IHealth, the maker of the at-home rapid antigen test provided to us by the state, was granted a three-month shelf-life extension for its iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test, which extended the shelf-life of all iHealth tests with expiration dates on or before 2022-09-29 (YYYY-MM-DD) from 6 months to 9 months. For example, if the expiration date printed on your box says 2022-05-21 (YYYY-MM-DD), the updated expiration date is 2022-08-21 (YYYY-MM-DD). 

You can check the new expiration date of any COVID tests you have at home.

COVID tests will not be provided to students or staff in the 2022-23 school year. Most insurance plans (including MassHealth, Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts, and others) will cover the cost of up to 8 over-the-counter COVID-19 tests (that are EUA authorized) per member per month: How to get your At-Home Over-The-Counter COVID-19 Test for Free | CMS.

Visit plan websites for more information: 

MassHealth - MassHealth: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) —Applicants and Members | Mass.gov

Harvard Pilgrim - COVID-19 Testing and Coverage - Harvard Pilgrim Health Care - Microsites

Tufts - COVID-19 Testing and Coverage | Member

If a family or staff member has financial hardship, please contact your school nurse for assistance in obtaining a COVID test.

NPS encourages ALL STUDENTS to stay up-to-date on COVID vaccinations.

• You can find the list of vaccination sites in Newton or you can visit the state’s searchable vaccination website.

• The state provides in-home vaccinations for anyone who is unable to get to a vaccine location. Call 833-983-0485 Mon-Fri, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to register.

• If you have additional questions or need assistance acquiring a vaccine, please contact Newton HHS at 617-796-1420 or visit the Newton COVID Vaccine Information page.

• Data on vaccination rates in MA and Newton.

• NPS will continue to host vaccination and booster clinics when possible for eligible students and staff.

All NPS staff are required to be vaccinated as a condition of employment.

The City of Newton will continue to share information on known COVID cases in the city, as well as NPS vaccination rates. Please visit this page on the City website for detailed information: Newton HHS COVID Data. 

For the 2022-23 school year, NPS families may be notified of COVID cases if a cluster of infections emerges at a school. Guidance from the Medical Advisory Group is as follows:

"Decisions about notifying individuals about exposure to a case or cases should be left to the judgment of the school nurses. The most likely situation in which the school nurse would notify is when a cluster of three or more cases have occurred in a setting where close exposure might result in secondary cases."

The assessment of the cluster, impacted populations, and notification process will be similar to other communicable disease outbreaks in schools, such as flu and strep throat. School health staff will work with school and district leadership to share timely and actionable information.

Schools will no longer send notifications of COVID cases in classrooms or teams, nor will principals share the total number of COVID cases in a school at the end of each week. Families may check the Newton HHS COVID Data webpage for information on known COVID cases in the city.