As we depart for Spring Break, we are pleased to say that we plan to end many of the COVID-19 protocols that have been in place over the past two years. With our community fully vaccinated and the number of cases in our state and region continuing to decline, we feel comfortable reducing the restrictions on campus as follows:
Masking:
On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, New York’s governor announced an end to required masking in schools. As a result, The Storm King School will drop its general mask rule on campus when we return from the break. Individuals who wish to continue masking should feel comfortable doing so. There may be some spaces, such as our infirmary, where we will still ask community members to mask. If at any time COVID case numbers rise significantly, we may reintroduce the mask requirement.
Dining Hall and group activities:
Recently, the School returned to in-person all-school meetings and other large group activities and we will to do so through the spring as case numbers continue to decline. In addition, we will remove the barriers in the dining hall and return to a two-lunch schedule.
Testing and monitoring illness:
During the winter, the School moved from routine testing to testing individuals who were showing symptoms. This policy is continuing as we leave for Spring Break. Therefore, return testing will not be required unless you are symptomatic or if your travel plans require it. If you are tested for either of these reasons during the week before we return to school, please forward those results to Director of Health Services Cindy Neville (cneville@sks.org).
After Spring Break, the School will continue to test symptomatic students and faculty and isolate them as needed. We ask that everyone in our community continue to self-monitor for any signs of illness and that they report these to our school nurse and not attend classes until the cause of the illness is determined.
Full return to in-person classes:
Through the fall and winter we have moved to virtual classes on several occasions for the health of the entire community. We also used online classes when poor weather made travel difficult. Also, some students were permitted to join classes online due to non-COVID illness or other reasons.
Upon our return from Spring Break, our goal is to move fully away from online classes. Therefore, we expect all of our students to attend classes on campus with the exception of a few international students who must continue online due to visa issues.
If a student falls ill, they should contact teachers for assignments as would normally occur before the pandemic. If a teacher is ill and cannot be present, they may deliver a class from a remote location with a substitute covering their class.
Vaccines and boosters:
The Storm King School continues to require all community members to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 when eligible. Community members are required to turn in their record of vaccination and booster to the Director of Health Services. If that information is not reported, or if a community member is not up to date with these requirements, they will not be allowed to remain at The Storm King School unless there is a specific health reason.
When we return to campus and warmer weather later this month, we will have much to look forward to. In addition to the above changes, we will have more opportunities to be outside, open windows and doors, and reduce the threat of the virus even further.
Provided that case numbers remain in decline, we feel that these changes are an important step toward returning to the vibrant and collaborative campus life our school is known for. I wish everyone a restful and safe Spring Break.
