Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been a joy to welcome students back to campus this week! I write with an update on our arrival testing. 

This morning we received the last results from our arrival testing conducted from Sunday through Tuesday, including all members of the campus community, and we are responding to one positive case among students who arrived. All other students and community members tested negative in this first round. The email below was sent to students and the campus community regarding the positive case. The student was diligent in following our quarantine protocols, and as a result there were no close contacts generated from this case. Please continue to support us as we ask students to maintain our safety protocols--our individual good decisions prevent both the transmission of disease and the disruption that comes from required quarantine. 

We will make a decision next week, after our third round of testing, about how and when to lift quarantine. As a reminder, we will be testing the entire student body and campus community twice weekly this semester. Our next results will arrive over the weekend. We have created a new testing dashboard if you wish to follow our campus testing results and see some of the local data we monitor. The data are updated every day, usually in the morning.  

In the interests of forming the safest campus "bubble" we can over the next few weeks, the campus will remain closed to parent or family visitors until mid-March. We will provide information about a revised visitor protocol at that time. For now, if you wish to deliver something for your student (or other students with families far away), please send by mail or drop off those items to Campus Safety and Security in the basement of Coy Dormitory. 

Thank you so much for your continued support. 

Warmly,

Richard H. Davis Jr.
COVID Coordinator

Dear Campus Community,

As you know, we tested all students when they arrived on campus from Sunday through Tuesday (and our campus community on Monday), and the results have come in over the last few days (here is our dashboard, to be updated soon). 

I write to inform you that we have received our first positive test result today, for a student in Buehler Dormitory. All other pools for students arriving on Tuesday tested negative. We have planned for positive cases to emerge during our quarantine period, and we followed our protocols:
  • The individual was contacted, along with their parents or guardians, to notify them of the positive test;
  • The individual moved into the Health Center for care and isolation, while arrangements were made to go home or to a local off-campus proxy caregiver;
  • The bathroom and other common surfaces in the dorm corridor were given an extra cleaning and disinfection by the housekeeping team;
  • Contact tracers worked with the individual to identify any others who should quarantine as a precautionary measure;
  • The dorm faculty, advisors, and class deans were also notified, and students are all receiving the support they need. 
No close contacts have been identified from this positive case, in large part because the quarantine protocols were followed well. Important: even though our testing has been mostly negative, it is essential that all continue to follow quarantine protocols strictly. Because the virus can take up to two weeks to incubate, it is entirely possible that positive cases can show up even after negative rounds of testing. If we all continue to follow our quarantine protocols strictly, we help ensure that any other positive cases will have minimal chance for spread and disruption to our community. 

I'd like to thank everyone involved for supporting community health, and for their care and cooperation with these processes. I've appended below the advice about our processes that I offered in my last email.

Please remember that the protocols we have in place--masking, distancing, handwashing, wiping down surfaces in bathrooms, etc.--are all in place to protect individuals from the virus. No additional precautions are needed when there is a positive case. However, it is important to follow the protocols and not be tempted to cut corners. I thank you for all you are doing to keep yourselves and each other safe. 

Be strong, be kind, be well-

Richard H. Davis Jr.
COVID Coordinator


If you hear about someone who has tested positive:
  1. Stay calm. Take a deep breath. Understand that the School is responding promptly, but that a positive test result is not a critical emergency.
  2. Be kind. This is a potentially scary situation for the individual who has tested positive and any others they have come into contact with. Be supportive, and please respect their privacy by not spreading the news or rumors.
  3. Lean on our safety protocols. Remember that masking, distancing, and handwashing are the most effective ways individuals can protect themselves. The contact tracing process will identify other individuals who may have been exposed to the virus.
  4. Be alert to other instructions. Pay attention to your email and other communications in case there are instructions for your dorm or the community.
If you test positive:
  1. Stay calm. Take a deep breath. The School will connect you with the care you need, contact your parents/guardians, and provide specific instructions to you about your next steps.
  2. Ensure you are not exposing others: put on your mask, stay distanced from others, and proceed to your dorm room (if you are not already there).
  3. Prepare to move to isolation space on campus until you can go home or get picked up by a proxy caregiver. We will provide a suggested packing list for you.
  4. When you are instructed to, wearing your mask and keeping at least 6' distance from all other individuals, proceed to the expanded Health Center space in the Wieler Common room. A member of Security, the Health Center team, faculty, or staff will escort you.
  5. While you are in the Health Center, a member of our contact tracing team will connect with you to help determine whether other individuals should go into quarantine because of their contact with you. It is essential for the health of others that you participate fully and honestly in the contact tracing process.
If you are identified as a contact of a positive case:
  1. Stay calm. Take a deep breath. The Contact Tracing Team will provide specific instructions to you about your next steps.
  2. Ensure you are not exposing others: put on your mask, stay distanced from others, and proceed to your dorm room (if you are not already there).
  3. Prepare to move into quarantine. Most contacts will quarantine at home or with a local proxy caregiver, but some may remain in School-provided space. We will provide a suggested packing list for you.
  4. Remain in your dorm room until you are picked up or move into campus quarantine space. In some cases a student may move into School quarantine space overnight until leaving campus.
The Hotchkiss School, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039-2141, (860) 435-2591
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