Dear Middle and Upper School Families,
We hope that you had a restful and rejuvenating spring break. We are so excited to welcome our middle and upper school students back to in-person instruction. Our faculty and administration have been hard at work preparing for our return to campus in the safest way possible. We are very excited that most of our students are choosing to return to campus the week of Monday, April 19.
Many of you have asked why all students cannot return at this point for 5 day-a-week instruction. In order to adhere to physical distancing guidelines and to maintain at least 4-6 feet of distance in each of the classrooms, we need to stick to our current configuration of middle school students on Mondays and Tuesdays, and upper school students on Thursdays and Fridays.
In addition, before students come to campus on Monday, April 19, it is important that you review our mitigation strategies outlined below. We will be reviewing this list with our students on Wednesday morning during their divisional meetings with us. All students should attend the return to campus information meeting at 9 a.m. (the Zoom meeting link will be emailed to students directly). REMINDER: There are no classes for grades 6-12 on Wednesday, April 14. Mitigation Strategies Click here for a breakdown of some of the mitigation strategies that are in place on the middle and upper school campus. Drop-Off and Pick-Up Schedules (Starting April 19) Click the following links to find the drop-off and pick-up schedules for middle school (Mondays and Tuesdays) and for upper school (Thursdays and Fridays). If you have multiple drop-offs, please feel free to drop off at whatever time is convenient. For different pick-up times, please come to the later time assigned. However, for 10th and 12th grades, if you are able to pick up your student at the earlier time, please do so. ACTION REQUIRED: Registration with New Lab for COVID-19 Testing Our new lab partner, Monarch Diagnostics Inc., will provide COVID-19 testing (RT-PCR nasal swab tests) for students during the school day as well as the Wednesday, April 14 drive-through testing. All testing will be covered by the Cares Act or private insurance. There is no out of pocket expense or deductible for this testing.
Registration Required Before April 14: All families are required to complete the one-time registration using a mobile device (if possible) prior to testing onsite on Wednesday, April 14. Parents/guardians will be asked to register their student(s) and submit consent for Monarch Diagnostics to administer the COVID-19 tests during the school day and during the April 14 drive through testing. The registration process is digital and no printed forms are needed.
PLEASE NOTE: When registering, please enter the student's name in the first request for a name (parents/guardians will have an opportunity to add their name later in the process).
Tips for Registration:
Wednesday, April 14 (10 a.m.-3 p.m.): Middle and Upper School Drive-Through COVID-19 Testing Please schedule your student's test for April 14 (between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the middle and upper campus) via the registration link as soon as possible. You can sign up for a 15-minute slot (available slots are highlighted in green) ahead of time. All students are required to have a negative COVID-19 test prior to returning to campus on Monday, April 19 (middle school students) or Thursday, April 22 (upper school students). COVID-19 Test Results and the Curogram Mobile App If your student tests at Wildwood, you will not need to submit test results. A consolidated report will be sent to Christina Kyong, associate head of school and lead pandemic coordinator. Results will be delivered to parents/guardians (following HIPAA guidelines) via text, email, or mobile app within 24 hours of testing.
Please also download the Curogram mobile app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store). Monarch Diagnostics uses this app to share testing results.
If you choose not to have your student tested on campus, please provide documentation of the negative test result to 6-12covidinfo@wildwood.org by Sunday, April 18. Daily Class Schedule Starting April 19 We will follow our regular class schedule throughout the week. The good news is that we don't have to make any adjustments. Students will be in Humanities, Science, Math, and P.E. classes for in-person instruction. Some language classes and arts classes may meet in person as well. Because students will need to stay in stable groups (defined by grade level), most classes that have multiple grade levels will need to meet via Zoom.
For students who will be at home during April and May, they will continue to attend classes via Zoom. Teachers will have microphones and iPads that will be used to help establish a hybrid classroom for students in person and at home. RESPONSE REQUIRED by Monday, April 19: Additional Information Regarding Student Parking On Campus and Pick-Up Please complete this survey for each of your students by Monday, April 19 if any of the following statements is true:
You will receive more detailed reminders including what to pack with your student and a map of the classrooms, closer to your student's first day back onsite.
These details can also be found on our Middle and Upper School Distributed Learning webpage at wildwood.org/mudistributedlearning. Please bookmark this and check it regularly for updates.
Please contact 6-12CovidInfo@wildwood.org for any middle and upper school-related COVID-19 questions.
Warmly, Jaimi Boehm Director of Middle School Vanessa Stotland Interim Director of Upper School Wildwood School |