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Dear Students and Families,
Thank you for your engagement and patience during a challenging winter. Students, thank you for your recent self-reflections. We have enjoyed learning about the many ways that you are navigating your academic responsibilities, connecting with peers and adults, and living our community’s values. Amidst a global pandemic, racial reckoning, and political polarization, you are persevering. And we are proud of you. Continue to connect with your advisor point person so that we can coordinate support when you need it.
Families, we hope you will enjoy learning about your student’s progress through their self-reflections and their teachers’ midterm comments. Please be in touch with your student’s advisor point person if you have any questions or concerns.
Looking ahead to spring term, we are eager to welcome all students to campus. And we are pleased to share that as many classes as possible will be held in person with safeguards in place. For various reasons, including student choice and required accommodations for some faculty, there will remain a need for some hybrid (or hyflex: in-person and remote students in the same class at the same time) and some remote teaching and learning. If, at any point, new data and public health guidance deem it unsafe to conduct in-person learning, we will reconsider our approach.
Below you will find information outlining key details about campus life, academics, and health and safety. Importantly, we ask you to let us know your plans for spring by Friday, February 5. A survey will be sent separately via email to students. (See survey questions.)
Last week, we had the opportunity to connect with parents and guardians who volunteered to take part in focus groups. We are grateful for their partnership, feedback, and creative thinking on ways to make the student experience as engaging as possible this coming spring. We will continue to learn, adapt, and improve.
Thank you, all, for your continued flexibility, partnership, and support.
With gratitude and enthusiasm for the term ahead,
Raynard Kington, MD, PhD, P’24 Head of School
Jenny Elliott ’94, P’22, ’24 Assistant Head of School for Residential Life, Dean of Students
Raj Mundra, P’18, ’20 Dean of Studies
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Timing and Dates - We will welcome boarding students in every grade to campus on Tuesday, March 23. Day students will register on Friday, April 2, after all students have finished their quarantine. Students will eventually sign up for a registration time through Medicat, as their first stop will be a COVID test with the Sykes Wellness Center team.
- Students will remain on campus until the end of the spring term (June 3 for 9th, 10th, and 11th graders; June 6 for the Class of 2021).
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Health and Safety - All students will have a 7-to-10-day quarantine at the start of the term. Boarding students will end quarantine after their third consecutive negative test. Day students will have access to campus after they quarantine at home and receive a negative test on April 2.
- We will conduct on-campus testing twice a week for students, faculty, and staff.
- All students will need to abide by the Non Sibi Safety Pledge to remain on campus.
- All required health forms must be submitted in order to sign up for a registration/testing time.
- Every Friday, medical director Dr. Amy Patel will share a campus health update. We will also continue to post the latest testing data on our dashboard.
- Boarding students must remain on campus for the duration of the term. Very few requests to leave campus will be granted by the student’s class dean and the Sykes medical team.
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Teaching and Learning - All faculty members (with some exceptions) will be expected to teach in person during the spring term.
- While as many classes as possible will be in person, there will remain a need for hybrid (hyflex) and remote teaching and learning to accommodate all students and faculty.
- Course requests for the spring term will take place with conversations between students and advisors from January 28 – February 12.
- We will return to the daily and weekly schedule used during the fall term (45-minute synchronous classes in three time-bands).
- The grading scale will remain the same for the midterm (P, LP, F) and final spring term grades (6, 5, 4, P, 1).
- Uppers and seniors will continue to work with the College Counseling Office and their counselors in person or remotely during the spring term.
- Textbooks will be mailed to the location where the student will be residing at the beginning of spring term. We will check and collect mailing addresses for students who will be off campus through the student survey.
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Campus Life - The Paresky Commons team will deliver meals to dormitories during the quarantine, and then our entire community will pick up meals in Paresky. And we are happy to share that contactless food deliveries from local food establishments will be allowed.
- We are exploring a variety of spaces on campus where students can eat together, however, eating indoors remains a safety concern. It will be essential that everyone honor expectations for eating only in designated areas.
- The Snyder Center, the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, Samuel Phillips Hall, and George Washington Hall will serve as open spaces where students can engage; we will also spend as much time as possible socializing outdoors.
- Tents will re-emerge as soon as the weather allows. Per fire regulations in the town of Andover, we are unable to have space heaters in tents, and the structures are not strong enough to withstand heavy snow.
- We will offer student activities on the weekends, following local and state guidance for safe gatherings. We will continue offering remote options so that students who are unable to join us on campus may connect with peers.
- Knowing that the vaccine rollout will likely extend into the summer, we do not anticipate allowing visitors to campus this spring.
- Boarding students will receive a housing survey by the end of February.
- We are designing options and solutions to ensure that all students will be able to study and eat indoors. And we are seeking safe options for day students and boarding students to study and socialize indoors.
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Athletics - We are pleased to offer the full range of on-campus athletic options that are typically offered during spring term including dance, Outdoor Pursuits, Intramural, Instructional, and L.I.F.E. sports.
- Spring sport tryouts—including all non-interscholastic sports—will commence immediately following the spring break quarantine period. While we have yet to determine if we will be able to compete in spring interscholastic competition, the athletic department continues to explore all possibilities for safe competition for as many teams and athletes as possible.
- As was the case in the fall term, students will be masked during all athletic activities except for our swimmers.
- To keep our campus community as safe and healthy as possible and minimize risk of exposure, any student participating in club sports, including outside dance classes/programs, must enroll as remote students. Please note: this is a change from our fall term policy.
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Phillips Academy
180 Main St.
Andover, MA 01810
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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. |
© 2021
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