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Dear Parents and Guardians,
As I write this, Main Building is filled with student voices and energy. Last Friday, we received all negative results from our Day 8 testing, and we began to lift quarantine restrictions Friday and over the weekend in the dormitories. Beginning Monday morning we have held classes in-person and winter co-curricular activities in the afternoon. We have opened slowly, in the event that we might see a slow-incubating case on campus and a late positive test, in order to prevent large numbers of close contacts. However, I'm pleased to report that our testing on Sunday-Monday has all come back negative. In the fall, we opened gradually over many weeks. Our testing this term gives us the confidence to lift all quarantine restrictions starting today.
Standard safety protocols will continue to be a part of our life on campus post-quarantine: masking, distancing, hand and surface hygiene, and limiting group sizes (and activities that generate close contacts) will continue to be our norms moving forward. However, starting today, life for the students will be much as it was when we left campus in November: -
Classes will be in-person on our regular schedule
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Winter co-curriculars will resume will full contact scrimmages possible (coaches will still take reasonable steps to reduce the possibility of close contacts)
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Wind and vocal ensembles practices can commence
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Students may socialize in dorm corridors (across floors), and receive one guest in their rooms, provided they can maintain mask and distance protocols
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Study rooms, classrooms, and other campus resources (art rooms, etc.) are available by sign up
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School wide weekend and evening activities will be ongoing.
Moving forward, we will continue to provide the best possible experience we can for students while maintaining strict vigilance toward COVID. Public health authorities continue to urge caution, and we will test the full student body, employees, and campus community twice per week. Our testing results will be updated regularly on the COVID Dashboard, and we will be sure to communicate major protocol changes or cases when they occur. From this point, a positive test may generate large numbers of close contacts, who will be obligated to quarantine to prevent potential spread of the virus. Therefore, in the event of a positive test, we may institute a campus "pause," a brief return to quarantine conditions so that we can care for positive students, conduct contact tracing, and help the affected students move into quarantine. The "pause" will only last long enough to ensure that we have identified and contained the virus on campus; it could be a matter of hours or a few days, depending on the nature of the case and contacts generated.
We have received some questions already about when parents might be able to visit their students on campus. We have confidence that we will be able to accommodate some level of visitation this spring. However, because we wish to see how well the campus "bubble" holds over the next few rounds of testing, we won't be able to consider having visitors until at least March 20. We will share the relevant protocols and process in the coming week.
Finally, a word of thanks. The fact that we have gotten through our opening quarantine with so few cases is really a testament to the care taken by students and families before their arrival on campus. We are grateful for your continuing care of our community health and your support of Hotchkiss.
Warm wishes,
Richard H. Davis Jr. COVID Coordinator
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