SCHOOL CLOSED FOR ILLNESS
By Dan Rivoli
Posted by Our Town on December 16, 2009 · View Comments
A possible stomach flu swept through the Ramaz School Wednesday, Dec. 9, causing the school to close for several days.
Administrators believe that a quarter of lower school students, staff and faculty—around 140 to 150 people—caught the stomach virus, based on reported symptoms such as vomiting, low fever and diarrhea. The school noticed the high absence rate that morning, and all three divisions were closed by Wednesday afternoon. Similar symptoms were reported Dec. 11 in a Staten Island school, P.S. 3.
The lower school, at 114 E. 85th St. between Park and Lexington avenues, closed for the rest of the week, and programs for Hanukkah at a connected synagogue, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, were also canceled the following weekend.
The upper school, for students in grades 9 to 12, was closed Wednesday, Dec. 9, but opened for the rest of the week because there was only one possible case of illness.
A spokesperson for the city’s health department said an investigation is ongoing and that the department will officially determine the illness.
“It spread from child to parent. It was a very quick spread,” said Kenneth Rochlin, director of institutional advancement at Ramaz.
Ramaz has since sanitized and cleaned facilities and urged parents to keep possibly ill students home. All divisions were open Tuesday, Dec. 15. The school was closed the previous day for Hanukkah.
