Dear day student families,
As the opening of school approaches, I wanted to reach out to provide more specific information about the upcoming days and weeks as we get ready to re-open our campus. Please read the expectations below.
Also, next Tuesday, August 4th, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time, I will host a Zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have about the school year.
The link to join the meeting is here
(complete meeting details are at the end of this letter).
Dormitories
Both on-campus and off-campus day students are not permitted in dormitories at any time. There will be areas reserved for off-campus day students to study during their unscheduled time; however, the day student room will not be open during the school day. On-campus day students should go home during these hours.
Daily Screening
All day students will be required to take their temperature and complete a short series of screening questions (using our designated app) each morning before leaving home. If students have a fever or are symptomatic, parents should follow the Academy’s health procedures (stay home, call the Student Affairs Office to report the absence, call your primary care physician for guidance and clearance to return to campus).
Off-campus day students will complete a second screening at the athletic training room each morning when they arrive on campus. On-campus day students will be screened at home by their parents before leaving their residence each day.
Penguin Promise
All day students are expected to comply with the
Penguin Promise
and requested quarantine periods to mitigate community exposure. As outlined, non-compliance may result in required remote participation.
Meals and Free Periods
All day students are valued members of the Cushing Academy community, and in normal circumstances, they are welcome to attend school activities outside of the academic day hours. However, during the upcoming school year, we need to make some changes that will minimize the size and frequency of mass gatherings and best enable physical distancing with student safety being our paramount goal. At this time, we cannot accommodate off-campus day students during breakfast or dinner until further notice to reserve the space for maintaining physical distance accommodations. Grab-and-go dinner options may be available for off-campus day students, and we will communicate this as a possibility closer to the start of the school year.
During the academic day, off-campus day students will be assigned to specific locations during free periods. For physical distancing purposes, day students (except those residing in their own residence) may not enter dormitories until further notice. We request that off-campus day students depart campus immediately following the conclusion of their co-curricular activity. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding, and we will review these policies throughout the year as needed and as the health situation allows.
Remote Learning
If the public health situation declines, off-campus day students will be required to attend classes and activities remotely.
Day students are expected to self-quarantine like the rest of the student body beginning on August 6 and continuing until registration day on August 20 or August 21. Information about pre-arrival testing is forthcoming; day students will be tested with all other students when they register on August 20 or August 21
.
Sincerely,
