Dear Cohort 2 Students and Families,
We are eager to welcome you to campus soon! I write this communication today to help you prepare for life on campus. You, and your peers, will play an essential role this year in adopting, embracing, and modeling new ways of living on Andover’s campus. The current pandemic has created tremendous challenges for all of us, and it will impact our daily lives for the foreseeable future. Our collective commitment to the Non Sibi Safety Pledge will be key in keeping our community and our neighboring communities safe and healthy, and enabling students to remain on campus, The students in Cohort 1 have tried and tested our systems with success, and we are eager to have you back with them!
Forms:
If you have not already done so, please be sure to sign and submit your Non Sibi Safety Pledge and your health forms as soon as possible. Forms were due September 1. If you are unable to comply with these expectations, you will be asked to access your Andover program from off campus. You may not register unless all necessary forms are completed and submitted.
Residential Expectations:
We will send out your residential assignments at the start of next week. As you know, we have needed to be creative, adaptive, and resourceful in the residential process to accommodate student needs and allow for a second round of quarantining. You have been assigned to large dorms and small dorms in singles and doubles (two-and three-room doubles).
You will have explicit instructions and requirements related to meals, restroom use, common room usage, and traffic patterns in, out, and around your dormitory. After two weeks of quarantine in your dormitory and multiple rounds of testing, we hope that you will be able to engage with the members of your dorm pod (6-10 students who reside near you, depending on the architecture of the dorm) more casually (without face coverings and in closer proximity). Adults will always wear face coverings and maintain physical distance.
Every student in every dormitory will have individual and collective responsibilities and chores such as keeping your own room tidy, disinfecting high-touch surfaces in your room, taking out the trash, sweeping stairwells, shoveling snow, and keeping common rooms clean. Together you and your dormmates will take care of your homes on campus.
Returning students, you will live near at least one of your peers whom you identified in your recent survey. We expect that all students will do their best to build safe, inclusive, supportive, and respectful residential spaces. We expect you to embrace new friends, build connections, and prioritize relationship-building with peers and adults. I believe these friendships and relationships will be the greatest gift Andover will give you.
Coming to Campus – Registration:
Please be sure to complete the registration survey to sign up for a registration date and time. Ms. Heintz will email you a survey this week; if you misplace your survey or need to adjust your timing, please email Ms. Heintz. Registration is between 9 and 3 on the following dates:
- Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11 - 10th- and 11th-graders
We need to limit the number of people traveling to and spending time on campus. Students, we ask that you do not bring more than one family member or friend with you to register and move in. If you plan to come to campus alone, please let us know by emailing deanofstudentsoffice@andover.edu.
When you arrive for registration, your first stop will be the Rebecca M. Sykes Wellness Center for your COVID-19 test and flu shot. Once you receive a negative result, you will receive your BlueCard so that you can enter your dormitory. You and your family member must limit your movement around campus and interactions with community members when you arrive on campus.