Covid symptom (also listed by Public Health)[1], is evident, or you’ve had a recent close contact with Covid, you must test and/or stay home. We follow the Public Health isolation guidance [2] for those who test positive. We recommend families confirm negative status with serial testing / a PCR test before returning to Three Dragons programs after anyone in their household has confirmed positive status and/or had to isolate in this way.

  • Masks are not required, but respect is mandatory. Masking throughout the day is optional in nearly all cases, though a student exhibiting any of the major Covid symptoms (fever, nausea) may be required to mask and may be asked to be picked up early. Each student must bring at least one spare mask, daily, as a precaution (ideally two). All participants are REQUIRED -by the policies detailed in the parent handbook- to support any and all families choosing to mask for Covid safety.

  • Good hygiene: students can expect to have 2 or more rounds of handwashing each day, and students will wipe their materials/space (tables and chair) clean at the end of each worktime.

  • Optimal air: air movement & filtration have been identified by Public Health as a top concern: TDA window(s) will be open whenever reasonable; with fans and multiple HEPA/MERV13 airfilters operating whenever students are present: FWIW, TDA has its own private/isolated HVAC system, and maintain 3 additional portable HEPA filter units [certified for 3000 sq ft] filtering our 1000 sq ft space.

  • Smaller-than-required class sizes: Despite the last round of Public Health policy suggesting our classroom is okay for 30+ students, TDA will be limiting that figure by 50% in all our camps and classes (with rare exceptions for events): class size reductions help limit transmission opportunities & increase distancing.

  • Vaccinations highly recommended: Evidence-based science and state Public Health laws agree that full vaccination is the top way to increase chances of protecting yourself from transmission or long-term health effects from Covid. We’re arts educators, so, obviously please, ask your family doctor for details & guidance.

  • Communicate: If your student or immediate household family tests positive for Covid, you must let us know. All of us must comply with Health Codes & outbreak investigations. [5]

  • Guests/audience: Participants and Audience for plays/events are required to follow the above guidance on symptoms/self-screening, respiratory hygiene, distancing, and are likewise encouraged to mask and vaccinate.

  • Be kind / respect differences: Even if someone else’s precautions are more stringent, or less stringent, than your own, TDA’s expectation is that every participant can expect no less than 100% respect (to & from students) — Three Dragons will reserve the right to treat anything short of kind tolerance and respect to others in this regard as a case of bullying or harassment, and act accordingly per the parent handbook/participant agreement. We require that all students (and their families) fully respect each other, and each family’s right to take precautions that meet their personal & private priorities and/or needs.

    *: Covid Symptoms: Cough; Difficulty Breathing/Shortness; Fever; Chills; Muscle Pain; Sore Throat; New Loss of taste/smell; and less common symptoms include Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting (for which you ought to stay home, anyway).

    Obviously, things can change, and we’ll keep in touch with WA’s Public Health dept for further developments. We also acknowledge & respect parents who choose to keep their kids home, safe and secure: we acknowledge and respect that each parent is just doing the best they can for their family. 

   CAMPS: Will all follow these above recommendations and policies from 2023, forward.


AQI POLICY:  CURRENT AIR QUALITY POLICY & WHAT TO EXPECT ON ‘WILDFIRE SMOKE DAYS’ IN SEATTLE:

ALL PROGRAMMING: Bring a good quality air-filtering mask [e.g. KN94/95] -and a spare- to protect against smoke, and to better fend off symptoms like coughs & headaches. Change into the spare when damp or too much smoke scent.

TDA & SPARK: Expect recess to still occur and at full length if AQI is 100 or lower. With likely Covid impact decreased, we’ll be setting our ‘cut early/hunker down’ AQI limit a little higher than we have the past couple years; 155. TDA will use the federal air quality website, AirNow.gov, as our gauge & benchmark for air quality in our hyperlocal area.

Specific high levels may require that we cut recess short or choose closer playgrounds/parks so that our participants have shorter walks. AQI of 400 or greater may mean possible schedule changes to our classes - we’ll keep enrolled families posted!

And thank you! We are so appreciative of your support, encouragement, and commitment to our child-first philosophy.  We know we’ll get through these challenges as a community, together!   🌟

Thank you,   
Phoenix and Amy

Cites:

Changes / precautions for risk mitigation

The long and short - the following are our Covid safety protocols as of Sept 2023 & until further updates/notice:

  • Masks not required but welcome for those who want them. Please bring a dry, clean spare.
    (Because of the current medical/scientific study around aerosol transmission, the expectation is for K94/95 or similar levels of polypropylene mask - not cloth or paper).

  • We recommend temperature-taking at home/before coming to our camps/classes. If you have fever or clear Covid symptoms*, or a recent Covid contact, you must stay home & follow the quarantine guidance here.

  • Optimal air movement & filtration (window(s) open + fans going + we have 4 HEPA filter air scrubbers with UV virus killer technology + building-wide furnace/fan intakes have been upgraded to MERV13 level of protection/filtration.

  • Multiple rounds of handwashing will occur each day;

  • Social distancing for children is no longer required by Public Health, however most of our students are still interested in good distancing & related hygiene. Our classroom is carefully laid out to assure good distancing while in our room. We will still be requiring Social Distancing at lunch & at any singing rehearsals.

  • We’ve added fresh air & outdoor time; 1.25+ hours daily, rain or shine.

  • We’ve increased hygiene and limited contact with others outside our program, reducing the shared air and surface contacts by over 400 individuals since our move to Uptown. We now only share common areas / indoor air with 2-5 low/no-traffic co-tenant neighbors during business hours, and our classroom has its own isolated HVAC system.

  • Various kinds of sanitizers are available for any student or staff as wanted/needed, and gloves are also available on request.

  • TDA will maintain smaller-than-required class sizes: Public Health says we could now have 30+ students - we are further limiting that by at least 50% in our camps and classes to help limit transmission opportunities & increase distancing.

  • Our student theatre performances & other events are now possible again: Participants and Audience need to follow the above guidance on distancing, symptoms/self-screening, respiratory hygiene, mask recommendations, and are likewise encouraged to vaccinate.

  • Hyper-alert virus testing & screening now required for all staff.

  • We are still maintaining a hyper-vigilant hygiene policy: including before and after disinfecting of each chair, table, and all ‘touch’ surfaces in our space.

  • We require that all families and students fully respect each other, and each family’s right to take precautions that meet their needs: Three Dragons will not tolerate anything short of kind tolerance and respect to others, even if their precautions are more stringent, or less stringent, than your own.

Changes to POlicy for camps:

Camps: In-person camps will continue in multiple ways to achieve our ‘above&beyond’ standard for Covid safety/risk mitigation - this includes lunching outdoors when practical, altering some games, increasing distancing, and tempering lesson plans with activities that are more harmonious with current guidance & risk mitigation.

Obviously, these still remain unprecedented and uncertain times. We acknowledge that changes to WA Public Health mandates are fairly out of our control. Things can change in either direction, especially as new variants emerge.
And throughout Summer Camps here & now: if the region’s Covid precaution status reverts / dashboard numbers suddenly change for the worse to the highest/Red CDC ‘Community Level’, we’ve decided not just support & respect all parents in word, but also in deed - please see the bottom of our Summer Camps page for our camp policies! ThreeDragonsAcademy.com/camps
We support you - the last thing you need, in such hard times, is a camp being inflexible instead of compassionate.

We have so much gratitude for your family & your support! Please let us know if you have specific questions or concerns beyond the above points. 🌟

Thank you,
Phoenix and Amy

TAG is still on! (hoops and pool noodles for distancing at recess)