About
2020-21 School Year
2020-21 Planning

COVID-19 Testing

Testing as part of Baldwin’s 2020-21 Reopening Strategy

Baldwin’s Back-to-School Task Force spent many weeks and months extensively looking into the viability of COVID-19 testing as a risk mitigation measure for our 2020-21 reopening plan. Because testing has recently become more widely feasible, available, and therefore more affordable, we have added a “return to campus testing requirement” at no additional cost to our families.

We have engaged RR Testing, Inc. to provide testing at sites on our campus. This testing will be provided at no cost to our families. It will support the key risk mitigation measures we will use from the first day of school, which include daily symptom checking and the wearing of masks, social distancing and good hygiene practices while on campus. In combination with community member’s commitment to abide by Baldwin’s , we hope this will help keep all students as healthy as possible throughout the year.

Aim for Re-entry Testing

We are testing all Baldwin students, faculty and staff before the school year starts and everyone returns to campus to establish Baldwin's community-specific positivity rate. We hope that this will reassure our families and our teachers that we are in a good position to start in-person learning.

Requiring all students to have a confirmed negative test before returning to campus will also establish a solid foundation for us to teach students the importance of the risk mitigation measures that we will use throughout the year - including daily symptom checking and the wearing of masks, social distancing and good hygiene practices while on campus. In combination with everyone's commitment to abide by Baldwin's , we hope this will help keep community members as healthy as possible throughout the year.

We are not using testing to create a "bubble" for Baldwin because, as a day school, this strategy would not be feasible or affordable. We will continue to evaluate the availability, feasibility and costs associated with testing throughout the 2020-21 school year to determine whether additional testing protocols may be added. 

Registration

The day prior to testing, please confirm your registration by:

  • Registering via this . Please use a Chrome browser when launching the registration page. 
  • Select “Baldwin” as the testing facility.
  • Enter your daughter’s first and last name, date of birth and Baldwin email address.
  • Provide other required information, according to the prompts.
  • Please select “uninsured” when it asks for your insurance and if asked for your insurance card, please leave that section blank.
  • If asked to upload a photo ID, please leave that section blank too.
  • Fill out a and bring it with you to testing on campus 
Note that the registration form will ask a number of questions per from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services requiring particular metrics be collected during COVID-19 testing. RR Testing will only provide Baldwin School representatives the test results for each individual tested. That information will be supplied directly to Baldwin's Pandemic Response team - i.e., our Wellness Coordinator, Kerrie Snead, and School Nurses, Doreen Jones and Diane Lacing, for the purpose of managing next steps for community members.

Logistics

All testing will be administered between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., each day, in a "drive thru" format. Please see the details below about logistics of testing while on campus and paperwork that must be completed prior to arrival. If you cannot attend one of the below dates, you will need to schedule PCR testing for your daughter and submit documentation of a negative result within a week of starting class or returning to campus. 

Paperwork

A parent (or, for students 19 and older, the student) is required to register (see above) and fill out a . This form can also be found on our and may be signed in advance or on-site. Your daughter may get her COVID-19 test without a parent or guardian present but must have a completed/signed consent form with her to do so.

Plans for testing day

In order to make this as simple and quick as possible, we plan to conduct the test in a "drive thru" style. We ask that families come with your daughter in the time frame below according to your daughter's last name. We hope this will help us manage the traffic flow and speed up the testing process - if you cannot make the time allotted, you are welcome to come at another time that day.

Tuesday, September 1, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
ECC and Lower School Testing (Pre-K through Grade 5)
Wednesday, September 2, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Middle School Testing (Grade 6 through Grade 8)
Thursday, September 3, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Upper School Testing (Grade 9 through Grade 12)



When you arrive, please drive toward the Athletic Center at the end of campus. There will be staff directing traffic into two lanes. Each lane will be staffed by RR Testing who will confirm your online registration (see above), collect your signed consent form and take a swab sample from your daughter.

Please stay in your car throughout and drive slowly while on campus. Parents and daughters should wear a mask when you roll your car window down to talk with staff, get tested, exchange greetings, etc. We appreciate everyone practicing the utmost safety precautions throughout. 

After Your Daughter is Tested

After successfully being tested and awaiting results, all students should continue to adhere to the health and safety protocols recommended by the and listed in our , which include social distancing, wearing a mask, washing hands for at least 20 seconds throughout the day, refraining from attending off-campus social gatherings and limiting all unnecessary personal travel.

Test Results

We expect results from testing within 48 to 72 hours of the end of each day of testing. Parents will receive a direct notification from if your daughter should test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. A representative from Baldwin's Wellness Team will also follow up, to ensure we can support your daughter. If your daughter's test results are negative, you will not hear from Mako Medical or Baldwin. You can access your daughter's results via the . Note that there may be some delay in the uploading of results to the patient portal.

Once tests are analyzed, Baldwin intends to share our community-specific positivity rate with the entire community. We will not share specific details regarding any positive cases that may be reported.
Tuesday, September 1, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
ECC and Lower School Student Testing (Pre-K through Grade 5)
Wednesday, September 2, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Middle School Student Testing (Grade 6 through Grade 8)
Thursday, September 3, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Upper School Student Testing (Grade 9 through Grade 12)


Points of Contact

List of 2 items.

Frequently Asked Questions

List of 11 items.

  • What if my daughter cannot make the assigned test date?

    The testing dates were scheduled during Student Orientation Week to ensure it would be as easy as possible for all students to comply with this new protocol and to make use of this opportunity to have Baldwin manage the process.

    If you cannot make the testing date assigned to your daughter, please be in touch with our Wellness Coordinator, Kerrie Snead, to see if we can accommodate her on another available date when testing will be conducted on campus. If no on-campus testing date will work, we ask that you get a PCR test on your own and submit documentation of a negative result within a week of starting class or returning to campus. Children will not be allowed to begin class in the absence of a negative PCR test; we are not accepting antibody testing.

    If you have questions about the logistics or medical aspects of testing, please contact a member of our Pandemic Response Team: Baldwin’s Wellness Coordinator (Kerrie Snead) or School Nurses (Doreen Jones and Diane Lacing).

  • What if my daughter is planning to be an online learner this fall?

    It is not required to have a negative test to begin the school year online. However, we do require that a student have a documented negative test to participate in in-person learning. If your daughter starts the year online and then transitions to in-person learning, we will require that you submit to our Wellness Coordinator and her division’s nurse documentation of a negative test conducted within 7 days of her planned return to campus for in-person learning.

    Baldwin is offering testing to all students, including our online learners. We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to have your daughter tested, as it will help our community establish a more accurate Baldwin-specific community positivity rate, which will help medical experts better evaluate our reopening plan.

  • Can my daughter be tested without a parent present?

    Your daughter may get her COVID-19 test without a parent or guardian present but must have a with her to do so. The consent form is also available on our , so that parents can print and sign the form in advance.

  • What kind of test is being used?

    Baldwin has contracted with RR Testing, Inc. to offer testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID19. The test is performed using an RT-PCR method approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an Emergency Use Authorization. The laboratory with which RR Testing, Inc. has contracted to analyze our tests is , a CLIA and CAP accredited laboratory that has an FDA approved COVID-19 test utilizing Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Assay and Emergency Use Authorization.

    Trained EMTs will conduct sample collection on site, at Baldwin’s campus, at set times for all of our students. They will swab each student's nostril using an anterior nasal swab method. That is different — and more comfortable — than the ; we are NOT using the testing method that involves inserting an elongated swab deep into the uppermost part of the throat, behind the nose.

    Additional information about the test and the laboratory analyzing our tests can be found .

  • How will I know my daughter's test results?

    Parents will receive a direct notification from (and, also, from Baldwin's nurses or Wellness Coordinator) if your daughter should test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. If your daughter's test results are negative, you will not hear from them or from Baldwin's nurses. 

    You can also access your daughter's results via the . *Note that there may be some delay in the uploading of results to the patient portal.
     

  • What happens with the test results?

    We expect results from testing within 48 to 72 hours of the end of each day of testing. You will receive an email notification regarding how to collect test results.

    A negative result means the test did not detect COVID-19 or you did not have enough virus to be