Dear FVS Families,
I hope the week is going well for you and that, if you are in one of the locales in the U.S. enduring the recent record-setting weather, you are returning to normal. Monday’s low temperature of -16 F (-26 C) had not been seen in Colorado Springs since 1895—126 years ago—and was the reason we chose to go entirely virtual for the day. Our classrooms and their heating systems were designed for “average extremes” that do not include prolonged weather below zero, and we were not sure that they could provide sustained shelter from the elements throughout the day with the comings and goings of direct access to the outdoors. Conditions on campus were adverse and the safest and best choice for the day was to minimize the amount of time spent outside. Fortunately, the deep freeze is behind us, and we have enjoyed a return to “normal” weather.
With that, I am excited to share yet another step toward “normalcy” that is possible due to positive changes in the COVID landscape and the commitment of our community. After consulting with the El Paso County Department of Health, we will implement a two-tier system that will allow boarding students to depart and return to campus, and all students to travel within the United States with reduced quarantine requirements. Our goal is to provide families with the opportunity to connect in-person and support the many benefits to mental health and well-being that these connections provide. Additionally, we wish to make safe, time-sensitive travel less of a hurdle, in particular for those entering the final stages of their college search.
Tier I is for trips from FVS by a boarding student to their own home. These trips must be made by car and involve only interaction with their parents and siblings or others who live in their household.
- Students must leave and return to campus only with their parents.
- These trips are not limited to any given timeframe, and examples include weekend excursions as well as day trips from campus by boarding students when they are accompanied by a parent.
- Depending on the duration of time off campus, students will be required to maintain the weekly testing at their own expense while off campus.
- Plans must be provided in advance, and both the student and their parents will be required to sign a specific Community Commitment for each excursion.
- Students will continue regularly scheduled COVID testing upon return to campus.
Tier II is for all other excursions within the U.S. whether made by car or plane or by boarding or day students to locations other than the student’s home or that may involve interacting more than briefly with people outside of one’s direct family.
- Examples include travel for significant family events, college visits, and trips home that require air travel or overnight stays outside of one’s home.
- Depending on the duration of time off campus, students will be required to maintain the weekly testing at their own expense while off campus.
- Upon return to campus for boarding students or return to home for day students, they will be tested for COVID through the FVS Health Center and required to quarantine in the Perry Complex if they are a boarding student, or at home, if a day student.
- On the seventh day of quarantine, the students will again be tested for COVID and then released from quarantine upon return of a negative test result, which has typically been two days after testing.
At this point, any international travel will follow our existing 14-day quarantine and testing protocol upon return to campus as will any quarantine or isolation resulting for anyone who is a primary contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Leave requests under the new quarantine policies may be submitted beginning Monday, February, 22. Students must submit all leave requests via REACH and all leave must be approved by the Deans’ Office prior to departure. Any additional details regarding travel plans, as well as any questions, should be submitted via email to
deansoffice@fvs.edu.
I hope that this will be received as good news, and I know that it will also generate many questions. And while we are committed to working with our families in support of students, I ask for your patience and partnership while we work to roll out these new policies, and please try to work within the above parameters should you wish to plan an excursion from campus. We have worked hard to reach this point, and we must be mindful that our current situation is a fragile balance that can be quickly and easily upset. This community has shown a tremendous commitment to protecting the privilege of in-person learning, and if we continue to work together in this fashion, we will be able to preserve and protect these opportunities, too.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership, and as always, take good care, stay safe, and be well.
Sincerely,
William Webb
Head of School
Fountain Valley School
6155 Fountain Valley School Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80911
