email : Webview : Opening of School: Important Health & Safety Information

Dear Andover families,

We hope that you and your family are well. We continue to refine our health and safety protocols, especially as the pandemic continues to evolve across Massachusetts, the United States, and the world. We are mindful of all that you need to consider as you plan for your student(s) to return to school.

While some of this information may not apply to your student(s) this fall, it may be relevant at some point in the upcoming academic year. This communication includes several reminders, updates, and details. Please read it carefully and keep it as a reference.

Pre-Arrival Requirements

Non Sibi Safety Pledge:
You received a communication on Friday, August 7 from the Dean of Students Office titled August Update from Dean of Students and a link to review and complete this pledge was emailed to students. This is required in order to access campus this year. (If you need us to send you a new link, please email deanofstudentsoffice@andover.edu.)

Important September 1 deadlines:

Sykes Wellness annual health requirements:
For students arriving to campus in the fall when invited (boarding and day students), please have all wellness paperwork and health requirements fully completed before September 1. We will not be able to accommodate late submissions. If you have any questions about health requirements, please email nurse@andover.edu.

Tuition bills:
All tuition bills must be up to date and paid by September 1 in order for students to come to campus, or to participate in the remote program.

Forms:
All other forms including the Non Sibi Safety Pledge must be completed and submitted by September 1.

Seasonal influenza consent:
Please ensure that you have consented for your student(s) to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine. All students will be required to obtain the seasonal influenza vaccine this year unless there is a valid medical or religious exemption in place. Please note that seasonal influenza symptoms may overlap with COVID-19 symptoms, and we are aiming to reduce the overall illness on campus through preventative measures such as immunizations. We will continue to accept a medical or religious exemption according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health immunization exemption guidelines, which must be received by the September 1 deadline.

Primary care consultation:
An annual physical is required and must be current. Even if your student is not due for an annual physical, please consult with your student’s primary care physician, especially if your student has any known or suspected additional risks associated with developing COVID-19.

If the above tasks are not completed by the September 1 deadline, students scheduled to come to campus will not be allowed to do so, and they will be moved to arrive with a later cohort.

Testing

We have learned that access to timely COVID-19 testing is difficult for some. Therefore, we will test all students upon arrival to campus at registration with an antigen test, which will offer a rapid result (less than one hour). If the test is positive, your student will not be allowed to proceed through registration and will need to leave campus immediately. They will then need to isolate off campus with a family member or an adult you have designated to care for your student. We will confirm positive antigen results with a PCR test; it will take 1 to 2 days to obtain a result.

Our testing plan also includes testing all campus adults and students at least weekly with a combination of antigen and/or PCR tests for COVID-19. We require that you complete a consent form, which will be available next week through the Medicat health portal, for this testing. Participation in the testing protocol is required for all students who will access campus.

Some parents/guardians will require COVID-19 molecular/nucleic acid amplification/RT-PCR testing to travel home per requirements from their home state or country. There are many testing sites in Massachusetts. A partial list is available on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health site. Please plan ahead as some testing sites require an appointment and are booking several days to weeks in advance. We cannot test parents/guardians/families on campus.

COVID-19 Isolation Plan and 24-Hour Requirement of Parent/Guardian

All families have been informed of the requirement to designate an adult to care for their student off campus within 24 hours in the event their student develops COVID-19. We understand that this may present a significant inconvenience and/or hardship for your family. Please know that the intent is to ensure that any student who develops COVID-19 is cared for in the best way possible. Specifically, we would like to make sure that the student receives closer monitoring from a parent or designated adult with more interaction and customized care. Given the strict isolation procedures that we will follow at the Sykes Wellness Center and across campus, we are unable to offer care for students who develop COVID-19 beyond 24 hours. If you or a designated adult cannot be on campus within 24 hours to care for your child off campus, please consider having your child be remote for the fall term.

The course of recovery for those who develop COVID-19 varies and is still not fully understood; some experience intense and/or prolonged symptoms, others recover quickly. We believe it is best for a student who has COVID-19 to recover with the supervision and care of a family member or family-designated adult. Without strict adherence to this requirement, the Wellness Center could exceed its finite bed capacity, which could lead to a required closure of campus.

We understand that this policy is challenging for some, and especially for international families that may not have a local designee. Therefore, if a travel restriction, due to a visa limitation or travel ban, prohibits a family member or designated adult to care for your student, we will care for your student in the Sykes Wellness Center until you or a designated adult can come to campus.

If you are not within driving distance, we expect that you or a designated adult will stay locally to care for your child. We will help families find local accommodations as needed. Please note that the Andover Inn will not be in operation as a hotel for the 2020-2021 school year.

If you need to change the status of your child to remote learning, please contact Raj Mundra (rmundra@andover.edu) or Jenny Karlen Elliott (jelliott@andover.edu).

Food Allergies, Intolerances, and Preferences

In the year ahead, we will strive to offer a safe dining experience with a wide variety of foods to meet the nutritional needs of our students. The dining experience will look very different this fall; choices will be limited and food will be pre-packaged. Much of the boarding student dining will occur in dorms, and options in Paresky Commons will be grab and go, except during the quarantine period when food will be delivered to the dorms. We will maintain allergen awareness in food preparation and handling, and continue to offer options that accommodate restrictions for common food allergies, intolerances, and preferences.

As always, we will review the information provided in the Wellness Questionnaire (completed in the Medicat health portal) and ensure food options are available to meet your student’s needs. Please ensure that you have shared relevant information in this questionnaire so that we have the information needed to support your child’s nutritional needs. You can log onto the Medicat health portal (andover.medicatconnect.com) if you need to make any changes. Aggie Kip (agiglio@andover.edu), Andover’s nutrition counselor and sports dietitian, will also continue to work closely with students, the medical team, and the Aramark/Paresky dining team.

Pre-Arrival Quarantine and Symptom/Risk Screening

All boarding students will complete a quarantine on campus during the first two weeks of the fall term. This quarantine will occur in the student’s dorm room, in either a single room or a two- or three-room double, which allows for each student to have a private space to sleep, study, and participate in remote learning. Students will have time outside every day to get fresh air and exercise in a scheduled and structured format.

We expect that our day students, expected to return in the fall, will parallel this quarantine at home by minimizing contact with others, maintaining at least six feet of distance as possible (and certainly for fewer than 15 minutes at a time), keeping a mask on outside of their private living quarters, avoiding travel and public transportation, maintaining hygiene protocols, and completing the daily symptom/risk screening.

We ask that all students, day and boarding, begin a practice of answering the following questions daily starting September 1:

Have you had a fever (temperature 100.4 F or greater) or felt feverish or had chills in the last 72 hours?

Are you experiencing any new symptoms in the last 72 hours?

Fever or chills
Cough (that is not explainable by another known condition)
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Rash (that is not explainable by another known condition)
Nasal congestion or runny nose (that are not explainable by another known condition)
Sore throat
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
Loss of taste or smell
Muscle or body aches (that are not explainable by another known condition)
Decreased appetite

Have you had close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 or been notified that you may have been exposed to it within the past 14 days?

Have you taken any public transportation (including shared rides, airplane, bus, train), traveled outside of MA (except to your daily primary residence), or attended a gathering with more than 25 people in the last 14 days?

Beginning this practice of daily screening will help your student adopt this new routine, be mindful of their own symptoms, and allow time for any symptoms to be evaluated prior to coming to campus. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts currently requires that anyone traveling to Massachusetts from any states other than Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, or Hawaii quarantine for 14 days on arrival or obtain a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours prior to arrival or after arrival to the state unless they meet certain exemptions. Please refer to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts quarantine requirements under the travel order for more information.

As noted above, boarding students will be required by the Academy to participate in our testing protocol and quarantine on campus. Day students will be asked to parallel the quarantine practice at home and participate in the testing protocols. Parents/guardians or designated adults will be required to adhere to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts quarantine requirements under the travel order.

Additional Information:

Athletic Survey Sign-ups:
Students received an email today from Athletics asking them to review the updated fall athletic offerings and sign up for their first and second choice. A copy of this email will be sent to parents on Monday.

Registration:
We understand because of travel limitations, many of our students cannot arrive during the scheduled registration times. We will accommodate students who arrive late and will provide more information regarding registration next week.

Thank you for carefully reviewing each of these items. Please know that we seek to provide clarity, and we also understand how challenging some of these elements may be. This is a new and unprecedented time and we will continue to keep health and safety at the center of our planning.

Warmest regards,

Amy Patel, MD
Medical Director

Clyfe Beckwith
Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning

Jenny Elliott ’94
Assistant Head of School for Residential Life and Dean of Students

Linda C. Griffith
Associate Head of School for Equity, Inclusion, and Wellness

Phillips Academy
180 Main St.
Andover, MA 01810

You received this message because you are a valued member of the Andover community. We are obligated to communicate with you, and require you to be on our email list while your student(s) attends Phillips Academy. For more information contact the Dean of Studies Office.