@buuzn03 oh wow I am deeply sorry. What a disappointment for the fall but more: I hear your heartbreak. You have loved this school so much. Im hearing far more than just sadness over being on zoom. I’m so sorry. I feel your devastation through your words. Sending hugs from afar.
@buuzn03, I am so sorry for your child, and you. Thacher just announced on Monday that they are pushing back students’ return to campus by 2 weeks, but with the situation here in CA who knows when Ventura County will get off the governor’s watch list. I don’t know what’s worse–getting the axe early (as Andover did to Sophomores or Juniors) or being strung along (for the record, I’m not blaming Thacher as they have no choice), as so many of us are.
I keep thinking about schools making last minute change to virtual.
What is puzzling to me is: what is the new information that led to the change? (I don’t mean necessarily just in your case @buuzn03.)
Is it essentially: holy cow we didn’t realize how expensive it would be to test all these boarders sufficiently throughout the semester? (And, we can test day students perhaps less often because there is a greater assumption of risk on the part of the parents?). While of course day students are way higher risk bringing in their family’s changing germs every day, but when you offer to take care of a kid 24/7, you are making a certain promise to parents who live very far away, and the threshold of care and risk management is probably higher (either perceived or real). Also, the cost of shutting down to virtual is much lower with day students.
So far our school is still a go, and the plan seems robust and deliberate, but if we suddenly were told boarders are staying home, my mind would immediately go to: what is the new information? Or was this just poor planning? Of course, we want to have grace in leadership navigating unknown waters. Still – poor planning that was based on wishful thinking would absolutely anger me.
UGH.
Hugs to everyone during this!!
@buuzn03 I’m so sorry to hear this terrible news! I’m kind of shocked at the lack of strong leadership on this.
Here’s to hoping a vaccine gets approved soon, and kids can start to have some normalcy come spring. (((hugs)))
I’m so sorry @buuzn03 , every day, I fear we get the same news.
We had a great zoom this morning with more details about students returning and keeping everyone safe, and it sounds like a very well thought out plan, but there is no doubt in my mind that the school could just as easily flip and go remote. I suspect the Notre Dame and UNC covid spread stories are weighing heavily on BS administration right now. I do think it’s easier to control a BS community in terms of exposure than it is a college community, so I’m hoping an in person Fall term for DD is still possible.
Episcopal just changed course, as well, pushing back in person return until early October at the earliest. The rationale they gave, which makes a lot of sense, is that their in person safe return plan was dependent on testing all students in advance of arrival, and then frequently upon return. Not only are delays in test results a problem nationwide at the moment, but I believe they also had to change course to a different testing partner locally to have more confidence that they will have the proper testing available by October.
I live in California and have two other kids in schools here, and it feels like it will be much longer before they can return in person. In fact, Stevenson has already made the call to do a remote first semester. They are adjusting tuition to a day student rate plus a discount during remote learning.
As disappointed as my kids are to not be returning to school in person, we are grateful that they are 10th and 11th grades. I have a lot of empathy for families just beginning or approaching the end of the BS journey under these circumstances.
@buuzn03 , so sorry to hear the news. I have to say, MA schools seem to be all over the place and many of the plans make no sense while it seems like CT schools are all following similar plans for inperson opening.
As for the surrounding area, after having 0 cases for over a month, our town went from 5 last week to 10 this week (very small town) and the town right next to SMS is seeing big increases as well and considered a hotspot. I wonder if that played into the decision. I’m also wondering how the school across the street (which includes a JBS) is handling it and if that had any impact on SMS decision. I have a huge hunch though that is may have been driven by staff (perhaps not at SMS, but at Fay) There is a huge movement in the area to go remote.
Fay and the area schools are going live.
Also, they have not decreased our tuition to reflect remote learning. They were going to give a very nominal discount (think less than a typical car payment).
The absolute WORST thing that I just cannot get over is they have not yet addressed the kids. Not even a mention that they will do so or have any intentions of validating the loss their decision has brought the children. I’m absolutely appalled.
Ok. I hate airing dirty laundry and I try to look for the positives. We’ve taken this whole ‘Rona thing in stride, dodging and ducking with what it’s thrown our way. But the way this is being handled is despicable, IMO, and so utterly shocking (y’all know I was the school’s biggest cheerleader), that I just can’t seem to be positive right now.
Thanks for everyone’s support. We really are struggling down here in Texas. ?
@Calliemomofgirls One thing that has definitely changed is schools’ trust in the accuracy and efficacy of testing. In spring and early summer when plans were being formulated and finalized, most BSs believed they could have 24 hour or less rapid testing, and assumed testing would be accurate.
Some schools have had their testing equipment commandeered. Others who had contracted out testing to labs have been told they could not be provided with rapid testing. We are seeing testing turnaround times elongate in MA, CT, NH and NY to 7-10 days now.
The schools have an enormous responsibility, and are just so concerned about having a pandemic race through campus. What to do as loco parentis?
Loomis has lost faith in testing as a strong enough safeguard, so they are adopting a day school approach. No boarding.
Westover had their testing equipment commandeered.
Choate’s testing partner changed its terms of service.
Others are trying to create an isolation zone, with as little coming and going from campus as possible.
I believe in testing, as flawed as it may be. Just do a lot of it. The math side of me comes out and says, OK, let’s say the tests are only 70% accurate, ie., 30% of the time there are false negatives. Fine, test the kids at least 3 times at the beginning, with different tests (if they are indeed uncorrelated as to the reasons for false negatives). You’ve now reduced the error rate to 2.7% multiplied by the youth infection rate, you have a very low number.
OK, I know this is bad math…
In a class with 8-10 kids, standing away from the kids, behind a plexiglass shield, wearing a mask or face shield, with kids wearing masks - I have to agree, BS teachers can very much control their risk of exposure in the class.
We do not live in CT, nor do our kids go to school in the state, but I did come across this article written Aug 17th about boarding schools in the area
Interesting article. Also interesting to me that no Hotchkiss faculty or staff signed the petition.
@buuzn03 - I agree…the worst thing is not addressing the kids. My son mentioned yesterday that he and his friends were discussing BSs and colleges switching to remote. His comment to me was “I don’t care. I just want to get my stuff back.” That was WAY out of character for a kid who expressed nothing but love of his school and a strong desire to get back. The schools are losing the kids!
The reason we parents pay high tuition and put our kids on planes in the fall is for the unique experience, community and special place that BS holds in our kids’ hearts. That is completely lost in the plans of many schools. While I didn’t sign up for paying $60+k per year for a Stanford Online HS-like experience, it’s actually not about the money.
As far as testing…I’ve never believed that testing was the key to successfully managing COVID. Doing our best to socially distance, wearing masks, washing our hands, isolating and quarantining as necessary IS enough for a society that recognizes it must live with the virus.
Let’s reopen, sign 1000 waivers for parents and students who want to return to campus, provide remote learning for those concerned, vulnerable kids and those who become ill. And let’s see what it’s like to live with this %$&@*#^ virus.
I should have said “Loomis has lost faith in testing as a strong enough safeguard, so they are adopting a day school approach. No boarding to begin the term, with possible phase-in of boarders in mid-October”.
@Altras In a perfect world in which everyone was responsible - yes, social distancing, wearing masks, washing our hands, isolating and quarantining may be enough.
I see too many adults and youth flouting these conventions every day, so yes, widespread testing is critical because too many people break the rules.
Actually, I’d contend that testing is not critical. The curve of new cases has been DEFINED by the actions of society with regard to social distancing and other measures, not testing. Testing has only DEMONSTRATED the curve after the fact, as it is limited by latency and availability that is the nature of any testing. We front-line physicians can attest to the limited utility of testing, as we have to care for and perform procedures on suspected COVID patients long before any testing data is available. It is operating under the assumption of positivity that limits the spread of the virus, not tests. The later negative test results only allow us to lessen our degree of isolation and barriers, but we never stop the social distancing and other measures.
@Mumof3Boyz I don’t think I felt appreciated the extent of the new testing challenges. Thanks also @chemmchimney for the article which was also educating for me.
Before feeling good about sending my DD off to school, I reached out to our school to ask if faculty had the option to teach remotely without repercussions. While I feel good about my DD’s health, I wouldn’t want to be part of forcing others to feel unsafe with their health. Feeling like you have no choice but to sign a petition must be such a heartbreak for these teachers.
Disappointment and heartbreak are two different things. The former, I expect and can accept. The latter seems avoidable, and I am sad for the heartbreaks happening now. I’m so sorry. The kids should definitely be protected from being heartbroken by their beloved schools. They’ve all lost so much already.
PSA: Choate just pushed back in person classes until the 1st week of October. I don’t think they had a chance in heck to make the prior date. But there it is.
@buuzn03 - so so sorry for your family and especially your son.
There sure is a lot if heartbreak in this current situation. 2020 sucks rocks.
No new updates from Cate - but for now the goal is end of September for returning to campus and then online classes for a while. There is no certainty in the messages from the school - because there is none to offer.
Classes start online Sept 1. Kiddo got his books a couple of days ago. It is so sad but he is making the best of it - I think he is just so desperate do be with his people in any form he can be.
Here is the real gem buried in the email from Choate yesterday, which announced the delay in reopening until the first week in October (no date given)…
“If the state’s daily COVID-19 positive test rate is lower than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average and the test positivity rate is lower than 5% over a 7-day rolling average (Connecticut COVID-19 Data Tracker), we expect to move forward with plans for our October reopening. If Connecticut’s public health conditions do not meet those standards at that time, we will need to reconsider or further delay our planned reopening, likely until at least January.”
Hmmm… Cases per 100k have been flat and well above 10 since early June. Nothing will change in one month.
“Until AT LEAST January” is my favorite.
Our household is shifting gears and planning on a mostly or entirely remote learning experience this academic year. That allows us to be surprised to the upside, rather than the downside. Despite disappointment with this shift among our school and most others, it’s time to adjust and make the best of it. As we’ve told the kids since they were little…“Ya git what ya git and ya don’t throw a fit”.
@Altras, in our family the saying is, “Wantin’ ain’t gettin’.” Sigh. I’ve consoled myself by booking a Hawaiian vacation in mid-December paid partly by our anticipated boarding reimbursement. Who knows if Hawaii will have opened up by then. I keep reminding myself that this too shall pass. Good luck to everyone. I so hope some students are able to return to their campuses.