Dear Friends,
One thing is clear: Schools will look different in the fall—different from last fall, different from this spring during the full shift to distributed learning, and different from what I expect the 2021-2022 academic year will be. With that in mind, our Reopening of School Task Force—together with members of the Heads Leadership Team, Academic Leadership Team, Operational Leadership Team, and others—will plan for a return to school that mitigates risk of COVID-19 transmission by honoring the requirements placed on schools.
Assuming our state and local authorities' mandates are consistent with what's come out of the CDC, those working on the program side of reopening are prioritizing bringing kindergarten and 1st graders to campus for more rather than less time—every day, if possible—in smaller groups and in spaces that allow for physical distancing. Physical distancing will be the norm for all students, so we are exploring hybrid models for 2nd through 12th graders, developing a distributed learning schedule for the times when our students aren't on campus. It will be different from what we've structured this spring, when all of our students were required to be at home. Planning for a some-days-on/some-days-off model for our older students is uniquely and extraordinarily complicated, and our registrar team is building potential schedules right now.
Creating a model that allows all students to have physically distanced time in person with other students and with their teachers will likely include creative schedules, staggered start and/or end times, and organizing students into cohorts that prioritize the mitigation strategy recommendations and requirements we expect to receive from local and state leaders.
To make this happen, we anticipate using every viable space on both campuses in the coming academic year. That means we'll likely be using The Commons, performing arts and art rooms, the middle and upper library, the performance space, and others as classrooms. Depending on the grade level, some elements of our program will likely be integrated, and student movement around the campuses will have to be minimized until a vaccine is developed and widely available.
Much of my colleagues' and my end-of-year work together the week of June 8 will focus on planning for the 2020-2021 school year. This work will continue throughout the summer as we reflect, research, plan, strategize, and get ready to relaunch. It will call on all of us to continue to develop new content, hone new skills, and put into practice every Life Skill and Habit of Mind and Heart every day. As I wrote recently, my hope—my goal—is that we will take what we are learning now and proceed forward to normal, not back to normal. I'm confident and determined that good will come of this disruption—for the children and young adults in our care, for families, and for my colleagues and me.
I close with words of thanks. These have been trying months for all of us, especially for you as parents. Throughout this spring my colleagues have shared word of kind and supportive messages and deeds from so many of our families. Thank you.
Until I have more to report, you have all my good wishes.
Warmly,
Landis Wildwood School |