Fall Opening

List of 5 items.

• Return to School and the Fall Calendar

  Boys will return in a staggered fashion to allow for COVID-19 testing when they get to campus,  and to reduce the number of families arriving on campus on any one day. It is important that families adhere to the assigned arrival dates so we can space out testing and welcome everyone on campus in a safe and orderly fashion. We ask that only parents or the person who has been hosting a boy during his isolation period accompany students to campus.

   

  Parents or guardians can help boys move into their dorm rooms. It is absolutely essential that no parent or student come to campus on move-in day if they have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms in the two weeks before arrival or have been directly exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID two weeks before coming on campus. All students and parents must wear a face covering throughout the move-in process.

   

  In August the Dean of Students’ Office will send out a more specific plan for the move-in days.

   

  As a reminder, here are our planned arrival dates:

  Sunday, August 16: Prefects (begin self-quarantine by August 9).

  Sunday, August 23: Sixth formers (begin self-quarantine by August 16).

  Thursday, August 27: International new boys (begin self-quarantine by August 20).

  Friday, August 28: Old boy fifth formers (begin self-quarantine by August 21).

  Saturday, August 29: Old boy fourth formers (begin self-quarantine by August 22).

  Sunday, August 30: New boys (begin self-quarantine by August 23).

   

  Thanksgiving break will begin on Saturday, November 21. Online classes will begin Monday, November 30 and run until the Christmas break begins on December 19. We hope to welcome students back to campus in January. Details about our plans for the second half of the school year will be shared no later than November 1 and hopefully sooner.
  
  View the online calendar

   

• Quarantine Before Returning to Campus

  Quarantine by students before they arrive is one of the best ways to ensure that every boy arrives on campus healthy and ready to learn in person. The quarantine period also gives us greater confidence that the test we will give to all boys on arrival is accurate and that the test is not missing the early stages of a COVID case. If possible, we ask that any parents who plan to come to campus for move-in also quarantine for the week before arrival.

   

  • Quarantine should take place after any use of mass transportation, including planes, trains, and buses. Students who plan to fly or take a train should travel to a point within driving distance to the school and quarantine there for one week before coming to campus. 
  • If at all possible, we urge families to drive to campus this year.
  • It is our hope that students who are not driving to campus can quarantine themselves with a parent somewhere near Woodberry, or with a family member or friend who lives within driving distance. 
  • If there is no other option for a student, he can complete his week of quarantine on the Woodberry campus. Please contact dean of students Nolan LaVoie if your son may need this option. 
  • This request means international families should plan to arrive in the United States at least one week before arriving at Woodberry. Families can contact Mandy Alexander, director of the international student office, if they have questions about arrival or quarantine.

  Our full Guidelines for Self-Quarantine are available here.

• What to Expect on Move-In Day

  All families will go to the Barbee Center on arrival. Students will be met by members of the dean of students’ office and the health team. Boys will be given a COVID-19 test and will receive their room information. Anyone who stored belongings on campus this summer will collect those items and take them to their room. 

   

  We will use staggered arrival times in order to reduce crowding on the dorms. Everyone will need to wear a mask inside campus buildings and practice social distancing as much as possible. We will make sure hand sanitizer is available on the dorms and will also clean major touchpoints like door handles and elevator buttons during the day. It is essential for everyone to wear a mask at all times when on dorm or indoors, and it is very important to practice physical distancing on move-in day. 

   

  We will send more specific move-in plans to new boys and old boys in August. 

   

• Testing to Detect COVID-19

  We will ask students to take three COVID-19 tests as part of the return to campus. Completing multiple tests over several weeks reduces the likelihood of a positive case coming on campus or of an infection spreading to multiple people.

   

  Before arrival: Before we can permit any boy on campus, he must have a negative COVID-19 diagnostic PCR test result. We will also accept an antigen-based diagnostic test result.  Antibody/serology tests will not be accepted. This test must be done within seven days of the student’s arrival date, so during his self-quarantine week. Boys should submit those results to WFS through the MAGNUS healthcare portal as soon as you receive them. You may independently secure a COVID-19 diagnostic PCR test through your doctor’s office, a clinical or public health laboratory, an urgent- or ready-care clinic such as MedExpress, or a drive-through/pop-up clinic at a pharmacy. Click this link to see a letter requesting a COVID-19 diagnostic PCR test to give to your health care provider. Again, this pre-arrival test MUST be completed within seven days of a student’s arrival on campus. 

   

  If you cannot obtain a test during the week before arrival, we will have a limited ability to offer a rapid test on the day you arrive. Those students and their families will be asked to remain down the hill until the student receives a negative test result. Once a student receives his negative result, he and his family will be free to proceed up the hill and begin moving into his dorm room.
  
  

  On Arrival: When a student arrives at WFS, he will be directed first to the Barber Center for check-in and a COVID-19 diagnostic test. Each student will pick up his welcome packet and mailbox key from the front table in the lobby, proceed to the nurse’s table to drop off any medications with Mrs. Firman, and join the queue for COVID-19 testing. The test performed at WFS will involve a minimally-invasive nasal swab that takes only a few moments to complete. We expect results from PCR tests several days after the test has been collected. 

   

  After Arrival: Boys will receive a second PCR test seven days after arriving on campus. This follow-up test is designed to catch an infection that was missed by the arrival test (for example, if a boy were exposed to the virus during his trip to campus or if exposed to the virus after arriving on campus). 

   

  For a summary of our testing plan, click here.

• Creating and Maintaining a Safe Community

  We’re fortunate that COVID-19 usually does not impact teenagers as severely as it affects older adults. However, there are no guarantees that a teenager’s case will be mild if he becomes infected. And clearly we have many faculty and staff members in the Woodberry community who are in higher risk categories because of their age or their personal health situation. 

   

  We have had at least two cases of COVID-19 on campus so far (one involving a member of the staff, the other involving a painter working on the Walker Building renovation project). Both cases were contained without further infections because the people involved wore masks, practiced social distancing, and stayed home when they started feeling sick. 

   

  We expect to have more cases of COVID-19 during the school year. Woodberry’s rural location and ample space is an asset, but we are not a sealed bubble, nor can we be. In order for us to remain on campus, we must all work together to limit the potential spread of the disease when a case occurs. 

   

  All of us — students, faculty, and staff — will use four strategies to create a safer community. All students and adults will also make a Commitment to Protect Woodberry. None of the four strategies we’ve outlined below offers complete protection against COVID-19 infections, and we must be prepared for additional cases on campus during the school year. If we practice these four strategies consistently and effectively, however, we will limit the spread of the coronavirus and prevent the likelihood of a single infection turning into an outbreak. 

   

   

  1. Hygiene and Facilities Changes: We are working with an engineering and environmental health company to make adjustments to our buildings. We have rearranged furniture in classrooms, the dining hall, and other spaces to allow for social distancing. We’ve also reviewed our HVAC systems; thankfully all buildings with A/C use fresh air circulation (rather than cooling and recirculating air already inside the building), which reduces the spread of virus particles. We have also added more hand sanitizer stations around campus.
  2. Face coverings: Boys will wear a cloth face covering (mask) when indoors, with the exception of their dorm room and the dorm hallway where they live. Adults will wear a mask indoors. In the month since we sent our last message, it has become increasingly clear that the virus is likely spread via aerosol and can be carried in minimal amounts of moisture and remain suspended in the air longer than previously understood. The good news is that wearing a face covering works to prevent the spread of the virus; it is, therefore, a practice that we will prioritize. 

   

  We will give each student several reusable face coverings when he arrives; boys are also welcome to bring their own or purchase more in the student store. We will collect and wash the masks for the boys each week.
  
  You can learn more about why face coverings are so important here.
  
  

  3. Physical distancing: Boarding school communities are tight-knit, and they don’t naturally allow for physical distancing. But we will do so whenever possible. We’ve rearranged classrooms and will not hold all-school meetings for the foreseeable future. During the fall we will take advantage of mild weather and hold larger meetings (such as for an entire form) outdoors. We will hold several chapel services each week, allowing all students to attend but creating space for them to spread out. 
  4. Testing and monitoring: As described in the section above, boys will take three COVID-19 tests before, during, and after their arrival on campus. If a test is positive, the boy will be asked to return home and continue classes online until he is fully recovered. This is our preference for all students whose parents live within several hours of campus. Boys who live further away, whether in the United States or overseas, will be isolated on House D and receive care on campus from our school nurses, as well as telehealth check-ups from our school physician.
     
     Students exposed to a person with a positive test but not showing symptoms will be quarantined in Dowd House either until they receive a negative test result or complete a quarantine period. They would attend classes online during that time. We will use contact tracing to determine which students or faculty may have been exposed to a positive case.

   

  Some adults in our community are at higher risk due to age or other health factors. These employees will have the option of modified responsibilities until a vaccine is available. For example, a faculty member might teach a normal course load with strict social distancing and mask use in the classroom but not serve on a dorm team in order to reduce risk. Every member of the faculty and staff plays a critical role in the success of the school, and we know students will be flexible and understanding if they are asked to take additional actions to help protect a classmate or an adult who might be more vulnerable to complications from COVID-19.