July 14, 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we approach the halfway point of the summer, I am glad to have this opportunity to check in with all of you as our attention turns more fully to getting the 2022-2023 school year off to a great start. While we trust you have a lot more summer fun still ahead in late July and August before students begin returning to campus over Labor Day weekend, this is a good time to share some updates regarding plans for the coming year. As we aim to stay in touch and ensure all is in order ahead of your child’s arrival, you have and will continue to hear from a range of folks at school over the next six weeks. Above all, we hope this letter and subsequent communications underline our hope that you will reach out to us directly with questions and anything we can help clarify. We are glad to be in touch.

Before getting into some of what I would like to cover, I want to begin by sharing a warm welcome with all of you who are new parents and guardians in 2022-2023. We so enjoyed beginning to get to know you as we worked through the admission and eventual enrollment process with your child, and we are thrilled to be on the verge of getting to know you better. These past two and a half years have not allowed for our preferred level of in-person time with parents and guardians on campus, but we are excited to be returning to a more robust calendar, with events on and off campus that we hope you will be a part of.

My hope with these letters is to be able to add both substance and perspective to what you will receive from all corners of our school throughout the year. To open a line of communication for all of you to be in touch with me directly with any questions and thoughts you might have is my goal. I look forward to hearing from you!

With what follows, I would like to provide some updates in a few areas that are prominent on our minds as the 2022-2023 school year begins to come into view:

COVID-19 Protocols - I am pleased to be writing at a point in time when COVID-19 feels far less ominous than it has felt at other points since the late winter of 2020. After weathering the Omicron variant in January and early February, we enjoyed a safe and relatively unrestricted stretch from that point to the end of the year. We are hopeful that conditions will settle into a more predictable and steady state as this new school year gets underway. Regardless, our experience navigating the pandemic has us more confident than we have ever been in our ability to run our whole program safely and with minimal restrictions. We approach the fall in that spirit. In particular, I would highlight the following:

COVID-19 Vaccination - To date, we have been following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines coupled with public health experts we have consulted with in determining our COVID-19 vaccine expectations. As such, and in line with CDC recommendations, we required all community members to receive an initial booster this past winter/spring. It is our expectation that all new students and employees will be comparably vaccinated by the time the school year begins. While there are likely to be evolving recommendations regarding subsequent and updated boosters this fall and winter, we are not requiring any additional boosters at this time. In sum, the school’s current COVID-19 vaccine expectation is that all students and employees will have received one booster beyond the initial vaccine regimen by the time the school year begins. If you have any questions about this expectation, please contact our Health and Wellness Center if you have not done so already.

COVID-19 Testing - While we will be positioned to administer rapid antigen tests to any community member presenting with symptoms, we are not currently planning to require any reentry testing protocol ahead of students arriving in early September. We will be in touch if we change course with this plan over the next month.

Mask Protocols - We will likely move in and out of indoor masking approaches based on the conditions, and will almost certainly begin the year with two masking expectations: First, we will continue to require masks in the Health and Wellness Center as the default. Second, we will actively encourage indoor masking for anyone who does not feel well, and in accordance with CDC isolation and quarantine guidelines for those who test positive for COVID-19, or are determined to be a close contact. Beyond that, we hope to be mask optional.

Ventilation - We have enjoyed the many advantages that come with occupying a 270-acre campus and the extensive opportunities we have to be outdoors for all sorts of events in the fall. In addition, we have done a lot to update air circulation and purifier systems over the past couple of years. We know the likelihood of transmission is greatly reduced in outdoor-, and well-ventilated spaces, and we plan to emphasize this point as the school year begins.

In sum, we have come a long way from where we were two summers ago, and believe regularly updating these approaches with public health guidance in mind will serve us well. If you have any questions, please be in touch.

Campus Projects - After a busy year of campus construction, we are pleased to be on the verge of a less disruptive, but no less busy year of work aimed at improving the school’s campus. Here is where we are with what has been done and what lies ahead in 2022-2023:

Center of Campus - The new admission and head of school office building is complete, and all of us who will be moving into that building are in the process of doing so. Much of the landscaping work still remains, and the head of school residence is not on the same schedule, but Main Street between Wilder Dining Hall and the academic building will be much further along by the time students arrive in early September. We expect all of this work to be complete by the middle of the fall.

Wilder Dining Hall and Keating Room - Work is well underway to expand the Keating Room and build a new vestibule and center entrance to the main dining area. This will also include a larger patio for outdoor seating. While some of the work will extend into the fall, we expect much of this work to be complete and operational by the time the school year begins.

Athletic Center - We are well on our way to a complete renovation of our gym and McVeigh Court, including a resurfaced and painted floor, new and substantially increased seating capacity, and enhancements to the walls in the space. This project is on track to be completed before the end of August.

Tennis Viewing Area - We are planning to begin work on the tennis court viewing area toward the end of the summer with plans to have it completed in the fall. This will improve the player and spectator experience for tennis matches next spring, and complete work aimed at improving the arrival sequence for prospective families parking in that area.

Boathouse - We are in the process of finalizing plans to replace Lyman and Holcombe boathouses with a spectacular new facility. The space will serve all of the program’s needs, and it will expand community gathering possibilities on this particularly beautiful spot on our campus. We remain on track to have the facility ready by next spring.

Faculty Housing - In conjunction with the boathouse project, we are on schedule to build three new faculty homes and some outdoor function space and walking paths on the southern end of the campus. All of this work should be complete by June of next year.

I noted all of the work ahead to be less disruptive because virtually all of the center of campus and Main Street work will be complete at some point in October. The boathouse, tennis viewing area, faculty housing projects, and additional work we will likely find our way to taking on are on the edges of campus. So, a lot will be happening, but not along Main Street between the classroom building and the dining hall! We will look forward to sharing more about these projects as the school year gets underway.

School Leadership - At the beginning of July, John Barker ’87, P’21, P’23 began his tenure as president of the board of trustees, and we welcomed a number of new colleagues to the school in leadership roles. Thus, this summer has and will continue to involve a lot of attention being paid to helping all of these folks get acclimated and off to a good start. The board of trustees will be gathering on campus in early August for a retreat and opportunity to spend some time together in person after being restricted to Zoom for the better part of two and a half years.

In terms of those joining the school’s administration, Nina Hanlon is underway as assistant head of school, and we are welcoming Terri Ofori as dean of diversity, equity and inclusion, Currie Joya Huntington as academic dean, Ingrid Knowles and Patrick Forrest as deans of students, and Gwendolyn Reese as director of library services. Along with a number of others who are beginning in teaching, coaching and residential roles of all sorts, we are excited about the fresh perspective and new ideas we are certain to glean from all who are stepping into new roles and joining us this summer. We will look forward to sharing more formal introductions as the school year draws closer.

A couple of final thoughts before closing: First, I want to extend an invitation to have all of you join us in the Art Department’s selection for the coming year’s All-Community Read: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. We are looking forward to engaging in this novel in the fall when we are all back at school. Second, please let us know if you are unclear as to when your child should be returning to school between Friday, September 2, when fall preseason athletes and student leaders arrive, and Monday, September 5, when the last wave of students will be checking in. Classes will begin for all students on Tuesday, September 6.

I will plan to write again at some point in mid-August. Between now and then, please do not hesitate to be in touch with questions and anything that is on your mind. We are looking forward to a great 2022-2023 school year!

Best,

John R. Packard

Head of School