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September 2022

Come Celebrate Family Weekend!

Family Weekend 2022 (Oct. 21-22) will offer in-person events and limited virtual events. Click here for the full schedule. We will provide more registration and event details in the coming weeks. In the interim, here are some highlights:

Families are Invited to Campus

We look forward to welcoming all vaccinated family members to campus. In-person events will begin the evening of Thursday, Oct. 20 and will continue through Saturday, Oct. 22.

Announced Holidays

Classes are canceled from Friday, Oct. 21 through Tuesday, Oct. 25!

Students must remain on campus through their last official commitment. This includes games and other co-curricular commitments scheduled through Saturday, Oct. 22. However, if your child is finished earlier, they may depart campus after their final commitment of the weekend, as early as the evening of Thursday, Oct. 20. All boarding students must return before 10 p.m. check-in on Tuesday, Oct. 25. See information below about submitting an absence request. All absence requests must be submitted by Thursday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.

Advisor and Teacher Conferences

Advisor and teacher conferences will be conducted primarily in person, but there will also be windows of time available for Zoom meetings for those families unable to make it to campus.

Conferences will be held between Thursday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 22. Here are some hints to help you navigate the scheduling process:

All appointments (both in-person and Zoom) will be scheduled via a system called Calendly according to the dates below. Please mark your calendars because spots fill up quickly. More details will follow.

Date System Opens	Family Type	Appointment Type
Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m.	NEW families	Advisor appointments
Thursday, Sept. 29 at 10 a.m.	RETURNING families	Advisor appointments
Monday, Oct. 3 at 10 a.m.	ALL families	Teacher appointments

Scheduling for all appointments -- advisor and teacher-- closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10.

Advisor appointments are 20 minutes, and teacher appointments are 10 minutes. Please schedule your advisor meeting first where possible. Advisors will have access to all of your student’s teacher comments and can provide an excellent overall picture of how your student is doing. It may not be possible to meet with all of your student’s teachers. If the School has any specific concerns about your student in a particular class, the advisor will contact you prior to the start of teacher-appointment scheduling to indicate the teachers with whom you should meet.
Senior families: The College Office will meet via Zoom with senior families in early October and will also schedule these appointments via Calendly. Please be on the lookout for emails with registration details in the coming weeks.

COVID-19 Guidelines

All Family Weekend guests must be vaccinated to attend in-person events. As this is a large event and we want to keep the entire community safe, we ask that you please take a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of your arrival on campus. If you test positive, follow the CDC guidance for isolation. Negative results do not need to be reported.

Absence Requests and Transportation

Students may depart campus after their last commitment on Thursday, Oct. 20 (as long as they have no commitments on Friday or Saturday), and must return before 10 p.m. check-in on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Absence requests must be submitted for any boarding student who will leave campus overnight, through the Veracross Parent Portal.

Click “Submit Absence Request”
Enter the departure date and time, the return date and time, and include destination and host contact information within the notes section.

Please note, if the travel details do not adhere to the departure and arrival guidelines, you will be contacted by the class dean.

Return transportation from New York City (Bryant Park, 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues) will be offered on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. Reservations can be made Sept. 26–Oct. 10 using the MariaCard. Reservations are required.

Log in to the MyKidsSpending app
Click “Orders”
Select “Transportation/Testing”
Select “From NYC 10/25”
Checkout

After the Oct. 10 reservation deadline, late requests will be processed only if seats are available, and an additional late fee of $5 will be charged.

Click here for the 2022 - 23 Transportation Schedule.

Transportation questions may be directed to Laurie Grusauski via email.

Admission Interviews During Family Weekend

Admission interviews for siblings will be available on Friday, Oct. 21, however, the admission office is unable to offer tours during the weekend. Click here to request your appointment. If you have any questions, please contact admission@hotchkiss.org.

Important Announcements

From the Deans' Office: An Important Reminder About Weekend Requests

The Deans’ Office wishes to remind parents/guardians of their responsibility to submit timely weekend requests. It is also important to note that you will receive notification of approval or there will be follow up from a class dean or the dean of student life if the request has been denied. There should be no assumption of approval. Please see information regarding our weekend leave policy from the Almanac below:

"All requests should be submitted through Veracross in a timely manner to allow for School review and approval. Weekend requests must be submitted by Thursday at 4 p.m. for the coming weekend and must contain accurate and relevant information. If approved, the parent/guardian will be informed by email. If a student leaves on an unapproved weekend, they may receive unexcused absences and face the applicable consequences as outlined in our attendance and discipline policies. If a student leaves campus without a request submission, they may face disciplinary consequences. Late requests will be handled by the class dean on a case-by-case basis."

October 13 COVID-19 Booster Clinic

The School will be hosting a COVID-19 booster vaccination clinic on Thursday, Oct. 13 in the Student Center. Griffin Health will be providing vaccines, including the updated bivalent boosters from Pfizer and Moderna.

Pfizer Bivalent Covid Vaccine Eligibility

12 years of age and older
MUST have received a COVID-19 vaccine primary series
Dosing and Schedule: A single booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent may be administered at least two months after completion of primary vaccination or receipt of the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderna Bivalent Covid Vaccine Eligibility

18 years of age and older
MUST have received a COVID-19 vaccine primary series
Individuals 18 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Action Required for an Appointment

Students will be receiving an email from Danielle Shippey, director of health services, to register for an appointment.
Parent/guardian permission is required for all students under the age of 18. Parents must complete both the COVID Vaccine Intake Form with parental permission and the Pre-vaccination Screening Form prior to the appointment.
Students must print and bring these completed forms to their appointment.

If your student has already received the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine, please upload the vaccination record on the Health Center Portal.