September 2, 2020

Dear Frederick Gunn School Students and Parents,

Last week, we welcomed our faculty back to campus and we are pleased to report that, as of August 24, no positive cases were identified among faculty and staff. Such results are encouraging as we continue to prepare and plan for the first day of classes on September 14. At this time, we are not announcing any major changes to the updated Campus Reopening Plan from August 7. Today’s update was informed by some of the frequently asked questions we have received from students and parents as well as a checklist of things for you to review as you make your final preparations for returning to campus. We are sharing additional information about Orientation and details about our mask policy. We hope you find this information helpful and strongly encourage you to review the checklist to ensure that certain requirements, particularly with regard to pre-arrival testing and state or federal requirements for self-quarantining, are met in advance of your return. All of us share a responsibility to comply with our health and safety protocols to protect the health and well-being of our students, faculty, families and neighbors in the town of Washington. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Sincerely,
Peter Becker

Head of School

Return-to-Campus Checklist

The following items should be reviewed by all families ahead of returning to campus. It is essential that families comply with these policies prior to arriving on campus, and while some forms can be addressed on campus if incomplete, other categories such as a COVID-19 PCR test result and Travel Advisory quarantine considerations require compliance before your student’s return date. We are unable to make exceptions and ask that you read the following section very carefully.

COVID-19 PCR Test Result: Please note that a negative COVID-19 PCR test must be uploaded to your Magnus Health account prior to arriving on campus. Go to Highlander Nation and click on Resources at the top of the page; then click on the Magnus Health yellow clipboard icon. Next to “Pre-Arrival Covid Test Form,” click “Turn it in.” This will give you the option of downloading the requisition form and uploading the completed test results. The negative test must have been performed and collected within 10 days of their arrival on campus. We cannot make exceptions for this requirement. Students arriving with no testing will be directed to a local testing site and informed that once they have a negative test result they will be allowed to return to campus. It can take as long as 7‒10 days to receive test results (although the timing for most sites near school is much shorter), so we strongly encourage families to address our testing requirement before returning to Washington.

A student testing positive for COVID-19 will be required to isolate off campus for 10 days and will have to be cleared by the Health Center before returning to campus. Our faculty and staff were successfully tested on August 24 and we are able to report that no positive cases were detected. Neither antigen nor antibody tests will satisfy our testing requirement. If you have not made arrangements for your student’s COVID-19 PCR test, we strongly encourage you to schedule a testing appointment as soon as possible since time slots can be limited in certain areas. Testing sites throughout Connecticut can be found at this site. Some testing sites do not require appointments or a doctor's order. We request that families limit travel and exposure after obtaining the PCR test and prior to returning to campus.

Travel Advisory List: Families arriving from outside of Connecticut must review the state’s Travel Advisory List every Tuesday for changes to the affected states on the list. Each week, states are being added and removed from the list. Anyone traveling from one of the identified states is mandated by the State of Connecticut to complete a travel health form upon arrival. Domestic travelers must fill out the form online at this link. International students returning to campus from abroad need not complete the State of Connecticut Travelers form but must instead complete the International Student Quarantine Plan form available in HighlanderNation. Please reach out to Lauren Lord in the Dean of Students Office if you have not completed this form. The State of Connecticut’s policies associated with the Travel Advisory List have not changed since our August 7 update. We are following it closely and will adjust accordingly to any changes made by the state.

Informed Consent: Following our recent communications regarding the reopening of our campus, including the updated Campus Reopening Plan shared with you on August 7, we are asking all parents and guardians of students enrolled in The Frederick Gunn School for the 2020-21 academic year to review and sign a Notice of Informed Consent. Please log in to HighlanderNation to confirm your understanding of and consent to the health and safety protocols that have been and will be developed to support the re-opening of our campus this fall. To ensure that our students and families understand the risks associated with COVID-19, and your role in supporting our protocols and other preventative measures, we previously requested that you return this form with your electronic signature by September 2.

Guardian Form: Consistent with our Guardian Requirements outlined in our August 7 Campus Reopening Plan, we will require that all students attending in-person classes identify a guardian available to pick them up within 12 hours of testing positive for COVID-19. The Guardian Form must be completed prior to returning to campus. Guardians will also need to be available within 12 hours if a student is presenting symptoms of COVID-19 and awaiting test results or if the school is shut down. We also strongly recommend that a guardian pick up a student if a 14-day quarantine is recommended as a result of contact tracing. Guardian requirements do not apply to students who are participating via our distance learning program. Please complete this form by September 4.

Social Contract: The Frederick Gunn School has been a place of moral character education for over 170 years and we look forward to starting our 171st year on campus this fall. To do this safely, it will take a shared commitment from each and every one of us to reduce the risk to those on campus, in our neighboring communities, and the state of Connecticut. We ask that each student and employee complete our Social Contract via this link.

Magnus Health: All Magnus Health forms must be completed prior to arriving on campus. Families should review their Magnus Health accounts and confirm that all required tasks have green check marks indicating that all items have been completed. As part of our effort to minimize the density of people in our buildings during move-in days, we will not allow families to complete Magnus Health registration in the Health Center this year. If all Magnus Health forms are not complete prior to your student’s arrival on campus, families will be directed to return to campus after the forms are successfully submitted. If you have any questions, please email healthdept@frederickgunn.org.

Fall Co-Curricular Preferences: For students that have not completed our co-curricular form, we ask that this be completed by this Friday, September 4. Each student will be asked to sign up for two co-curricular offerings, and while these preferences do not lock a student into that choice, it will help with our planning process and ensure that we can offer the maximum number of options to our students.

Impact Testing: Test codes were recently sent to new students and students who have been enrolled at the school for two years asking them to complete their ImPACT baseline test at home. This is the computerized test we use when dealing with head injuries (concussions) in making decisions about a student's recovery and return to normal daily activities. The goal is that by performing the test at home, we will reduce the density of people needing to take the test on campus during Orientation. Once a student has received a code they have one week to complete the test, and that deadline is quickly approaching. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact moultonc@frederickgunn.org.

Online Textbook Ordering: The Frederick Gunn School has partnered with the Higher Learning Supply Company to streamline the purchase of all textbooks and required reading for the 2020-21 academic year. All students, whether participating in-person or remotely, will order textbooks through the Frederick Gunn School Bookstore in line with your course registrations. Additional online textbook ordering instructions can be found in our August 19 letter.

Laundry Service: We strongly encourage families to consider using the laundry service offered by E&R. Clean clothes, particularly masks, will be more important than ever as our community comes back together. Furthermore, reducing the density of students in laundry rooms is an important aspect of planning. Information about laundry service can be found here.

Business Office: As a reminder, tuition payments need to be current in accordance with your payment plan. If you have any questions, please contact the Business Office at (860) 350-0191.

Student Arrival

Arrival Check-In: All boarding students returning to campus should arrive at the main gate, located at 22 Kirby Road in Washington, Connecticut. In consideration of other families and neighbors, we kindly ask that you not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to your appointment. Families will be greeted by our Dean of Students Office. We do ask that families remain in their cars for this process.

Boarding Student Arrival: Students will return to campus in accordance with the schedule below. Specific arrival appointments will be required and can be scheduled through this link by dorm and cohort. Please be sure to select your child’s correct dorm and cohort before selecting an appointment. You can also view your student’s cohort in HighlanderNation by selecting their name and then “Progress.”. Move-in appointments will begin each day at 8:30 a.m. In order to reduce the density of people in our buildings, we will only allow one parent to enter dormitories during the moving-in process. Each time slot will be for one hour. Parents and students will be required to wear a mask and gloves and to follow social distancing guidelines. We thank you in advance for cooperating with these requirements.

Day Student Arrival: Day students will arrive on Saturday, September 12 between 7:45 a.m. - 8:45 a.m, and will be introduced to their assigned Day Student Village, including access to their individual study pods. Freshman and sophomores should enter campus by way of the day student drop-off parking lot located on Kirby Road. Juniors and seniors should enter campus by way of the Field House parking lot. All day students will be welcomed by members of the Dean of Students office and we ask that all family members remain in the car for this process. Day students are welcome to decorate their pods on September 12. Day students will be able to leave belongings in their pods, however we advise against leaving valuables in these areas. We are not providing lockable storage in the pods, however students are welcome to bring their own lockable storage units.

September 8: Student leaders arrive

September 9: New 9th and 10th grade boarding students arrive

September 10: Returning 10th grade boarding students arrive

September 10: New 11th, 12th and PG boarding students arrive

September 11: Returning 11th and 12th boarding students arrive

September 12: Day student registration and All-School Orientation begins

Parent Departure: All families are welcome to enjoy a picnic-style lunch on the Dining Hall terrace or any of our outdoor spaces. Grab-and-go meals will be available from our Dining Hall. We kindly ask that boarding student parents depart campus by 2 p.m. on move-in dates. We recognize this is different than in past years, however given the importance of reducing the density of people in our buildings, we are making this request in the spirit of the health and safety of our community.

Orientation Activities

Orientation activities will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. for students already on campus, and at 2 p.m. for students on their move-in day. All students will have a mandatory meeting with our Dean of Students and Health Care teams following their arrival on campus to discuss COVID protocols. We ask that all students watch this video prior to arriving on campus in order to become accustomed to the health and safety practices that all members of our community will need to embrace.

This is the online training session that you agreed to complete when you signed the 2020 Social Contract with DOS. Other orientation activities include the following:

All students are required to attend virtual School Meeting on Thursday, September 3, at 9 a.m. EDT and Thursday, September 10, at 7 p.m. EDT. Students will receive the School Meeting link to their Frederick Gunn School email address prior to the meeting on Thursday.
All students are required to participate in Convocation from 7‒8 p.m. on Sunday, September 13.
All students will have multiple meetings with their advisors before the start of classes.
All students will participate in the Clash of the Cohorts in the afternoon of September 12.
All boarding students will hike the Ned Swigart Trail in Steep Rock during their first afternoon on campus.
All new students will meet our Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and our Director of The Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy.
All new students will tour classrooms; new boarding students will do this on September 11 and new day students will do this on September 12.
All day students are asked to arrive on campus at 8:30 a.m. EDT on September 12 and are welcome to stay on campus until 9 p.m EDT.

Mask Guidelines

All members of our community will be required to follow school and state mask guidelines at all times on campus. We have established mask guidelines that are consistent with scientific inputs designed to protect students and faculty. Community members will be required to wear masks inside buildings, and outside whenever walking across campus and / or maintaining a physical distance of six feet is not possible. Each student will be required to bring at least 10 masks to campus that comply with CDC guidelines. Masks will be available for purchase at the School Store. All protocols are subject to change with state and local conditions and as health guidelines evolve. Other masks considerations include:

Masks should cover both your nose and mouth and should be well-fitted to minimize gaps around your nose and chin.
Cloth face masks should have at least two layers. Studies have shown a double-layer cloth face covering was significantly better at reducing the droplet spread caused by coughing and sneezing, as compared to a single-layer mask.
Bandanas, neck gaiters or buffs, and masks with valves are not allowed.
Masks should not have messaging of any kind. Patterns and designs will be permitted along with Frederick Gunn School logo masks available for purchase in the School Store.

Health and Safety

Follow-up COVID-19 Testing: Hartford Healthcare will return to campus on September 21 to test all students, faculty and staff. This test will be a COVID-19 PCR test and will require the completion of two consent forms that can be found in your Magnus Health account. These forms must be signed and uploaded to Magnus no later than September 13.

Random COVID-19 Testing: Random testing will continue weekly following the September 21 testing. The random testing will be conducted by Hartford Healthcare. A member of each cohort will be tested weekly, along with a random selection of faculty and staff. This essential testing will help us to monitor the status of COVID-19 on campus.

Flu Clinic: We will offer a flu vaccine to students and faculty in September. This program will be offered by the Visiting Nurse Association, which will require a new consent form available soon via your Magnus Health account. Consistent with the recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we strongly encourage students to receive a flu vaccination this season.

International Student Insurance: For international students who are returning to campus, we wanted to clarify that your United Healthcare insurance will cover the cost of non-symptomatic COVID PCR testing. Students seeking testing locations can use this website for assistance.

Academics

Remote Teaching: Our hybrid learning model will have a limited number of classes where in-person students are taught by remote teachers. The reality of the educational world in 2020 is that both some students and some faculty will require a remote set up. Many of our professional development initiatives over the summer have anticipated this and we are confident that our teachers are prepared for this model. We have made efforts to minimize the number of remotely taught classes for each student, although there will be some situations where multiple remotely taught classes are a part of a student’s schedule, particularly for single section courses. Students who have one or more remote courses will be notified by the Academic Office this week. We ask that you understand we have minimized these impacts where possible to enable maximum in person class experience for our students. With this in mind, please refrain from requesting a teacher change. Additionally, those students who have remote teachers will be asked to participate in their classes via zoom from their dorm room or day student village.

Remote Learning Rotations: In an effort to create a safe path back to the classroom for our students and faculty, each classroom’s capacity was reassessed this summer to abide by social distancing guidelines. The result of these assessments is that, for the coming year, classroom capacities will be smaller. For classes where the number of in-person students exceeds the classroom capacity, students will rotate between being present in the classroom and participating via Zoom from their dorm room or Day Student Village. Faculty will work to establish and maintain equitable rotations within their classrooms and communicate with students in advance to define whether students will attend class in-person or remotely.

Evening Study Hall: Our Evening Study Hall program will begin at 8:30 p.m.

Parent Visitation Policy

Day Student Parents: Parents of day students should remain in their vehicles while on campus and should use the designated parking area off Kirby Road for pick-up and drop-off.

Boarding Student Parents: With the exception of move in dates, parents of boarding students who are on campus to pick up or drop off students should remain in their vehicles.

September Visits: We ask that parents not have extended visits on campus in September, understanding that we will further evaluate this policy as we head into October and beyond. In general, we ask that boarding students not leave campus in September, unless there are exigent circumstances. When parents are permitted to visit campus, those visits should occur in outdoor spaces. In the interest of community health, parents should not enter any indoor spaces including dorms beyond the initial drop-off to campus.

Off-Campus Trips in September: Parents of boarding students are permitted to take their child out for a local meal during September. Requests must be submitted via REACH at least 48 hours in advance of the requested time. We will be unable to grant requests for students to leave campus in the moment, so we appreciate your cooperation in advance. Parents may not take children other than their own off campus.

Off-Campus Activities: Students are not allowed to participate in off-campus extracurricular activities during the month of September. Students who choose to participate in off-campus group activities will be required to shift to our distance learning program until a safe re-entry plan can be achieved. These policies will be reviewed as we head into October and beyond.

Co-Curriculars

We are excited about the 3-2-1 Co-Curricular Plan described in our updated Campus Reopening Plan on August 7 and the opportunities it affords our students this fall. Unlike other years, this fall we do not have the flexibility to allow students to participate in an off-campus group activity that we do not offer. Examples of this could include a club sports team or dance group where we do not have any control over the health and safety protocols of the group. We look forward to a time when we can again have a greater degree of flexibility in this area and appreciate your understanding at this time.

Saturday Events and Community Weekend Schedule

Month Weekend Dates Commitments

September 12-13 *Community Weekend & Orientation

September 19-20 Class Events

September 26-27 Restful Weekend

October 3-4 Saturday Programming

October 10-11 Restful Weekend

October 17-18 Restful Weekend

October 24-25 *Community Weekend

October 31 - Nov 1 Restful Weekend

November 7-8 Restful Weekend

November 14-15 *Study Weekend

November 21-29 Thanksgiving Break

December 5-6 Virtual Winterim Weekend

December 12-13 Virtual Winterim Weekend

* Boarding students are required to stay on campus Saturday night.