Coronavirus Precautions

Dear Chesterton Family,

We sent the following letter out on March 5, 2020 to alert all our families about the precautions we have taken to keep our community healthy. Just today, the Diocese of Joliet’s School’s Office issued a letter with further information and direction on the spread of coronavirus. Please take a moment to read it and the letter below if you haven’t already. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Letter to Chesterton Families from March 5, 2020

We have been monitoring the spread of the coronavirus disease and are aware of the potential threat of it spreading throughout the United States. As of today, there have been four confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois. Given that the flu has been particularly bad this winter season, we wanted to inform you of the measures we are taking to prevent the spread of sickness in school and align with the Diocese of Joliet Schools Office’s, the CDC, and other school districts’ best practices and cautions related to preventing the spread of the coronavirus in particular.

Should we be required by the Diocese, the state of Illinois, or other agencies beyond our control to close the school building to prevent the spread of the virus, we are developing a contingency plan with the guidance of the Chesterton Schools Network to enable school to continue uninterrupted.

In the meantime, we have taken and will recommend a number of steps to prevent the spread of sickness on our campus.

The school has taken the following actions:

• Faculty will work with students to ensure that classrooms are cleaned every day: Tables/desks, chairs, other surfaces, switch plates, and doorknobs will be wiped down.

• At daily mass, we are following these cautions required by the Diocese of Joliet:

  • Suspension of shaking of hands or other physical contact at the sign of peace

  • Suspension of the distribution of the Precious Blood to the faithful at Communion time

Additionally, we recommend the following precautions:

• Students should bring their blazers home every night so they can be laundered regularly along with other parts of their uniform.

• Students are required to wear shoes at all times.

• Refrain from sharing clothing, water bottles, food, utensils, and personal effects, and please be sure to wash water bottles thoroughly on a daily basis.

• If a student or staffer is experiencing symptoms of illness, primarily fever, cough, or shortness of breath, please do not report to school until free of fever and other symptoms for 24 hours.

• We provide gloves to students for cleaning and ask students to wash their hands before and after cleaning.

• We strongly recommend washing hands before and after eating.
  Hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies are available to the students, faculty, and staff.

• As mentioned, the administration and faculty are working together to develop a contingency plan that will enable schooling to continue uninterrupted. We are prepared but hopeful that this situation will not arise.

Please keep all those affected by the flu and the coronavirus disease in your prayers, and please take all the precautions necessary to keep our students healthy. The health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff, is of the utmost importance so if you have any questions, feel free to contact the school office at 630-442-1424.

Sincerely,

Julie Bowles
Co-Founder and Executive Director