Dear Haverford School Community,
As we continue our COVID-19 Coronavirus preparedness planning, we are currently focusing on developing distance learning capabilities in case local health authorities determine that school closures are necessary.
To better prepare for this possibility, Friday, March 13 will be a day of Distance Learning Professional Development for the faculty and staff. It will not be a teaching day. The HSPA Faculty/Staff Appreciation Luncheon will continue as planned, but we will reschedule Parent Conferences on a date to be determined. Practices and games will continue as scheduled on Friday.
Teachers are being given instruction on how to conduct distance learning classes, and we are testing these systems both during the school day and in the evenings, when teachers will provide a time for your son to log on from your home. While we cannot replicate the full Haverford experience online, we do hope to be able to provide a continuing educational experience for your sons in the event that the health department requires us to close. As we have previously requested, please contact your son's teacher or division head if your son does not have access to the internet or to a connected device at home. We want to ensure that every boy can maintain contact with his teachers and classmates in order to continue his learning in the event of a school closure, and would prefer to prepare now.
We are now in the phase of community transmission, during which the principles of good hygiene we’ve been sharing with you and reinforcing with the boys are be even more important. We have intensified janitorial cleaning and disinfecting practices and are following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including instructing the boys in hand washing with warm water for at least 20 seconds and coughing or sneezing into the elbow.
We have cancelled our planned spring break trip to Florida and are examining our planned trip to Cuba. We similarly encourage all families to carefully consider the risk of their own planned spring break travel. If your family or you personally travel this spring break to areas designated by the CDC as suffering from Level 1, 2, or 3 coronavirus infestations, we request that you and your son not return to campus after the break until we can obtain medical certification that your family is healthy to return to the School community.
It is very important to remain calm at this time, and throughout the days and weeks that follow. At present, the influenza with which we are all familiar is more of a health risk than is coronavirus, and many of the same techniques we use to guard against the flu are exactly the steps we should be taking to prevent the transmission of coronavirus. Most importantly, if your son is sick, keep him home, avoid contact with other people, and do not return to school until he has been fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours. Seek consultation from your family physician if he exhibits coronavirus symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath
With diligence, common sense, and teamwork – some of the same skills we teach our boys – we will endure and prevail. We will continue to update you as the situation progresses; you can access all communications at haverford.org/preparedness.
