All summer, and especially since the plan was issued, the School has been busy preparing the campus for the safe return of our faculty and students starting next week.
For example, late in the spring, we began stocking up on necessary supplies including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning provisions, and technological hardware to help us successfully deliver hybrid classes. Our staff members have been walking the campus to identify where we need new signage, which classrooms require reduced capacities, and how to best utilize our spaces to ensure the campus is safe. In high traffic areas, including the dining hall and key office spaces, our maintenance staff has installed Plexiglas barriers and rearranged furniture to allow for maximum distancing.
In addition, faculty returned for orientation meetings this week and prepared their classrooms and work spaces for the arrival of our students.
This meant substantial ‘de-cluttering’ to allow for maximum social distancing and cleaning protocols. All of these actions and others outlined in the plan are ones we identified as necessary steps to safely reopen the campus. Implementing these steps has gone smoothly so far, thanks to the hard work and the total commitment of everyone involved.
Early next week, we expect to welcome the first group of new international students back on campus. They will use their time to carry out their required quarantine, get oriented to the campus, complete some testing to identify skill levels, and learn more about our expectations; all initially through Zoom sessions. In the coming weeks, as they emerge from quarantine, the students will have the chance visit the rest of the campus and meet more of us and their peers in-person.
As we continue on the road to reopening, it is important for you to know that both New York State and Orange County, where the School is located, have very low rates of COVID infection and these levels have been maintained for some time.
