Shanghai American School

Any urgent information will be communicated by the school through email, and this webpage will be updated as necessary for more detailed explanation. We endeavor to provide not only timely, but also verifiable information in the context of an ever-changing situation.

If a student or teacher is contacted during school hours about the need to leave school to comply with a contact tracing investigation, the division principal will notify parents of the affected students or classes and associated bus riders through Schoology.  Please note you can set your Schoology preferences to send you an email.  In the past we have included the names and addresses of the affected complexes, but unfortunately the complexity of the current situation makes that less feasible.

In the context of contract tracing, as occurred at the other schools, the CDC will keep students and staff on campus only as long as it takes to carry out their testing. In the experience of other schools, that testing took 3-4 hours after the arrival of the CDC team.  At that point, students and faculty were dismissed and allowed to go home.

In the case that we are compelled to stay beyond a normal school day, we are ready to provide meals and snacks to all students during that extended time for no additional fees.  In addition, we are working with our suppliers to arrange sleeping bags and toiletries within hours in the unlikely event they are needed.  Know that age-appropriate care and support will be provided to students in all divisions throughout the testing period.  We would provide normal SAS bus transportation home once the testing has concluded.

We are in dialogue with municipal authorities about specific protocols for this situation. We will update this section once we can confirm the details with confidence.

One key element of a smooth and efficient testing process is having the students' NAT testing QR codes available in PowerSchool ahead of time.  In order to generate and upload your child's code, please see these instructions.

Additionally, if your child takes any medication, you may desire to prepare your child with sufficient medication to last for an extended school day due to NAT testing.

After school activities will still proceed, but cross campus athletic events are canceled, including third-party organized events at outside venues such as Junior NBA.  In light of the current heightened risk level and government scrutiny associated with close contacts, we are not permitting parents on campus for events until further evaluation.  Unfortunately, due to difficulty for schools in other cities to travel to Shanghai, the official APAC competitions will be modified.  The Athletics Directors will also send out notifications on Schoology as more information becomes available.

Due to guidance from government agencies that travel during Chinese New Year be limited to that which is absolutely essential, we are requesting that SAS families, faculty, and staff do not travel out of Shanghai. If you must travel for an essential reason, the government is requiring us to submit any travel plans for members of our community intending to leave the city during the holiday break. All families should log onto PowerSchool and answer the “Student Travel Survey” on the left hand side.

Keep in mind the Shanghai municipal government requirement for a negative NAT result within 48 hours of returning to Shanghai from a low-risk area (must be before returning to campus).  Stay up to date on the low-risk here.  

We understand the Health Cloud has had various issues and have listed some tips in the Troubleshooting section. If you encounter an issue that is not addressed, please email Security@saschina.org. If you still unable to generate an NAT testing QR code, in the case of an All School NAT Testing scenario the CDC can still manually register your child through a paper form. Having the codes in advance helps reduce the overall testing time but this does not mean your child cannot get tested if you cannot upload the code.

Based on the experience of other schools, students would be required to return to school for NAT testing.

Elementary students under 12 years old will receive a throat instead of a nasal swab test.

Based on the experience of other schools, all students and faculty are released when testing is completed. However, we recognize that every individual situation may differ based on the specific variables.

Based on the experience of other schools, dismissal would happen at one time after all testing is completed. Buses will be ready to take students home the moment the campus is released and we are prioritizing as much as possible the same protocols we use in a normal school dismissal. Given variables in timing and execution, we will be communicating essential instructions to our parents in a timely fashion throughout the process to maximize safety and efficiency.