Dear Amani Community,  

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, Westchester County and its schools are committed to a safe return to in-person learning for students, teachers, and staff. 

This can only be achieved if the County, public and private school systems, parents, and students work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools and keep one another safe. This is especially important given the rise of the highly contagious Delta variant. As part of this effort, Amani  is pleased to announce that we, along with schools across Westchester County, will be partnering with Westchester County Department of Health’s testing partner Mirimus, Inc., to offer the County’s FREE COVID-19 screening testing program. 

The program relies on a surveillance testing strategies:

Voluntary weekly testing of 20% of all students, teachers, and staff thereafter, regardless of vaccine status. This method will allow early detection of COVID-19 in pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic individuals. Early detection means we can better stop the virus from spreading in schools. Preventing school outbreaks is key to ensuring our schools stay open to provide the education and support our children need. 

The process is easily explained by our Laboratory partner Mirimus in this Video

All students, teachers, and staff (vaccinated AND unvaccinated) are highly encouraged to participate in this free, school-based COVID-19 screening testing program. The program will use non-invasive, self-collected saliva samples that are appropriate and painless for all ages. Samples will be processed using accurate and reliable PCR analysis—the gold standard of COVID-19 testing— to identify positive cases. 

Please read and complete the attached consent forms for each Amani student in your household (or for yourself, if teacher/staff). You can consent at any point for enrollment in the weekly 20% screening testing program. Once you consent, Amani will be in touch with more details regarding the testing program. 

Thank you, 

Debra Stern, Executive Director

Bruce Tanner, Director of Operations, COVID Coordinator

Nicole Francis, Nurse, COVID Coordinator

The Westchester County Schools COVID-19 Screening Testing Program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $15,800,820 with 100 percent funded by the CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor

an endorsement, by the CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/. CC: Dr. Sherlita Amler, MD, Commissioner of Health, Westchester County Department of Health.