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Starting our Year, Together
Dear Bryn Mawr Families,
As we approach our beginning of school next week, August 31 for Little School and September 1 for Pre-K through 12th grade, I wish you a wonderful new year. If you are new to Bryn Mawr, I send a warm welcome and can’t wait to get to know you. If you are returning to a new grade, that’s pretty exciting, too! New teachers, new friends, new adventures and new challenges await. Whether you are beginning on campus or online, it’s exciting to contemplate a year of growth and learning ahead.
Our Theme!
Our theme for the year is Together and we will aspire to keep that at the core of our decision-making. It is both a wish and a promise as we begin this new school year. No doubt there will be times this year when we’ll be physically unable to be together, so a strong community spirit and care for each other will be an important way to show our Bryn Mawr pride. We will continue to hold out hope that the community health outlook improves this year, providing us an opportunity to truly be together. Together also reiterates our commitment to honor and value each member of our community for their full identity. We are a stronger community when our students have an unshakeable confidence in who they are as an individual, and true appreciation and respect for the experiences of others.
Ongoing Monitoring
I want to reiterate the unpredictable nature of the year ahead. While we see some hopeful signs of COVID-19 lessening in our community at the moment, these health indicators are predicted to vary over the months ahead. We are carefully monitoring a number of different indicators, as I have said before, and hope to operate in person when community health permits. I have held off giving specific numbers on these indicators partly because the State of Maryland has yet to publish any specific metrics for schools and because there is variety in the metrics which have been established across the country. However, I do believe that some transparency on this front will help all of us plan. Here is the basic framework we will follow to make decisions, based on the work of Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the CovidActNow website, and using data from the State of Maryland and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Click here for the full image.
In terms of campus life, we will still be able to enjoy both the “delights and demands” of learning. We will use strategies to reduce risk such as masking, physical distancing, smaller group sizes, less dense campus population, campus changes, outdoor learning, frequent attention to hand washing, and zero tolerance for illness on campus. These have all been described to you in our Reopening Plan and available at brynmawrschool.org/reopening.
Communication
Despite all of these risk mitigation measures, it is still likely that we will encounter COVID-19 in our campus community at some point. In that event, we will follow our protocols to identify close contacts, ensure that necessary individuals are quarantining, and notify the appropriate members of our community. Know that we are committed to transparency in our communications, while also adhering to guidelines to protect student and employee privacy. Multiple and/or simultaneous cases of COVID-19 in different areas of the school would most likely be cause for campus closure for a period of time.
Health Screening App
You will receive more information tomorrow about the MyMedBot mobile app that our community will use for daily at-home health screening. Be on the lookout in your email.
We appreciate your patience and partnership as we begin the year next week. I am grateful for the support offered by so many as we meet the challenges of this year together.
Despite all of these risk mitigation measures, it is still likely that we will encounter COVID-19 in our campus community at some point. In that event, we will follow our protocols to identify close contacts, ensure that necessary individuals are quarantining, and notify the appropriate members of our community. Know that we are committed to transparency in our communications, while also adhering to guidelines to protect student and employee privacy. Multiple and/or simultaneous cases of COVID-19 in different areas of the school would most likely be cause for campus closure for a period of time.
Health Screening App
You will receive more information tomorrow about the MyMedBot mobile app that our community will use for daily at-home health screening. Be on the lookout in your email.
We appreciate your patience and partnership as we begin the year next week. I am grateful for the support offered by so many as we meet the challenges of this year together.
Sincerely,
Sue Sadler
Head of School
Head of School
P.S. Whether your child starts the year learning remotely or here on campus, we'd love to see your back to school pictures! Here’s a first day sign for you to print at home. Post your photos to social media and/or email to communications@brynmawrschool.org .
