No wonder, many GC students and faculty members were concerned with the staph infection at our school that happened in October. Staph infection is a contagious skin illness spread by contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces. They often enter through small wounds or cuts. Although this infection might sound scary to many GC members, it serves as an opportunity for us to learn to be aware of the health situation at school and improve future preventative measures. Let’s take this time to reflect on how GC handled the staph infection outbreak.
Various students and faculty members hold positive opinions toward the way GC handled the staph infection. Several students appreciate the way the school had informed the GC community about the staph infection outbreak through emails and advisory meetings. “They communicated with us about the staph infection instead of covering it up,” a GC student says. “I felt informed about prevention and next steps because of the advisory lessons and emails,” Aiden Rowland ‘26 says. Additionally, the steps that GC took to address the staph infection outbreak were also adequate, according to some interviewees. “They kept telling people to handwash and sharing with us more hand sanitizers for students and faculty,” Mrs. Brake points out a strength in GC’s way of handling it. “They provided Lysol and wipes for students in classrooms,” a GC senior adds.
Nevertheless, there can be space for improvement in future infection outbreaks. “They should have done more preventive measures—I don’t think they do enough to prevent it,” Amber Cauchi ‘26 suggests. “They stopped updating us about the status of the staph infection suddenly,” Aiden Rowland ‘26 adds, “Perhaps more updates and emails in the future?” “They could clean the locker room and shower better,” another GC student proposes. Everything is two sided; this staph infection outbreak is no exception and can definitely be a learning opportunity for GC in the future.
Overall, the grades toward GC’s staph infection outbreak are slightly above average. A couple of students gave it a B because of the cleaning and prompt emails. “I will give it a C, because they didn’t do enough to prevent it, nor deep clean anything,” Amber Cauchi ‘26 thinks GC has space for improvement in handling infectious outbreaks. “I will give an A! They kept all parties involved and aware by notifying parents, students, and faculty members, as well as handling questions from them. I really appreciate how they addressed misunderstandings between students who had bandages/wounds during advisory,” Mrs. Brake hopes GC will continue to handle future outbreaks as sufficiently as this one.
In the future, GC can use this staph infection outbreak as an example of how to better address similar outbreaks. “They can do more preventative measures in the future,” Amber Cauchi ‘26 points out, an area that GC could work on. “We all learned to be aware of the health situation at school from this staph infection outbreak. GC should continue to respond as quickly as they did with this one in the future,” Mrs. Brake concludes.
