February 5, 2021
Dear High School Parents:
As we continue to “walk point” during this atypical year, we have become practitioners of change, which requires flexibility, patience, and a little courage. Thank you for your continuing partnership amidst these unusual times.
During lunch today, I spoke with the SENIORS to inform them we cannot hold the multiday day/night off-campus retreat we planned for them in March, which was the alternative to the international mission trip. Through our faculty and staff’s collective efforts, we have been able to creatively meet the four pillars of our mission statement this year but placing the entire senior class in enclosed rooms for three days and nights during a pandemic does not pass muster in today’s climate. This was disappointing news to the students, but their responses indicated the decision was not a surprise.
But there was GOOD news for the seniors! They were told that we WILL have a memorable “prom” experience for them akin to our school’s traditional Junior/Senior. Right now, the seniors are the priority in our planning process and to prioritize our academic mission over this life-memory event, we are implementing a schedule change.
The seniors will remain in uninterrupted instruction the week of March 8-12 (the original international missions trip week), and we will end their school year one week earlier. The best approach to avoiding the significant spike in positive COVID-19 cases and contact tracing quarantines experienced after our return from Christmas break is to keep the seniors on campus and under instruction. Instead of their last day of academic instruction being May 7, it will now be April 30.
This change accomplishes three things: (1) it protects the integrity of our academic instruction, (2) it does not “penalize” the seniors by keeping them in school longer, and (3) the seniors will be off-campus for two weeks after the prom before their graduation providing a quarantine period for any students if needed. The senior prom will be held at an indoor/outdoor venue as we did two years ago, as scientific studies have documented the significant reduction of viral transmission at outdoor events (demonstrated by our low level of infections during football season).
Holding a prom for seniors on the last day of their K-12 experience during a pandemic but two weeks from their graduation is a decision that will please most and disappoint others. Thus far, our seniors’ performance has exceeded my expectations, and this decision provides a life-memory reward with a calculated low-level of risk.
With warm regards,
