The Challenge 

Maintaining a healthy school community has always been a priority for private and independent school educators, but the last few years have elevated this concern. Like so many others, Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles County, CA adjusted to remote learning in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They returned to on-campus learning in fall 2020 with a new challenge: how and when to test students for exposure to COVID. 

Individual COVID tests are hard to track. Health administrators can spend considerable time shuffling through paper copies, manually uploading test results, and following up with parents for compliance requirements. This method is time-consuming and ineffective; Sierra Canyon wanted to find a solution that eliminated manual entry and optimized their team’s workflow. 

“Getting data quickly is the highlight of Magnus Health for us. The ability to easily access student health data and emergency forms is huge.

– Holly Calig, School Nurse

The Solution 

Sierra Canyon first implemented Magnus Health as their electronic health record solution in 2018. After the onset of COVID-19, school nurse Holly Calig saw an opportunity to use Magnus Health to streamline test tracking and compliance reporting. 

For the 2021-22 school year, Sierra Canyon required school-wide COVID testing on two occasions: at the beginning of the school year and again after winter break. Nurse Holly Calig and staff set up COVID test tracking within their Magnus Health portal. 

They allowed parents and staff to upload students’ rapid and PCR test results and immediately send them to the school for approval via Magnus. Anyone with a negative test result was approved and allowed on campus; positive tests were rejected and dealt with following county-wide guidelines for isolation. This digital solution allowed Sierra Canyon’s health staff to easily track testing and reach 100% compliance for students returning to campus. 

The Result 

Streamlined test tracking has benefitted Sierra Canyon in several ways:  

• The health staff spends less time manually sorting through tests and approving or denying results.   
• Student testing compliance has increased as the manual effort to comply has been replaced with an easy digital option.   
• Nurse Holly Calig can quickly find and extract student health information from Magnus Health, saving valuable time and energy. 

Above all else, Sierra Canyon is able to ensure a healthy return to school for their students, faculty, and staff. 

Summary 

Magnus Health is here to help private and independent schools navigate the ever-evolving landscape of COVID-19. In addition to test tracking, our platform offers immunization tracking, symptom assessments, exposure evaluations, and automated parent reminders.   

Contact us today to discover how Magnus Health can help your school prioritize health and wellness through COVID and beyond.