DA announces social distancing;cancels parent weekend

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

<p>"May 3, 2009 | Dear Students, Parents, Alumni, and Friends,</p>

<p>I am writing to you with the news that we have decided to cancel Deerfield’s Spring Weekend, scheduled for May 8-10.</p>

<p>First and foremost, we are concerned for the health of our students. While most US cases of the H1N1 virus have resulted in only mild illness, we cannot assume that trend will continue. As a new virus, the threat posed by this sickness is still unknown, and we must approach this issue with an abundance of caution.</p>

<p>Second, we are concerned that any incidence of H1N1 flu at Deerfield could result in the closing or quarantining of the school. Our goal is to complete the academic year without incident and Commence as scheduled on May 24.</p>

<p>Because of the nature of the virus, the most effective method for preventing illness at Deerfield is to limit travel across the borders of our campus; health professionals call this approach “social distancing,” and it is now our primary strategy in preventing an H1N1 infection at Deerfield.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, with over 1,000 visitors, coming from over 34 states and 25 countries, Spring Weekend is a significant departure from the “social distancing” strategy, and we therefore feel that it represents too great a risk to the successful completion of the school year and Commencement. I am very sorry to cancel this event; our students have worked hard, and I know that parents, faculty, students, and alumni share a great deal of enthusiasm about the weekend. In addition, I know that many of you have made complex travel arrangements, and the inconvenience—and costs—posed by this cancellation are significant.</p>

<p>While we have not yet committed to close the campus to all visitors for the remainder of the spring, we need your help in supporting our social distancing strategy; for the next three weeks, any plans you may have to visit Deerfield’s campus should be reconsidered. Please check [Deerfield</a> Academy :: an independent, coeducational boarding high school](<a href=“http://www.deerfield.edu/]Deerfield”>http://www.deerfield.edu/) for ongoing updates to Deerfield’s H1N1 response, further event cancellations, and restrictions on travel to Deerfield.</p>

<p>If you have any questions related to H1N1 at Deerfield, contact the Health Center at <a href=“mailto:healthcenter@deerfield.edu”>healthcenter@deerfield.edu</a> or 413-774-1600. Our students are healthy and no incidents of H1N1 are suspected at Deerfield. Thank you very much for your help in keeping our campus vibrant, healthy, and productive through the end of the year.</p>

<p>Margarita Curtis
Head of School "</p>

2

<p>I am glad they are keeping parents informed, but despite the words to the contrary, the main focus seems to be keeping the school on schedule.
zp</p>

3

<p>Does that mean students can’t go home on w/e’s? I sure hope my son’s school doesn’t do that!</p>

4

<p>The costs to some families for canceled travel arrangements could be huge…is Deerfield going to help them get reimbursements from airlines, hotels, etc.? At first, I did not believe this thread, but it is front page news on Deerfield’s website.</p>

<p>I ride the NYC subway twice a day, five days a week, which certainly seems to carry a level of risk…I am a biology major, not an epidemiologist, but to me, Deerfield’s response seems a bit of overkill. I eagerly await the thoughts of those on the this board who have medical training on this action.</p>

5

<p>Deerfield weekends are closed for the remainder of the term…but, athletic events go on despite this. This does not seem very logical to me…</p>

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6

<p>We were just there for a baseball game. While it certainly wasn’t as large a turnout as Family Weekend, there were still a good number of visitors as there were several other sporting events. I don’t really see how there can be social distancing as the school is basically in a town (Historic Deerfield) which has visitors/tourists. I think it is certainly overkill.</p>

7

<p>People posting don’t seem to understand the consequences of a flu outbreak at one of these boarding schools. It could move through the dorms and class rooms with frightening speed. Their health centers are not set up to deal with mass illness. At some point they would have to shut down the school and send all the kids home. With a few weeks to go in the school year I can understand the desire to take all precautions to keep the school infection free. A real bummer for parents, but understandable given that they could be the source of an infection. I have no problem with their action.</p>

8

<p>My son is a 9th grader at DA…I agree with Brooklyn Guy it seems like overkill…but the response from students when it was announced that Parent’s Weekend was cancelled…well you would have thought that everybody just won the lottery. Hey if they don’t want us there, I will see junior in a few weeks anyway.</p>

9

<p>When asked how the students responded to the swine flu precautionary measures, a child at my son’s bs school said the kids were jokingly saying that someone should get the flu, “take one for the team” so they could all go home.</p>

10

<p>Closing down the school out of fear of germsis comical. It’s not enough that BS shields our kids from the real world in so many ways, we also have to protect them from a germy, yucky kiss from mom too? is the message that getting kids through finals and AP tests without germs so much more important than anything else?</p>

11

<p>Closing down the school for fear of germs is comical. BS shields kids in so many ways from the real world, and now, it even protects them from a yucky, germy kiss from mom and dad. Is the goal of getting students through AP tests and finals without germs now more important than anything else in life? Pu-lease . . .</p>