Important COVID-19 update, March 23, 2020

I write to you upon learning that Gov. Ralph Northam announced all schools in Virginia would be closed for the remainder of the current 2019-20 school year in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Like many of you, this announcement was hard for me and my own family to process. Our family, although new to Collegiate, loves the Collegiate community.

 

 

From our youngest JK students to these outstanding seniors, our Cougar community craves the festive and foundational lessons of interactions amongst students, teachers, staff, coaches, families, alumni and friends. We will hold these memories and future-focused visions close as we continue to march on. Parat, Ditat, Durat. We prepare, we enrich, we endure. Yes, we are sad, but we will endure! All of our students, JK to seniors, deserve nothing less!

 

Today, we began our remote continuity of learning and we will continue this plan as we offer our best to you, albeit not in person. Nothing can truly replace the interactions we have with each other; however, we feel fortunate to be working in partnership with a team of excellent and committed professionals who want the very best for our students — your children — and our School.

 

While this news is breaking, we wanted to be in touch and continue our promise of timely and clear communication with you. After each communication, we will update our COVID-19 page. Once we have the opportunity to discuss plans that arise from Gov. Northam’s decision, we will be in touch with anticipated questions and answers, as well as a chance for us to hear from you.

 

Academic leadership is planning a survey and review of feedback from students, faculty and parents at the end of this first week of remote learning — please be on the lookout for a forthcoming email. Until we move through this first week, we hope that you will pause on general feedback. We would like to exercise our remote learning muscles for the week and then tweak and augment as needed.

I personally thank you for your continued partnership, patience and support during this ever-evolving situation. Please stay safe and continue to do your part to ensure we contribute to the shared desire for resuming community in person. In the meantime, we will continue to adapt, improve and deliver our vibrant mission to the best of our shared abilities.