This message was delivered before the first week of in-person classes on campus.
As you know, many area schools and schools throughout the country have made the far easier decision to go completely virtual or to have minimal in-person schooling. Today, September 13, marks six months since the girls have been out of school. They need to get back to school for a myriad of reasons and I think we can all agree the girls are desperate to return to Trinity Hall.
The faculty and administration as well as several board members have worked tirelessly this summer in order to prepare for your daughters to attend school full time and in person. It is our goal to keep them in school as long as possible. We have held sports practices this summer and have had girls on campus without incident but now it is time to have the entire school back to campus.
Tomorrow, as we embark on our first full week of school, it is critically important for us ALL to do our part. Last week the girls were instructed about all the new ways that they must now move through the school. I implore you, parents, to help us reinforce what they need to do and what we went over in orientation. Remind your children to wear their masks. Demand that they practice physical distancing even when outside. Explain the importance of thoroughly washing hands many times a day. Keep gatherings small and outside if at all possible. If they are carpooling with children outside the family, it is best that all riders wear masks in the car. Most of us have children in other schools so please be mindful of the contacts all your children are making.
Please respect the time, effort and resources that have gone into the opening of Trinity Hall this fall. While I would guess most of us have varying views on this virus, there is one thing that is clear: the actions of a few may undermine the fate of many.
Please have a daily conversation with your daughter about following the protocols we have in place at Trinity Hall and please continue to reinforce them at home. While there are many things we can control, we, as a school, are operating within a system that we cannot control. The board of health and the governor have the right to close our school if there are several cases and contact tracing among unrelated circles. Thankfully our girls, our school and you the parents have the ability to help keep us open. We are operating over and above the requirements of the board of health and we ask that you do the same.
As always, communication is crucial. Before school started, parents notified the school of positive tests. Contact tracing was done and currently some students are in the midst of a 14-day quarantine. Those students will return to school at the direction of the school nurse. There is no shame in getting this virus; we may all likely get it at one time or another. If your daughter is exposed to someone with it you must notify the school, be open and honest about symptoms and quarantine the appropriate amount of time. We have support in place that will allow her to keep up with her work and get safely back to school.
Thank you for entrusting your daughters to Trinity Hall. We, in turn, are entrusting Trinity Hall to YOU. Just as we are doing our best to protect your daughters’ health, we ask you do the same to protect Trinity Hall so that we may remain open.
Thank you for your cooperation.