Week 5 - Community Update, 4/25/20

Dear Country School Friends,

As we near the close of April during this unprecedented adventure of Country Connected distance learning, I write on behalf of the faculty, Board of Trustees and staff with progress updates, anticipating questions about May and June, whether summer programs might be happening, and what school might look like in the fall and throughout next year.

 

All our back-to-school options are being designed to provide a quality Country School experience next year, taking advantage of our enviably small class sizes and small community size to protect everyone’s health and protect our students’ educational experience. In that sense, we are all fortunate.

 

I celebrate the lessons our parents and teachers are modeling for our students. What we know as adults is that we can’t control the direction or force of the wind but we can adjust our sails. I’ve been inspired by the stories I’ve heard of our students responding to the examples from their parents and teachers, learning to accept what we can’t change and, with an attitude of gratitude, making the most of the gifts and opportunities we do have during these sometimes anxious days.

 

While our students are progressing impressively through their home studies, if the major lessons they learn are independence, stamina, and adjusting to life’s vagaries, that will make for a strong spring term of growth. It is comforting to remind ourselves that strength often comes from experiencing adversity. My intention is to have The Country School – like our students – emerge from this situation stronger than ever.

 

At this time we continue to maintain May 20 as our next target date for a decision about returning to campus. But as anyone who follows the news knows, that date as a potential return date begins to look overly-optimistic as the coronavirus continues to escalate or, at best, is only beginning to level off at a highly tragic level.

 

When I recently said to a mother that we are staying close to the Governor's recommendations and so might need to continue distance learning through the close of school in mid-June, she jokingly said, “Don’t take away my hope.” (At least, I think she was joking, despite how much she loves her high-energy children.) In any case, we are prepared as teachers to stay Country Connected through the end of the academic year, assessing students’ academic progress in preparation for next September. But we are also ready to react if there is some relaxation of social distancing in May or June that gets combined with mitigated social protecting, which is likely to become our “new normal.”

 

Segueing into our plans for the summer program, we are moving full speed ahead, lining up the instructors, posting the programs, and arranging the schedule and equipment we will need. While we know that there’s a chance schools and camps won’t be allowed to gather in a fashion similar to previous years or gather at all for part of the summer, we want to be ready for the possibility of running enrichment and sports programs for all or part of the summer. Please know that when you register for the various camps, we are not accepting fees at this point and we will only collect fees for summer programs if they run.

 

Those first two items make me rush to state that I know we have an extraordinary number of medical professionals in our school community and that people may read those opening paragraphs and think I am being overly optimistic with the possibility that we are returning to campus at all until the fall at the earliest. Our only certainty at this time is uncertainty, of course. As people in our community learn more about COVID-19 and its implications, I’m happy to receive useful information and suggestions to share with our leadership group working with me on our plans. Thank you. It takes courage to be optimistic at this unnerving time.

 

In planning for next year, we are following the news of the virus closely and are seeking lessons as other countries open their schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and Connecticut health guidelines have been invaluable. Connecticut independent schools have the benefit that CAIS Executive Director Rick Branson is serving on the Education Subcommittee of “Reopen Connecticut,” an advisory board convened by Governor Lamont to formulate a plan to responsibly re-start the economy.

 

While we hope to have our students back on campus in the fall with our full academic, athletic, and co-curricular programs, we are working through various scenarios, all of which will involve enhanced cleaning daily, improvements to the Health Office and sterilization protocols, decluttering of learning spaces, sustainable social distancing, alternative management of snacks and lunch, and so forth.

On the Admissions front, we have been pleased with the number of prospective families who’ve heard about the exemplary efforts of our teachers and, not knowing what next year will look like for local public and private schools, have reached us. There is apparently great comfort for parents, during a time of ambiguity, to know their child’s education is individualized and rigorous. We are grateful to those families who have steered your friends, neighbors, and work colleagues to us – thank you. Pam Glasser and Kathleen Zane are always ready to field questions from parents as committed to their children’s education as those receiving this letter.

 

As always, feel free to reach out to us with any questions or if you need any assistance. Please know that I will continue to update during this academic year as we have more information to share about our plans going forward. Be safe, be healthy.

 

We all thank those in our school community who are on the frontlines right now and I urge everyone to support those heroes by doing all we can to maintain optimal hygiene and social distancing. Thank you!

 

Ad astra per aspera,

 

John D. Fixx

Head of School