Pool Testing Schedule & Information

• Please click here to read a pool testing overview from our selected lab, Mirimus. 

• Unvaccinated students and vaccine-exempt employees must either participate in weekly RCDS pool testing or provide the result of an independent test each week. Independent test results should be sent to covidresponse@ryecountryday.org no later than Sunday at 5 p.m. 

• Unvaccinated individuals required to participate in pool testing at RCDS must sign the consent form prior to the start of school activities.

• Individuals who have had COVID-19 do not need to test for 90 days thereafter. Please send documentation of the positive test result to covidresponse@ryecountryday.org. Those individuals will be reminded when they need to resume testing.

• The School will continue to charge a fee for weekly pool testing, which will be covered for vaccine-exempt employees and financial aid recipients. Costs associated with independent PCR tests will be the responsibility of the individual.

• While vaccinated members of the RCDS community are not required to test at this time, the School will continue to monitor and adjust the need for further surveillance testing based on pandemic-related developments. Testing will be increased or reduced as appropriate.

• We cannot accommodate late samples. If a student or employee does not submit a sample within the provided timeframe they may not return to campus the following week until an alternate negative individual COVID-19 test result is submitted.


• If you would like to opt out of pool testing completely, you are required to submit an FDA approved PCR or antigen test, at the same frequency of pool testing. Antibody testing will not be accepted, per CDC guidelines. Testing must be dated no earlier than the Monday of that week and results submitted by that Sunday at 5:00 p.m. 

• Documentation of alternative testing must include the laboratory report and the following information: name, date of birth, date of test, type of test performed, and negative result. We cannot except over-the-counter tests unless the results include a lab-produced report that include biographical data of the patient. Alternative test results should be emailed to covidresponse@ryecountryday.org. 
• Kits will be distributed at school on a weekly basis. Please keep your kits. We are limited in supply and will keep track of lost kits.

Given the fluid and rapidly changing nature of the pandemic, please understand that all protocols are subject to change. 
 
If a pool testing result is positive:

• The individuals will be immediately contacted by the Health Office, who will provide further instructions, including contact tracing. 
• If the individual is on campus, you will be isolated by the Nurse and parents/guardians will be contacted immediately for pick-up.
• After the parents/guardians of all affected individuals have been notified, the School will inform the entire community of the general pool results.  In accordance with HIPAA privacy regulations, the School is not permitted to share the name or any details about the infected individual.
• The Health Office will report to the Department of Health (DOH).

If you are identified as a contact of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19:

• You will be contacted immediately by the RCDS Health Office and also likely by the Westchester DOH. 
  • If you are not contacted, that means that you have not been identified as a close contact of the infected individual.
• You will be required to quarantine for a period of 10 days since the last contact with the infected individual, per DOH requirements.

If you have questions about COVID-19 protocols, please contact covidresponse@ryecountryday.org or (914) 925-4552.