November 6, 2020

Dear Andover families:

I write with an update to our plans for winter term and recent decisions made in consultation with senior leadership and the Board of Trustees. In response to evolving conditions of the pandemic, we have made some difficult decisions that we want to share with you now to support your planning.

First, all students will study remotely through the end of January 2021. Second, the campus will re-open in February, in a de-densified manner, by inviting all members of the senior class to join as boarding students.

This approach allows for campus de-densification and gives ALL seniors (boarding and day) the opportunity to live in a dorm and learn on campus. Members of the Class of 2021 will receive a communication with additional information shortly, including a date by which we ask families to let us know their decision.

Our plans will unfold as follows:

Following the completion of fall term, students who are currently on campus will return home for Thanksgiving break, as previously planned.
All students will begin winter term remote-only from December 2 – 17, as previously planned.
Following the holiday break, all students will resume winter term remote-only from January 4 – 31.
The first week of February, seniors who opt to live on campus as boarding students will move into a dorm. Senior day students who choose this option will become boarding students. Students must remain on campus until Spring Break. To maintain a safe campus, we will not allow commuting or visits home. Students also will not be allowed to take part in off-campus activities, including music lessons and club sports.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to accommodate other grades on campus during winter term.
Seniors will leave campus for Spring Break by 12 noon on March 7.
We will continue with our spring term plan to welcome all students back to campus in a shortened, phased manner over two days. Quarantine will begin at home and continue on campus. Testing will resume upon arrival and continue regularly.

Additional Information: Winter Term Q&A

The change to our original plan begins in January 2021, the point at which we had hoped to reopen the campus to some number of students. Based on the latest data, compounded by challenges presented by the winter months, we now believe that repopulating the campus to the extent we have this fall would compromise our primary goal of protecting the health of our campus community. Cases of COVID-19 are spiking in most states, including Massachusetts. Essex County, which includes the Town of Andover, is seeing the highest numbers of new cases among all counties in Massachusetts. The trajectory of the pandemic, coupled with cold and flu season, creates unique challenges during a period when we must operate entirely indoors.

Our Rationale

It has taken extraordinary planning and financial and human resources to deliver the Andover program this fall. The return of students has gone well, and the vast majority of our campus community has remained healthy. After administering nearly 15,000 COVID-19 tests, the campus positivity rate remains low at 0.05 percent. We have seen a very small number of positive tests, the majority being in our day student population.

The fact that we are seeing new positive cases reach our campus is consistent with the rise in infections seen in communities around Andover. It has prompted us to review our own protocols and to respond quickly when we believe a change, such as increased testing, will benefit our community.

We have also benefitted from a mild fall. Tents have become fresh air spaces for classes, meetings, social time, and exercise. We have reworked our approach to serving meals, providing student services, and supporting faculty and staff. Virtually every element of the campus operation has been reimagined.

By keeping students remote through the month of January and inviting a small number (25 percent of the student population) back to campus in February (all as residential boarding students), we are confident that we can minimize the risks associated with winter by remaining remote for the majority of the flu season and de-densifying to allow for adequate spacing indoors.

Looking Ahead to Winter and Spring 2021

Many lessons about delivering our program remotely have been incorporated into new methods this fall, including more synchronous teaching and increased student-advisor interaction. Feedback from families and students indicates that students felt much more connected to their teachers, advisors, and peers this fall. Feedback also reflected that students were much more engaged and invested in their coursework compared to spring 2020.

We will replicate and build upon those practices that worked well this fall. In the winter, we will maintain regular connections and communications between students and advisor point people. We are exploring options to increase synchronous teaching and learning time and to reduce class size in as many courses as possible. In the spring, we will resume rigorous testing, quarantining (a shortened duration on campus, coupled with a quarantine prior to arrival), and the use of outdoor spaces and tents. Our staged return of students will happen more quickly than it did this fall, and we will aim to bring boarding and day students back to campus together with their class cohort.

We also acknowledge that executing our spring 2021 plan depends on factors that remain outside of our control. We will continue to monitor the course of the pandemic and make decisions based on the latest data and public health guidance.

We know that many families will be disappointed by the decision to stay remote through January—and longer for non-seniors. We also know that you will appreciate the rationale that places community wellness as our highest priority. Thank you for your continued patience and support.

We all acknowledge that these circumstances are far from ideal. The Andover experience is best delivered in person, and we look forward to the time when that is once again possible.

Sincerely,

Raynard Kington, MD, PhD, P’24
Head of School

Additional Information: Winter Term Q&A

Phillips Academy
180 Main St.
Andover, MA 01810

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