Nov. 13, 2020
Dear Parents,
This afternoon, Montgomery County Public Health ordered that all schools, public and private, in the County cease in-person instruction effective Nov. 23 until at least Dec. 6. All in-person extracurricular activities, including athletic competitions and practices, will also be cancelled during this period. We are currently working to determine whether our child care and Pre-K can remain in session and will pass on that information as soon as possible.
The Haverford School will comply with this order. Division Heads will be in touch next week with instructions on preparations for Virtual Haverford for Nov. 23 and 24 and the full week of Monday, Nov. 30 to Friday, Dec. 4. We do plan and hope to resume teaching in person on Monday, Dec. 7, although that will depend upon decisions made by the Montgomery County Health Office at their next meeting scheduled for Dec. 2.
It is hard to overstate how disappointing we find this decision. As we have shared with you recently, our in-person teaching protocols have been very effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 on campus. There is a broad scientific consensus that schools with the proper safety protocols are not the source of the community spread that is now sweeping across much of the United States. Nonetheless, we cannot fight the county on this issue, and we will do our very best to provide the best possible virtual education to our boys during this two-week period, while hoping beyond hope that we are able to resume in-person instruction on Dec. 7 as currently planned.
There will be more to come next week from your Division Heads.
