March 12, 2020
Dear St. Andrew’s Families,
The most sacred trust you place in St. Andrew’s is the well-being of your children. With that in mind,
St. Andrew’s will transition to our Distance Learning Plan effective Monday, March 16.
We have made this proactive decision to protect our school community while ensuring the continuity of learning for our students. We have no known cases of COVID-19 in our community, and we hope this decision will help us all remain healthy as this contagion continues to spread.
Here’s what to expect in the coming days:
- We will continue with our regular schedule through Friday, March 13 with all after-school and sports activities and buses running as scheduled at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tomorrow our faculty and staff will work with students to build familiarity with the technology and expectations of distance learning, and to make sure that students’ laptops and iPads are optimized for virtual classes.
- On Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17, our faculty will refine their class-specific distance learning plans while students remain off-campus. Middle and Upper School students can expect to receive homework assignments via Schoology for Monday and Tuesday. In the Lower School, Grades K-5 parents will receive an email from their child's homeroom teacher, outlining the day's expectations by 9:30 a.m.
- Students will engage in distance learning for three days, Wednesday through Friday, March 18-20, at which point we will close for Spring Break as scheduled. We plan to resume distance learning when classes resume on Wednesday, April 1. The earliest we currently expect to re-open the campus for students is Monday, April 6.
This scaffolded transition will allow our students and faculty to adjust to the distance learning format and allow families the opportunity to make any necessary arrangements. Tomorrow, we will share division-specific schedules and expectations for distance learning with students and families. On Monday, we will follow up with a more detailed Distance Learning Plan that our academic leaders have been preparing over the past three weeks.
When your children leave campus on Friday, March 13, they should take home everything they need to facilitate distance learning, as well as important personal possessions.
If your child is ill on Friday, do not send them to school to get their required materials.
Families will be able to come to campus by appointment on Monday and Tuesday (contact your Division Head) to retrieve any necessary belongings and school materials.
I realize that these are uncertain and unsettling times, and that this change to daily school routine will not be easy. I am making this decision to temporarily separate our community after careful deliberation about what is best for us all. Health experts expect COVID-19 cases to increase during the coming weeks, and transitioning to distance learning now will protect the most vulnerable members of our community and help mitigate the spread of contagion.
St. Andrew’s faculty and staff will continue to refine our distance learning plans and to communicate with families as we face this demanding time together. I have deep confidence in my colleagues and in our community to rise to this challenge. Thank you as always for your support and understanding.
Faithfully,
