Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,
Due to recent spikes of COVID-19 activity in the region and at our school, for the safety of our students and employees, Fenwick is taking a temporary, two-day pause from in-person learning on Thursday, October 29, and Friday, October 30. Out of an abundance of caution, we will take this time to further assess and understand the situation as it relates to our community.
Please note that we are NOT closing the building at this time, but are moving to eLearning as a precaution. You can expect another update from me on Friday afternoon.
All students will study from home on Thursday and Friday and are to follow the bell schedule that has been in place all year. Students should check their teacher's Schoology page for further updates.
The make-up PSAT exam, scheduled for tomorrow, and Friday’s Freshman “Shield” Day are postponed until further notice.
All of us should be proud of the fact that Fenwick has been open for over ten weeks, and it is our desire to keep the school open moving forward. However, it is up to all of us to keep our students healthy and in school. We have been alerted to several large social gatherings, which have resulted in many of the quarantine situations now experienced among the student body. Through the contact tracing process, your help in identifying community members who may have been exposed is critical to keeping our community safe. Please help our nursing staff in this regard.
Also, please no large social gatherings. Wear a mask. Social distance at all times. We appreciate your help outside of the building to assist in our common cause of keeping our students safe and in school.
As part of our efforts to keep fresh air circulating throughout the building to reduce the risk of in-school transmission, you have undoubtedly heard that classrooms have been cold for the past week or so. A pause in in-school learning for the next two days also provides our facilities team time to continue to research a solution that will hopefully enable us to maintain a comfortable temperature while also providing as healthy a learning environment as possible at this time.
As you know, we already have relaxed our dress code because of the cold and are looking at moving classes to warmer parts of the building when possible. We will continue to explore other options as well.
In the meantime, we are making more modifications to our dress code: For the foreseeable future, students will be allowed to wear coats, winter hats, warm footwear or gloves in the classroom. If a student wants to bring a blanket, we will allow that as well.
We know this is not an ideal situation. Please stay safe and healthy over the next two days of remote learning. You can expect to hear from me again on Friday with another update. Thank you for your continued understanding during this difficult time.
