Atrium Looks Ahead to November and December
October 25
Dear Atrium Community,
As we move into late fall and winter, today I write to share Atrium’s general plans for continuing to safely teach & learn during the COVID pandemic. We’re having a joyful, healthy autumn full of learning, growing and connecting, thanks to the diligent daily efforts of everyone in this Atrium community. The work is wearying, but we’ve found silver linings in our situation, discovering new ways of teaching and connecting our students. On behalf of the faculty and staff at Atrium, we take great joy in your children's presence, compassion, and exuberance for learning.
And so, we look ahead to November and December! So long as it remains safe to do so, Atrium will continue with the successful on-campus model with remote inclusion that we have practiced since September. The value of this model is clear, for all aspects of children's development. They are happy, engaged, and truly learning.
To make this possible, we must all take great care and vigilantly safeguard everyone’s health. We are all aware of the rise in COVID regionally and nationally, and we carefully monitor daily health metrics at Atrium and in Massachusetts. Schools well-managed for COVID have shown to be very safe so far this fall. Of course, we all recognize that conditions may change, and that other schools make different decisions based on their own circumstances. Being small and nimble, Atrium is ready to move a grade or pod quickly to remote mode at any time. We are ready to shift the entire school to remote learning should conditions dictate that decision. But we strive, and are taking action, to sustain a thriving face-to-face learning community. Upon reading this letter, please join Kathy and me for a “Looking Ahead” virtual parent coffee this week on Wednesday at 9:00 am; Thursday at 12:00 pm; or Friday at 10:00 am. Zoom info will be shared via email prior to the meetings.
The shift from fall to winter brings new challenges. Seasonal maladies such as colds, coughs and fevers will likely increase, and we must pay close attention to them. “Remote days” may come for individual students and their siblings as families await COVID test results out of an abundance of caution. Our three-season tents will come down in December, and we will have somewhat less outdoor time. But relative to the herculean efforts to open in September, the gradual transition ahead feels manageable, and is built upon a foundation of successful strategies already in place. We have made it this far, and together we can make it through this next stretch!
The foremost steps to sustain in-person learning involve safeguarding our own health, the health of our families and the health of our faculty and staff. To that end:
The combination of regular hand-cleaning, consistent mask usage, physical distancing, and access to fresh air are foundational to individual and public health, when practiced at school and consistently away from school. We’ll continue with daily health attestations for students & staff, requiring daily temperature-checking at home.
With Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approaching, I must strongly discourage you from travelling beyond the states deemed safe by Massachusetts standards, (which may change) or close visits with friends and relatives outside your existing “bubble.” It’s heart-wrenching for me to advise this. Nonetheless: the alarming recent pattern of COVID spread at small family gatherings must give us all pause. We are all feeling “pandemic fatigue” in our various ways, but a decision you make or a maskless moment of lapsed care: these can take a profound toll on your family’s health, our teachers’ health, and impact the Atrium community.
If you have no choice but to travel to and from a higher-risk state, both staff and students’ families must follow all updated and evolving protocols, including filling out the Massachusetts state travel form. Upon return, each travelling family member must be PCR-tested with a negative result before a child can return to school, or you must observe the state-required 14-day quarantine. Atrium will request documentation of negative test results.
As previously shared with middle school families: to facilitate the safe rotations of teachers and student pods, Grades 6, 7, and 8 will have a fully-remote week prior to Thanksgiving break.
There are additional steps you must take as well:
The earlier you can have your child flu-vaccinated, the better. Massachusetts now requires the flu vaccine for students and staff to return to school this January.
As the weather gets colder and wetter, be sure your child’s attire is appropriate each day; teachers will continue to provide information to you about clothing needs. Moving forward, Atrium students will continue to regularly experience outdoor learning and play. Layers are best, and allow easy transitions between outdoor and indoor time.
And as noted above: make every decision with the safety of your family, and our Atrium community, close in mind. This is how we sustain and protect our opportunity to be at school.
Atrium School has taken further steps to ensure we are ready for this seasonal transition. The September Scenarios Task Force is now the Winter Readiness Team, and meets to discuss health and safety measures as they relate to teaching and learning. Atrium seeks weekly guidance and input from parent physicians with directly relevant expertise in public health, infectious disease and COVID management. Last week, I personally convened and facilitated a series of three meetings for New England heads of school and facilities directors, to discuss and share strategies and resources. The Atrium community benefits greatly from these collaborative efforts among peer schools and health experts.
We continue to refine our facilities management protocols as well. Prior to Thanksgiving, our HVAC contractor will again survey our full system and upgrade elements as necessary. We will test our furnaces to ensure that the extra demand of keeping rooms warm while keeping windows open is met. Our air quality consultant will again assess the building and provide suitable mitigation measures as called for. There are numerous further ways in which we are making meaningful improvements to our spaces, for safety and for learning.
Finally: I know that we are asking a great deal of faculty, staff and families, all to make learning in-person possible and sustainable. I too am deeply pained at the lack of contact with loved ones. But in recent months, we have already surmounted considerable obstacles together at Atrium, and have great momentum to build on. I am inspired by the early history of open-air schools around the country, which faced both tuberculosis and Spanish Flu epidemics more than a hundred years ago. With flexibility and eagerness to adapt, our progressive early counterparts then rose to the occasion and built great strength in children. Students wrapped in surplus blankets with heated rocks at their feet learned in open-windowed classrooms! I promise you we won’t reprise these scenes, but with polar fleece and warm drinks at school, so too will we rise to this coming challenge. With careful and consistent health practices, school remains one of the safest, most engaging and important places children can be right now. Your children will not just endure, but they will gain resilience, perspective and greater empathy from this time.
Warmly and gratefully yours,
Marshall