Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia Return to Darlington School in January: COVID Testing & Virtual Classes
Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Rome, GA
Some text some message..
 

Return to Darlington School in January: COVID Testing & Virtual Classes

Brent Bell | December 11, 2020 | 1985 views

Dear Darlington Community,

As we head towards another well-deserved break, I wanted to share some important information regarding our return to school in January. These decisions were made after significant deliberation as an administrative team, following recent statistics related to COVID-19, and reviewing the impact of COVID-19 on our school community this fall.

The goal in making these decisions is the health of our students and the consistency of our learning program.

1. We will test all faculty and staff and Upper School students.
At the end of holiday break (beginning on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2020) we will be administering a COVID-19 test to all Upper School students and all members of the faculty and staff. These tests will be administered off campus on Sunday, Jan. 3, and on campus Jan. 4 and 5. We are grateful for our partnership with Southeastern Pathology (the location of Sunday’s testing) and there will be no cost. Opportunities to sign up for times to test and paperwork that needs to be completed prior to testing will be shared with families on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. Please keep an eye out for this information.

Students and families may choose to test using their own resources as well. Please do not test prior to Jan. 3 or 72 hours prior to your return to campus. Those that opt to test on their own will need to provide a copy of negative test results prior to arriving on campus for boarding students or returning to class for day students and faculty/staff.

2. Classes will be virtual for all students (Pre-K to 12) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
To remain consistent with school policy, we will have two days of virtual learning to start the semester on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. This will allow us time to receive test results and give families some clarity in planning for the holidays. All students, Pre-K through 12, will learn virtually these days.

School policies and protocols can be found here on the Community Wellness page of the website.

Thank you, in advance, for your support of this plan. It has been a great year thus far and we believe that creating a baseline of community health to start the semester is the right next step.

Sincerely,

Brent Bell, Head of School