May 10, 2020
Dear Parents and Students:
We continue to develop new policies and procedures for the eventual reopening of our campus as we comply with the governor’s order to keep our campus closed for the duration of this school year. As Georgia leads the nation in “reopening,” we will continue to coordinate with county and state officials to determine the state’s progress and its impact on the reopening of our campus. We remain committed to reopening as soon as we are authorized to do so.
This past week we sent over 700 individual emails to students/parents containing tailored lists of what each student is asked to return during “The Great Exchange” scheduled for May 20-23. On those days, students/parents will come to campus at a specific time predetermined by a forthcoming online survey. Each student will receive any belongings left on campus (classroom items, school locker contents, clothing from athletic locker rooms [that was interesting!]), which have all been boxed or bagged by name (we have hundreds of bags and boxes labeled with students’ names alphabetically staged by grade in the gymnasium bleachers). During The Great Exchange, students/parents are asked to turn in the items identified in the detailed email sent last week.
We will have plenty of faculty and staff on hand during The Great Exchange, and the drop-off and pick up locations have been carefully planned for safety and efficiency. Detailed information (sign-up dates and times, campus maps with traffic flow patterns, etcetera) is forthcoming. The process has been designed to allow all students/parents to remain in their vehicles for their safety and the safety of our faculty/staff.
In addition to the Class of 2020 Parade scheduled for this Saturday, May 16, at 10:00 a.m. on the school’s track, we have planned similarly formatted ceremonies for kindergarten graduation and the fifth grade moving up ceremony. Kindergarten and fifth-grade parents should have received information from the lower school office about those ceremonies last week (including campus maps with traffic flow patterns). Those ceremonies will all take place on Monday, May 18, at different times during the day. We are excited and looking forward to holding these special, unique celebrations to recognize our younger students’ achievements. If you have any questions about kindergarten graduation or the fifth grade moving up ceremony, please contact the lower school office.
On behalf of the faculty and staff, we commend our parents for “finishing strong” during this last leg of the marathon we started fifty-six days ago today. At times, our journey required more than stamina; it required a different mindset. I hope the fast-approaching summer break provides you a more relaxed setting, one unencumbered by the pressures of distance learning, to enjoy your children and our many blessings.
With warm regards and in His service,
