Dear Fenwick Students, Parents, and Guardians,
As we approach the mid-point of our Lenten journey this year and the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, it is an appropriate time to pause and reflect, to acknowledge the “desert” that we have occupied personally and communally, but also to look forward to the Easter season and a brighter tomorrow.
Let us continue to pray for the 525,000 Americans and 2.6 million people globally who have died from COVID-19. Let us also continue to thank God for the countless people who have worked so hard to ease the suffering of those afflicted with this disease, and their families, and for the countless others who have been on the “front lines” in many capacities as essential workers.
Let us also recognize that things are improving rapidly. As the distribution of vaccines continues to roll out, as infection numbers continue to decline, let us look forward to the time when we will be back to “normal.” There is great reason for optimism as we approach spring and the Easter season.
With this sense of optimism – and in recognition that we are all anxious to get back to as much in-person learning as safely and as soon as possible - this communication will address the efforts underway at Fenwick to “reopen” to full in-person learning when possible.
This was the most urgent agenda item at the March 4 board meeting, which followed a recommendation by the Academic Affairs Committee of the board to reconstitute the two committees that were formed last summer to study and develop a reopening plan for last fall. As some of you may recall, these committees were:
- Academics/Student Life
- Facilities and Health/Safety
These two committees met several times last summer and into the early part of this school year. Their recommendation of a hybrid schedule with appropriate health/safety measures has, as you know, essentially been followed since school began. The hybrid class schedule was developed with the flexibility to go back to full in-person if possible or fully remote if needed.
These ad hoc committees are being reconstituted as one Health Policy and Facilities (“Reopening”) Task Force and will include broader representation from parents, medical professionals, faculty, legal counsel and board members. At this time, there are 17 members. Five are current parents; four are (recent) past parents. Their first meeting is Thursday, March 11.
As some of you may recall from communications and the town hall meeting last summer and further communications throughout the first semester, Fenwick is following the health and safety guidelines of several bodies:
- Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
- Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
- Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH)
- Archdiocese of Chicago (Arch)
- Village of Oak Park Public Health Department (VOPPHD)
Although guidelines have evolved and changed over time, in the current phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan, these authorities continue to recommend six feet of social distance and no more than 50 people in one space, and the Arch and VOPPHD in particular, have made it clear that they expect Fenwick to follow that protocol.
We hope that as the guidelines continue to evolve and the Reopening Task Force does its work - and we continue to demonstrate to our local health partners that Fenwick is operating in a safe manner (including the vast majority of faculty/staff being fully vaccinated within the next month) - that we will be in a position to open to full in-person learning quickly. We expect the Reopening Task Force to work with our local partners to determine the best reopening plan within the constraints in which Fenwick operates. One of the largest of these constraints is physical space limitations.
In an era of declining student enrollment in all schools, especially Catholic schools, Fenwick is in the enviable position of being close to maximum capacity, with 1115 current students out of a capacity of approximately 1200. Several of our Catholic school peers in Chicagoland have suffered greater declines in enrollment relative to capacity and may be in a position to maintain the recommended social distancing and restore more in-person learning simply because they have more space. This is certainly true at the Catholic elementary school level, where they have the additional safety benefit of keeping the students in “pods” or “cohorts” all day, which the demands of a Fenwick academic schedule do not allow.
Regardless, after spring break Fenwick plans to open for five-day per week hybrid instruction on Monday, April 12, as follows:
Week of April 12 - ABABA
Week of April 19 - ABABB
Week of April 26 - ABAB-Senior Day (Friday, April 30)
Week of May 3 - ABABA
Week of May 10 - ABABB
Week of May 17 - ABABA
Week of May 24 - ABABB
April 30th will be a senior-only day. We plan to have classes but will have a shortened schedule. This day will be college declaration day so it will be a dress-down day for the students... more information to come. Additionally, we plan to have a senior-specific version of our Honors Convocation on that day.
Regarding final exams for the spring of 2021:
Seniors
For seniors, teachers will have the option of giving a final exam, but we will not create a formal final exam schedule. Teachers will be allowed to give a cumulative exam to the students during their class time. We will designate days that each department can give their exams. Teachers will determine whether or not to give a final based on their situation. More information to come.
The last day of senior classes will be Tuesday, May 25.
Freshmen - Juniors
Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors will take final exams for the second semester and it will be mandatory for all - no exemptions. These will take place from Tuesday, June 1 thru Friday, June 4. An exam schedule will be sent closer to the date.
We expect all students, both in-person and eLearners, to take final exams. If students have a medical condition that prevents them from coming to school, that student must reach out to his/her counselor immediately, so we have time to make appropriate arrangements. All other students will be expected to participate at the designated dates and times.
If students have been eLearning and have participated in athletics or in-person activities this year, they must take final exams at the scheduled times.
Please look for more information in the coming weeks as the Reopening Task Force does its work. We all look forward to having as much in-person instruction as soon and as safely as possible.
Thank you for your continued partnership in educating and caring for our students in these most trying times. We very much appreciate all the hard work students, parents, faculty and staff, especially our nurses and facilities team, have put into this school year.
May God continue to bless you. Although our Lenten journey will continue with some sacrifice and scarcity, let us remember that we are an Easter people who will have cause for celebration soon.
