RICHMOND, Va. -- A weekend house party that attracted upwards of 60 high school students prompted the Friday morning shutdown of two private school campuses in Richmond.
At least two Saint Catherine’s School students who attended the Saturday night party have since tested positive for COVID-19, according to a letter Saint Catherine’s School and Saint Christopher's School leaders sent to parents.
Saint Christopher's School indicated that initial testing of its students known to be at the party returned negative results so far.
Both Saint Catherine’s and Saint Christopher's closed their upper schools to in-person learning on Friday to "consult with the Virginia Department of Health to conduct thorough contact tracing and campus cleaning."
The schools urged parents to speak with their children to determine if they attended the party which the schools described as "absent [of] social distancing or mask wearing."
The schools also pointed out some high school students were drinking alcohol.
"We are disappointed by the choices of our students, choices that are illegal, could endanger the health of our community, and could compromise our ability to continue with on-campus teaching and learning," the letter read. "If your son or daughter attended the gathering, he or she must now quarantine and follow through with COVID-19 testing. Our medical staff will follow up with any individuals we know to have been in attendance on Saturday evening."
The schools will decide over the weekend whether or not they can reopen their campus on Monday or if learning will continue online.
The letter also urged parents to practice COVID-19 safety measures at home.
"Our ability to continue to deliver on-campus instruction is dependent on our partnership with you, our families. We ask that you continue to talk with your children about the power of their choices, encouraging them to make note of the significant measures we are taking during the school day to mitigate risk associated with the spread of COVID," the letter read. " We ask that you and your students model those same measures on evenings, weekends, and holidays, in order to protect the health and safety of all school community members and our extended families."
This is a developing story.
