Opening of School Fall 2020

Yes. Students will undergo a self-collected test prior to returning to campus and then will be tested by health center staff at two separate intervals after arriving on campus. More information about that process will be sent to families later this summer. Current best practices do not support continued mass testing beyond these measures, but we will follow the best advice of our experts and adjust our plans as needed. In addition, students will complete daily symptom and exposure screening questions and a temperature check.

We will ask students to abide by state guidelines which currently request that all persons staying in New Hampshire for an extended period of time self-quarantine for a two-week period prior to travel.

Any student diagnosed with COVID-19 will be cared for by our medical staff at the Lamont Health and Wellness Center. If emergency evaluation is necessary, they will be transported to the local hospital for treatment. Anyone who is able will be encouraged to recover at home. Following any COVID-19 diagnosis, the health team will immediately start the process of contact tracing to identify and quarantine all known close contacts of a person who tests positive. Positive cases will be reported to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, and the on-campus medical team will work in conjunction with DHHS to follow state guidelines for isolation and quarantine.

SARS-CoV-2, or the new coronavirus, is a virus that lives in a person’s respiratory tract. It can be spread directly from human to human through respiratory droplets that are expelled from an infected individual through coughing, sneezing, talking or singing. Cloth masks block the wearer from transmitting their droplets to others. They are not as effective at preventing respiratory droplets from entering a wearer’s nose or mouth. Physical distancing keeps individuals far enough apart that respiratory droplets cannot easily travel from one individual to the next.

Students who need to quarantine will be asked to spend this 14-day time period either at home, with a family member off campus, or under the supervision of the medical staff in a designated quarantine site on campus.

Students will meet with their teachers and their classmates synchronously at least two times each week, either as a full class or in smaller groups. Teachers may use two other weekly meetings as they see fit, for either synchronous meetings or asynchronous work. Recognizing that synchronous engagement may be challenging for some students while learning off-campus, we are developing a variety of approaches for meeting their individual needs. One such approach is to develop an asynchronous version of an existing course to be offered as an option to students who are off campus.

A faculty working group is exploring options for in-person learning opportunities to be provided as health and safety conditions allow. These include small and larger group meetings at Harkness tables equipped with plexiglass barriers, meetings in oversized spaces, and de-densified labs and field trips. All in-person instruction will follow physical distancing requirements and other safety protocols.

Following the advice of medical experts, we will house students in singles, two- and three-room doubles, and larger one-room doubles. The smallest one-room doubles will be converted to single rooms. All doubles will be equipped with a HEPA air filter. We are in the process of adding dormitory capacity to reduce density in existing dorms.

Yes. At the start of the school year, a student’s room will be the boundary indicating where masks are needed or not needed. Students will still be able to interact within the dorm following physical-distancing and mask-wearing protocols. Dormitories will also have access to large spaces for full dorm activities and meetings. After the start of the year and the completion of all required COVID-19 testing, we expect students within dorm units will be able to interact without masks in some settings. Students will be required to wear masks in the dormitory whenever an adult is present.

Our custodial teams will clean all common spaces in the dorms twice daily, following CDC guidelines on disinfecting. Students will also have supplies on hand to disinfect common spaces quickly, including quick-drying disinfectants that do not require the wiping down of surfaces. Of course, frequent hand-washing will remain a cornerstone of safety across campus, including in dormitories.

We need to be united in this effort. Until it is deemed safe to do otherwise, all students will be required to stay on campus. When such restrictions are in place for boarding students, once day students arrive on campus for the day, they are expected to stay on campus until they leave for home.

Day students will be able to return to campus on the same schedule as their boarding counterparts. Day student leaders will begin training on campus on Monday, September 7. Other upper and senior day students will be allowed on campus on Wednesday, September 9. Prep and lower day students will be allowed on campus on October 3.

Each day student will have a library carrel for study and participation in remote classes. We will remove some carrels from circulation to de-densify each section of the library. There will be additional spaces on campus available to all students for socializing, studying and participation in classes.

Since the health and safety protocols outside of an individual student’s dormitory room are consistent across campus, it will be easier to explain and enforce those protocols through reminders, conversations and signage. Bringing our oldest students back to campus first also allows them to be first adopters and role models of the new protocols. If a student has particular difficulty meeting these expectations, we will work with them within our normal processes to address the concern. All students and adults will have a shared responsibility for the health and safety of our community. Our health and safety protocols are the means by which we will care for each other, and we will count on our students to take this responsibility seriously.

After students have completed all COVID-19 testing, they will be permitted to go into downtown Exeter, wearing a mask and complying with physical distancing requirements. This rule will apply to day students as well. 

Visits home will be permitted, of course, once it is safe to allow. At this time, we do not anticipate granting out-of-town requests for students to leave the town of Exeter for destinations or activities other than to travel home. To request an exception, students will need to submit a petition through the dean of students’ office, which will decide on individual petitions in consultation with the administrative team. Please note that we will not make exceptions for students to participate in off-campus programs such as external athletic team training or competition, until such time that conditions allow for our own interscholastic athletic program to resume competitive play.

Our staggered arrival schedule will reduce congestion on arrival days. We will also extend the times for possible arrivals on move-in days so we will have fewer arriving at the same times.

Whenever possible, we ask that only one adult accompany each arriving student. All students and those who accompany them must be asymptomatic when they arrive and will be screened at registration for symptoms or particular risk factors or COVID-19.

We will ask that all arriving students and their family members wear masks and practice physical distancing while on campus. Time in student rooms and dorms will need to be limited, and family members will be asked to depart campus promptly.

There will be no on-campus parent information sessions during move-in days. Instead, we will host parent information sessions online.

All students (boarding and day) will be asked to refrain from participating in organized activities and public-facing commitments external to the Academy, to help reduce the risk of community spread within the campus community. Students who choose to participate in such outside activities should not come to campus and should participate in classes remotely. To request an exception, students will need to submit a petition through the dean of students’ office, which will decide on individual petitions in consultation with the administrative team. Please note that we will not make exceptions for students to participate in off-campus programs such as external athletic team training or competition, until such time that conditions allow for our own interscholastic athletic program to resume competitive play.

If the pandemic does not allow for interscholastic competition, our students can still expect a very positive experience. We want our student-athletes to develop their mind and body with minimal disruption to their sport of passion. We will focus on skill development, strength and conditioning, and nutrition and sport psychology. For athletes hoping to pursue their sport in college, we will look to set up sport-specific showcases toward the end of the fall. We will invite college coaches (safely) to watch in person and/or stream the sessions for their viewing. For students attending virtually off campus, we will provide them with sport-specific training drills, and all workouts on campus will be shared. Training may be streamed to those unable to attend. Showcases will continue each season until we get back to interscholastic competition. We feel one of the greatest benefits is the chance for our teams to come back together with their teammates and friends.

The Academy will issue prorated refunds for the difference between the boarding and day rate for the weeks that students are not on campus in the fall. Credits or refunds will be issued and applied to accounts when all students return to campus in the fall. Families should continue to make their regularly scheduled payments. Credits will be issued and payment plans will adjust the future payments accordingly once the credit is applied.

Because we must work to protect all who will be living, learning, and working on campus, we need to carefully coordinate arrivals to maximize safety. We expect that students will return on their scheduled days (Sept. 7, student leaders; September 9, remaining uppers and seniors; Oct. 3, preps and lowers). We do expect we can make the following exceptions, with advance notice:

• If a family enrolls their upper or senior as a boarder and would like them to study from home for the first part of the fall term, we can accommodate those students returning to campus on Oct. 3. 
• Students who are unable to start the fall term on campus due to visa difficulties or because they test positive for COVID-19 prior to leaving home will likely be allowed to return to campus when those issues are resolved. Parents/guardians should contact the Dean of Students Office to arrange for individual returns.

Students who start the year remotely and then would like to come to campus the following term will be able to do so. Students who would like to return to campus mid-term may make this request with the Dean of Students Office, who will determine if a mid-term return is feasible. Students who test positive for COVID-19 prior to leaving home will be permitted to come to campus when physically well, as discussed under Health and Safety.

Any student who is unable to or decides not to return to campus will remain engaged virtually with academic, dormitory and extracurricular opportunities. Remote instruction will be the backbone of our program. Dorm faculty and student leaders will host activities online for the full dorm community, as will clubs, affinity groups and other organizations.