Los Alamos Reporter

LAPS Interim Supt. Jennifer Issues New Year’s Message

BY JENNIFER GUY
Interim Superintendent
Los Alamos Public Schools

Dear LAPS Families,

Happy New Year! I am feeling so optimistic for this new year! I hope that you all had a nice holiday. Spring 2022 is going to be great at LAPS! 

Although infection rates in New Mexico have been declining, the Omicron variant will presumably become the prevalent variant in New Mexico soon, causing a sharp rise in infections. The Omicron variant is, as of now, associated with significant increases in the number of children who are infected and hospitalized. As an example, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported the number of pediatric infections in the US increased by 50% from the beginning of December to December 23rd. 

To ensure the safest possible return to school, I encourage those with home COVID tests to test your children the day before school starts. We have worked with Premier Medical Group to provide more rapid testing and improve the ease of testing. Premier Medical Group will be in Los Alamos 5 days a week beginning the week of January 3-7. Any family who would like a rapid antigen test for their LAPS student, can go to the LAPS district office across from Ashley Pond at 2075 Trinity Drive, Suite S for a rapid test from 8:00 – 11:30 on Monday – Friday. These tests are only available to LAPS staff and students. Results will be texted to in about an hour to the cell phone number on the account you create. You should register your child here before arriving. You can link all students in your family to one account. 

Everyone, including parents and family members, can sign up for a covid test through Curative at https://book.curative.com/sites/14121 each Tuesday and Thursday at the old Smith’s parking lot. They also take walk ins. For more information about testing available please visit: https://losalamosnm.us/government/departments/emergency_management___e_m_/pandemic_and_coronavirus/c_o_v_i_d_testing.

We will continue to prioritize student safety at every school site. All schools will following school mitigation efforts including masking indoors, social distancing, and requiring all staff to be fully vaccinated or participate in weekly testing. 

I also encourage you to talk to your family physician about having your children fully vaccinated. Parents can provide covid vaccination records to their school nurse. Students who are fully vaccinated are currently not required to quarantine or participate in Test to Stay programs. Booster shots are now available to students 16 and older. You can find information about vaccines at: 

In light of the infectiousness of the new variant, it is more important than ever to keep your children home if they are sick, have a fever, or show any symptoms of COVID-19. All absences will be excused and school work with be provided. Please notify your school nurse if anyone in your household tests positive for COVID-19 or is symptomatic. We are still following all PED guidelines in the COVID Toolkit. PED is working with the state on possible changes to quarantine requirements but have not released those yet. For now, we will follow the toolkit released on November 2, 2021.  

By all working together, I am confident that we can keep our children safe and our schools open. 

With best wishes for a happy and healthy 2022,