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Reopening Campus - July Update

7/20/2020

Dear Collegiate Families,

Greetings, Cougars! We hope you are enjoying summer. As promised, this is a July follow-up to our late June Reopening Plan email. We are working diligently on our plans for reopening campus and starting classes in-person on September 1.

I am grateful for the many hands, hearts and minds who are working hard with careful thought to ensure that we are ready for the year ahead. Our eight Vision & Planning Committees, which include trustees, faculty, staff, administrators, parents, doctors and experts from various fields, are combining emerging best practices and creative approaches to ensure that we offer the best experience possible in all aspects of school life.

We remain focused on delivering a Collegiate education JK-12 in-person. Our plan is to be on campus five days per week. We are committed to fostering the intellectual, moral, emotional and physical development of each student through the pandemic and beyond. We are diligently working on filling in the details of our Plan for Reopening Campus, a final draft of which will be shared in early August.

Please know the health, wellness and safety of our community remain our priorities. We recently held a Board of Trustees meeting onsite in McFall Hall, and the administrative team has held several meetings on campus, both inside and outside, allowing us to model and refine our protocols.

We have enjoyed strong participation in our JK-12 summer athletics offerings outdoors on our Robins Campus, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, children and coaches. We are using our gating procedures, screening protocols, face coverings and spacing guidelines for all of these gatherings. We look forward to sharing insights with you as we continuously improve and lead through change.

Below are a few details and dates, with division-specific information to follow, which will assist you in preparing for back-to-school. Division head contacts are: Debbie Miller, Lower School debbie_miller@collegiate-va.org, Tung Trinh, Middle School tung_trinh@collegiate-va.org, Patrick Loach, Upper School patrick_loach@collegiate-va.org.

Dress code changes will limit your need for back-to-school shopping. As we will be taking advantage of Collegiate’s beautiful outdoor spaces as much as possible for learning and movement, we are allowing athletic wear for school dress. Your divisional leadership will be in touch shortly with specifics. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact your division head.

Save the date for your child to attend a Return to Campus Session if possible. Offered Aug. 25, 26, 27, these sessions are designed to help students acclimate to what the school year will feel like with masks and physical distancing, and to ensure everyone’s familiarity with the new health and safety protocols. Registration is not required, but please observe your specified time. Parents may accompany lower-schoolers.

Though we are focused on our in-person return to campus for the start of school, Collegiate will provide remote learning for proactive and reactive situations. We are installing newly purchased technology, implementing teacher training and developing a buddy system to support individual students learning at home. In addition, we are building in flexibility school-wide, should the need arise due to changes in the pandemic. If you anticipate that your family needs to be remote this year, or would like to discuss any questions or concerns, you must contact your division head by Aug. 1. This commitment will affect our spacing and staffing needs. As such, thank you for your early communication and questions.

Information on supplies, books and schedules is forthcoming from division heads.

After-school care will be open Monday-Friday until 6 p.m. and will abide with all Collegiate safety protocols. For more information or to register your child for Quest, contact Neil Etheridge at neil_etheridge@collegiate-va.org.

Options are still under consideration for athletics, arts, clubs and performances in consultation with the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, leagues, associations and medical advisors. We will likely have a combination of cancellation, reimagining and rescheduling. When possible we will involve parents and students in decision-making and reimagining.

As a reminder, for the two weeks prior to returning to campus, our faculty, staff and families must be diligent and follow physical distancing. If traveling to what is designated a high-risk area by the CDC, please self-quarantine for two weeks before returning to school.

A reminder that masks will be mandatory for all on campus, so it is a good idea to start practicing wearing a mask if you are not already accustomed to it. We will provide PPE kits for all students, faculty and staff containing two masks.

As a Collegiate community, we care deeply about each other - students, faculty, staff, families and friends. Our careful planning and collective respect for safety protocols will allow us to return to campus, maintain the health of our community and keep school open in-person. For your reference, here is a link to the previously-released Plan to Reopen Campus, which will be updated with additional details by early August. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions in the meantime.

Together, we shall thrive according to our school motto: Parat. Ditat. Durat. Prepare. Enrich. Endure. I have missed seeing you in person. We are excited to welcome you back in the fall!

Warmly,

Penny B. Evins

Head of School

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