On Tuesday, November 3rd, Kyle Wilkie-Glass, Chief Operating Officer & Assistant Head of School for Strategic Initiatives, sent an email alerting teachers and parents that an 8th-grade student had tested positive for COVID. “As outlined in A Guide to Reopening Our School, we are taking the necessary steps to isolate those individuals in the affected pod, cohort, or bus route,” wrote Wilkie-Glass.
The school notified those that are affected and asked them to quarantine according to CDC quarantine rules. Even though the entire 8th-grade student body is not necessarily affected, they will all revert back to online learning since a lot of teachers were asked to quarantine, thus, making it difficult to hold in-person classes whilst many teachers would be teaching from home. “We have a substantial number of faculty working with the 8th Grade who need to quarantine, necessitating the 8th Grade to shift to fully remote learning as of Tuesday 11/3 through Tuesday 11/17 pending definitive advice from the New York City Department of Health,” wrote Wilkie-Glass.
As of now, the 6th graders continue to conduct school remotely making the 7th graders the only grade physically present on the Middle School campus. Wilkie-Glass affirmed that the Middle School Principal, Jon Alschuler, will send a message to Middle School families regarding this news and that they will continue to follow the rules and steps outlined in their Guide to Reopening School.
He ended his email thanking families and teachers for their patience during these stressful times and made himself available for any questions that anyone might have. “We appreciate your partnership as we care for one another. Please extend the same consideration and discretion in this situation that you would want for your own child and family. We understand that this is a challenging situation and one that you may have further questions about. The nursing team and I are available to answer any questions you may have,” wrote Wilkie-Glass.
