2020 - 2021 School Year Information

Will our children have to quarantine before they are allowed on campus?
We are in the process of determining if the US government or the State of Massachusetts will require students traveling into the US from a foreign country to quarantine for 14 days before being allowed on campus. We will share these requirements more fully and our suggested approaches to dealing with these restrictions when we more fully understand those requirements.

Will the school be testing students and faculty for COVID-19 before they start orientation or classes?
We are still evaluating our testing protocol and will share that with families as soon as the state guidelines are clear. They will correspond to best practices to ensure the safety of our community.

If there is a Covid-19 diagnosis on campus, what are the protocols going to be?
Any individual testing positive will be quarantined, preferably off-campus. We will begin contact tracing, inform the local board of health officials and leverage their guidance. We will isolate affected individuals; cleanse affected areas and implement other guidelines including notifying the local board of health. If off-campus quarantining cannot be arranged, we will make other arrangements.

What happens if my child gets Covid-19?
See answer above. Our on-site physician and health staff will assess and determine the appropriate medical treatment.

Will our children have to quarantine before they are allowed on campus?
We are in the process of determining if the US government or the State of Massachusetts will require students traveling into the US from a foreign country to quarantine for 14 days before being allowed on campus. We will share these requirements more fully and our suggested approaches to dealing with these restrictions when we more fully understand those requirements.

Will the school be testing students and faculty for COVID-19 before they start orientation or classes?
We are still evaluating our testing protocol and will share that with families as soon as the state guidelines are clear. They will correspond to best practices to ensure the safety of our community.

If there is a COVID-19 diagnosis on campus, what are the protocols going to be?
Any individual testing positive will be quarantined, preferably off-campus. We will begin contact tracing, inform the local board of health officials and leverage their guidance. We will isolate affected individuals; cleanse affected areas and implement other guidelines including notifying the local board of health. If off-campus quarantining cannot be arranged, we will make other arrangements.

What happens if my child gets COVID-19?
See answer above. Our on-site physician and health staff will assess and determine the appropriate medical treatment.

Does my child need a local guardian if they can’t stay on campus during breaks or if they get sick?
We are advising every international family to identify someone in the US living within driving distance of the school who could be a designated guardian if a student gets sick and needs to quarantine off-campus. However, we understand that may not be possible for all families. So, we will work with each family on a case by case basis.

Will our children have to quarantine before they are allowed on campus?
We are in the process of determining if the US government or the State of Massachusetts will require students traveling into the US from a foreign country to quarantine for 14 days before being allowed on campus. We will share these requirements more fully and our suggested approaches to dealing with these restrictions when we more fully understand those requirements.

Will the school be testing students and faculty for COVID-19 before they start orientation or classes?
We are still evaluating our testing protocol and will share that with families as soon as the state guidelines are clear. They will correspond to best practices to ensure the safety of our community.

If there is a Covid-19 diagnosis on campus, what are the protocols going to be?
Any individual testing positive will be quarantined, preferably off-campus. We will begin contact tracing, inform the local board of health officials, and leverage their guidance. We will isolate affected individuals; cleanse affected areas and implement other guidelines including notifying the local board of health. If off-campus quarantining cannot be arranged, we will make other arrangements.

What happens if my child gets Covid-19?
See answer above. Our on-site physician and health staff will assess and determine the appropriate medical treatment.

If my child is traveling alone to the US, and my student is advised to quarantine, could they do it on campus?
If a quarantine is required or recommended based on guidance from the State of MA, it will be the responsibility of the family to quarantine their child in Massachusetts, before coming to campus.

Could my child come early to campus to quarantine before classes start or will they have to take classes remotely in their dorm rooms until they have quarantined for 14 days?
No – see above.

What happens if students can’t return on January 10th (for health reasons or because there is an outbreak?)
If students can’t return on January 10th for the Winter Term, they will be able to continue classes remotely

If a student has symptoms, will he be tested at school? Will the school allow certain premises for this student to be isolated or will he be sent to the guardian?
Any member of the community that has symptoms will be tested at the school. Testing for international students is covered by the school health insurance. Any individual testing positive will be quarantined, preferably off-campus. We will begin contact tracing, inform the local board of health officials, and leverage their guidance. We will isolate affected individuals; cleanse affected areas and implement other guidelines including notifying the local board of health. If off-campus quarantining cannot be arranged, we will make other arrangements.

The letter said that non-school social times would be carefully managed to keep everyone safe. What does this mean in concrete, specific terms?
Social times outside of classes will be more structured than they have been in the past to keep everyone safe. Students will likely be assigned to an area on campus during non-class times that ensure that proper social distancing can be managed and monitored. In addition, dormitory activities will be more restricted and likely will not allow for as much informal hanging out in common areas and other student’s rooms if social distancing cannot be adhered to

What will the daily symptom check entail?
We are currently developing our protocols for daily symptom checking and will be sharing those in the next few weeks. At a minimum, we will require students to perform a daily fever test.
Given the outlined mandatory use of face masks and the practice of social distancing, how will students be allowed to engage with one another inside and outside the classroom and continue to build their sense of community at LA?
We understand that the mandatory use of face masks and proper social distancing will alter the way students engage with each other on campus. However, we will be doing our best to ensure that these restrictions do not significantly diminish the sense of community that we will be able to create on campus

Are there plans to utilize/renovate LA South Campus to allow for additional space for students to socialize, dine, etc?
We are currently evaluating all our spaces on campus to provide additional safe spaces on campus for students to socialize

Are we allowing both face shields and face masks?
We are requiring face coverings for our students. Face shields are often not used as a replacement for face masks, but in addition to them. If your student will feel more safe wearing both, that is fine.

Will LA supply masks for students?
We will require that families provide masks for their students, but we will have supplies on hand if students forget their masks or lose them.

Will you follow the 3’ distancing recommended in the state guidelines released on Thursday, June 26?
We will be following the 3’ state guidelines and in some cases exceeding those guidelines since our classrooms can typically allow for greater spacing than is required or mandated by the state.

How will you handle a situation where a faculty member becomes infected?
If a faculty member becomes infected, we will isolate those individuals and assist them in getting the proper medical attention as required. In addition, they will be required to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days. During the quarantine period, if they are able and willing to continue teaching their classes, they will be able to conduct those classes remotely with students that are both in-class and remote. We will likely have another faculty proctor within in-person classes while the primary teacher is recovering.

Will the students sit 6’ apart during classes?
Students will be properly spaced in each of the classrooms per the guidelines established by the State of MA.

If you got sick while there, what protocol would the school follow?
If a student gets sick while on campus, they will be assessed by the school health center and then quarantined on campus if there is available quarantine capacity or with a local guardian if that is available and preferable

What security measures are you going to take on a daily basis?
On a daily basis, we will be ensuring compliance with the use of face masks, social distancing and frequent hand sanitizing. We also will be reducing the occupancy levels in our dormitories to limit the amount of interaction that students have in their dorms. We also will be limiting large group gatherings (more than 25 people) on campus and requiring proper spacing in areas where students will naturally gather in smaller groups. Finally, we will be asking our students to report their symptoms immediately so that they can be properly tested and quarantined if required.

Will there be guidelines on masks, colors, images, etc?
In accordance with our normal dress code, we will be determining appropriate designs and or emblems for masks and face covers and will communicate those prior to a student’s arrival on campus.

Can you give more of an idea of how boarding students and day students will eat meals?
We are currently working through our dining logistics plan but suffice it to say that we will likely have to construct multiple lunch shifts since that is when the dining areas will be in the highest demand. We likely will also have more pre-packaged or served meals in the dining areas that are established and will not have buffet-style food selection and dining.

Will you be adding additional sinks by the lunch space?
It is unlikely that we will be adding additional sinks by the lunch space, but we will have ample hand sanitation stations in the areas where lunch will be served. In addition, many of the lunch options will be pre-packaged to limit the contamination of any of the food that our students will be served.

Will students still have the ability during the day to visit local businesses on Main Street?
We are still in the process of developing our thinking around how much unsupervised off-campus activity we will allow during the school day given the need to more strictly enforce good safety practices (e.g. wearing masks always, social distancing, proper and frequent use of hand sanitizer, etc.).

What do you mean by limited and controlled? Do you mean the kids are locked into their hallways or rooms?
We will not be locking our students into their hallways or rooms. But we will more closely supervise dormitory activities to ensure that students are properly social distancing.
Can you choose remote learning for the fall if you are more comfortable with it?
Yes – we have several students that have elected to learn remotely this fall. In addition, we will be upgrading our in-class technology to support both the remote learners and the in-class learners simultaneously in a very interactive and engaging way.

Will the athletes wear masks while performing their sports?
We will be relying on the health and safety guidelines published by the local, state and federal health officials regarding the most effective way to manage athletics while protecting the health and well-being of the athletes.

Will you have any sessions this summer for students to set expectations for them regarding the protocols they will need to comply with, in the fall?
Yes – we realize that we are going to need to educate our students frequently and effectively on the safety protocols that they will need to follow on and off-campus. We will be publishing guidelines this summer and conducting training during orientation to properly set these expectations.

How are you going to enforce/ensure compliance with health and safety protocols?
We are going to educate all members of the community regarding their responsibilities to keep themselves and each other safe. Frequent violations of these protocols are likely going to result in either disciplinary action, quarantine, or some other action.

Would I have to quarantine when I arrive on campus? Where would it be done?
Students will likely have to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in the US if they are arriving from an international location. That quarantine will either be done with a local guardian if you have one or on campus if you do not. Students who are able to arrive prior to the start of classes will be asked to arrive on September 1. We will be monitoring state health guidelines to determine if domestic distant boarding students from outside MA will need to quarantine before arriving on campus.

How would life on campus be this year? (Boarding school, sports, outings, dining room ...)
We seek to provide as much of the LA experience as is allowable according to federal, state and local health guidelines. This includes providing residential life for boarding students, supporting all forms of extracurricular activities as can be done in a safe and compliant way, allowing students to leave campus on the weekends and participate in modified off-campus outings and provide dining services that are both safe and properly distributed across campus.

How will you help your incoming freshman make friends and get to feel part of the LA community?
We will be conducting orientation periods by class, both on-campus and with our remote students included in these orientation sessions as well. We also will be assigning new students to advisory groups this summer and they will have a chance to interact with their advisor before the school year starts.

Are you preparing to accommodate all students that want to return to campus in the fall? Will all boarders be put in single rooms or will doubles still be the norm?
We are hoping to accommodate as many students as we feel is safe to accommodate in the fall. However, we are looking at ways to de-densify our dormitories as much as possible. We are assuming this will be possible as a result of some of our international students needing to be remote for the fall term due to travel or visa restrictions and due to some of our local boarding students volunteering to be days students for the fall term. We would love to accommodate all boarders in single rooms, but that will be dependent on available capacity and the number of students that we must accommodate on campus.

For recording classes, will LA require parental permission for students to be videotaped?
As in the recording of any student activities, parental permission for students to be videotaped in classes will be required.

Will dorm parents be more like parents, creating a family-like experience? Providing activities for students to do when they have free time?
Dorm parents will do the best that they can within the safety guidelines they need to comply with to create a family-like experience for the students in the dorms that they oversee. However, it is our expectation in the fall term that students will have less freedom to gather in common areas and in other student’s rooms due to our need to maintain proper social distancing.

If my child is a boarding student, will they still be able to go home on weekends?
Yes – we don’t foresee any restrictions on allowing local boarding students to go home on weekends. We do foresee, however, a more controlled process for re-entry to campus upon their return which will likely include some form of symptom testing as well as contact tracing to ensure that those students have not been knowingly interacting with anyone off-campus that has tested positive for COVID-19.

How many boarding students will be in a room in your dormitories?
In our attempt to try and de-densify our dormitories for the fall term, we are trying to limit the number of students in a dormitory room, with sensitivity to room size. In some cases, we will be able to provide singles; in others, doubles will be possible.

Will boarders be able to sign out to a day student's house for the weekend?
We are in the process of determining our approach to this.

Could my child stay on campus during vacation breaks if they can’t get home?
We are creating a remote-learning period for all students in our calendar between the scheduled Thanksgiving and winter vacations to make it easier on students to travel home. Ideally, we would like all students to be off-campus during that period. For our one-week spring vacation, we will allow students to stay on campus if they cannot make any other arrangements.

Will dormitories remain open during the long break between Thanksgiving and the start of the winter term?
Dormitories will be closed from Thanksgiving until the start of the winter term and we are expecting that all students will be off-campus during that period.

Will boarders be able to sign out on the weekends?
As of yet, we haven’t established any new off-campus restrictions for the fall term. However, that may change based on any guidelines that we have to follow from the State of Massachusetts.

If dorms are cohort-based, does this mean that boarding students will be restricted in which students they can be friends with/interact with in person?
Because of the need for more social distancing and better control and coordination of where students can be on campus during their non-class time, they may have less freedom than they have had in the past in terms of the types of interactions that they will be able to have with their friends on campus, particularly if they are not living in the same dormitory.

What about community service hours?
Students will still be expected to complete their community service hours, but we will work to identify opportunities for students to complete these hours in a way that is safe and complies with all state safety guidelines.

For students who live in the dorms, will there be limitations on going home for the weekend?
We are still in the process of determining our perspective on boarding students leaving campus for the weekend. Clearly, with such a large day population, we will have students coming back and forth each day to campus. Therefore, it is likely that we will allow students to go home on weekends, but the re-entry process to campus may be more structured to allow for some degree of symptom testing and contact tracing before allowing students back into their dormitories

Will students still have the ability during the day to visit local businesses on Main Street?
We are still in the process of developing our thinking around how much unsupervised off-campus activity we will allow during the school day given the need to more strictly enforce good safety practices (e.g. wearing masks always, social distancing, proper and frequent use of hand sanitizer, etc.).

What do you mean by limited and controlled? Do you mean the kids are locked into their hallways or rooms?
We will not be locking our students into their hallways or rooms. But we will more closely supervise dormitory activities to ensure that students are properly social distancing.

Will you have any sessions this summer for students to set expectations for them regarding the protocols they will need to comply with in the fall?
Yes – we realize that we are going to need to educate our students frequently and effectively on the safety protocols that they will need to follow on and off campus. We will be publishing guidelines this summer and conducting training during orientation to properly set these expectations.

How are you going to enforce/ensure compliance with health and safety protocols?
We are going to educate all members of the community regarding their responsibilities to keep themselves and each other safe. Frequent violations of these protocols is likely going to result in either disciplinary action, quarantine or some other action.

What will the tuition be to switch from boarding student to day student through January?

• Families that volunteer to have their students switch from boarding student to day student for the fall term will be charged the day student tuition for the duration of time that their child is a day student.
• Based on the proposed calendar, students who will be transitioning from boarding student to day student for the fall term (returning as a boarding student in January) will be eligible for a $5,005 discount off their boarding tuition. Here is how the math works (List Boarding Price = $65, 925; List Day Price = $52,540; Differential = $13,475; period of time we are expecting a student would be Day = 13/35ths of the year; 13/35th of $13,475 = $5,005.
• Families whose students switch from boarding student to day student for the fall will be billed their boarding installment on July 1st and then will be billed the balance of their modified annual tuition cost in their final payment which is October 1st for families on the two-payment plan and January 1st for families on the ten-payment plan.

What will the implication be on my financial aid award?
We will pro-rate your child’s financial aid award based upon the new tuition price that we have shared.

Until when would my child be committing to being a day student?
Until return to campus in January.

Is there a possibility that this could last for the entire year?
We hope not. Our intention is to maintain and/or return to regular models and structures. We will be following state health and safety guidelines, and those will likely dictate any possible increase in capacity in January for boarding.

If there is an outbreak and students shall leave the campus and complete their courses on-line, will there be a refund?
If there is an outbreak that requires students to leave campus and complete their courses on-line, there will likely be some refund reflective of the amount of time during the year that they spent on campus versus completing their classes remotely. Since this is an eventuality we cannot predict at this time, we cannot provide an exact amount of the refund that could be provided.

Please explain the tuition model in more detail and rationale as to why there is no tuition adjustment?
We have adjusted the tuition model for those students that either a.) switch from boarding student to day student for any of the school terms or b.) choose to learn remotely for any of the full terms of the school year. We have not made any further adjustments to the tuition at this point largely because most of our costs are fixed and also because we are making significant investments in technology to support our hybrid learning model and the modification of certain spaces on campus to allow us to de-densify and support proper social distancing on campus. Unlike last spring, when we had some cost savings that we were able to pass on to families in the form of refunds, we anticipate operating at a significant deficit this year.

There is confusion around the potential contract addendum and the July 1 payment due date. Should people wait to make a payment until they receive the addendum?
Families should not wait to make their payments until they receive a contract addendum. For those international students that will be changing their status from boarding to remote for the fall and are scheduled to pay in full in July, their refund for this change of status will be issued by October 1st. For those international and domestic boarding students that will be changing their status for the fall term from boarding to day student or remote and are on the two-payment plan, their final bill will reflect the tuition discount for the fall term. For those domestic boarding students that will be changing their status for the fall term to day student, and are on the ten-payment plan, their discount for the fall term will be reflected in their final payment due on January 1st.

Registration forms – for those switching from boarding to day student for the fall term – will their registration forms get reset?
There will be changes to various registration forms that will be required. We will have more information as this is developed.

Can you choose remote learning for the fall if you are more comfortable with it?
Yes – we have several students that have elected to learn remotely this fall. In addition, we will be upgrading our in-class technology to support both the remote learners and the in-class learners simultaneously in a very interactive and engaging way.

If my child studies remotely/on-line for the full year, what is my tuition cost?
If a student is forced to learn remotely for the entire year, the tuition cost will be $52,540.

Will day students be able to return to campus on the weekend for activities?
Yes.

If day students can’t stay for dinner, will they be asked to leave campus after afternoon activities?
Day students will be able to stay on campus for as long as they need to in order to complete their responsibilities on any given day

Will there by places on campus for my child to spend time or study before and after school and between classes?
Yes, we will be creating spaces on campus where students can be properly socially distanced during breaks during the day prior to classes or after classes.

Will all day students be on campus every day in the fall?
Our current planning is that all our on-campus boarding and day students will be on campus each day as the schedule requires.

Will my child be able to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at LA if they are a day student?
We are in the process of constructing our dining approach and capacity.

Will day students be able to participate in the same activities as on-campus boarding students?
Yes, to the extent that we can comply with state regulations.

Will day students still be allowed to have a locker in the student lounge?
We will have lockers available somewhere on campus as required

With the increase in day students, will there be more parking available? If yes, where?
We will have more parking available on campus to support local boarding students that may be converting to day students for the fall term. We are in the process of determining where those spots will be on campus.

Will day students be able to do both remote learning and in-person attendance depending on the day or the week?
We will not be allowing day students to pick and choose the days that they choose to be in class or remote. We are asking that all students select a primary medium for learning for the term, either on-campus or remote. For those that choose the on-campus option, they likely will have the ability to participate in their on-campus classes remotely in the event that they are sick or quarantined, but we will be closely monitoring these situations to ensure that the degree of flexibility we are providing is not abused in any way.

How will the dining hall operate for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
We are still working on our plans for the distribution of meals with our food service provider Sodexho. We do envision that lunch will be the most complicated meal of the day and will require that there be multiple shifts to serve all the students.

Can you give more of an idea of how boarding students and day students will eat meals?
We are currently working through our dining logistics plan but suffice it to say that we will likely have to construct multiple lunch shifts since that is when the dining areas will be in the highest demand. We likely will also have more pre-packaged or served meals in the dining areas that are established and will not have buffet-style food selection and dining.

Will you be adding additional sinks by the lunch space?
It is unlikely that we will be adding additional sinks by the lunch space, but we will have ample hand sanitation stations in the areas where lunch will be served. In addition, many of the lunch options will be pre-packaged to limit the contamination of any of the food that our students will be served.

Will there be transportation to and from campus for my child?
We are evaluating what we will be able to coordinate and provide for transportation given the state guidelines and the additional requirements families are likely to have.

If sports and afternoon activities are limited, will you revise the bus schedule to correspond to those activities?
We will have sports and afternoon activities regardless of whether we are competing with other schools or not. Therefore, bus schedules should remain relatively constant throughout the year.

Will there be additional bus routes added, especially if boarding students convert to day students for the fall?
We are in the process of reaching out to our local boarders to determine which ones are willing to consider being day students in the fall and if so, then determining what kind of additional transportation we will need to provide to make this possible.

Do you plan to run new student orientation? Will new students still bring their computers to be set up?
We will be running a new student orientation on campus this fall rather than at Windsor Mountain. Students should bring their computers to be set up at orientation.

Will there be sports in the fall?
We aren’t sure. NEPSAC and MIAA are still formulating plans and guidelines, in turn shaped by state guidelines. The ISL Athletic Directors and Heads are meeting weekly to determine options based on health and safety guidelines. We have discussed, at a minimum, making available sports that are approved for play within the State of MA (e.g. golf, tennis, cross-country, track, baseball, softball).

Do you anticipate starting normal daily practices for sports upon opening and if so, when/how does a new student select a sport? When will the school know about fall/winter sports? If no sports, will there be intramural sports?
Our plans for athletics for the fall are still under development as we await guidelines from the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) as well as the guidance from other ISL schools. We are hoping this guidance will be out by August 1st so that we can plan accordingly. However, we will not be having the typical pre-season for our fall sports this year, so the selection of a sport for most new students will occur during the registration process. In addition, if we are unable to provide interscholastic sports for the fall and winter terms, we will be offering alternative forms of physical education and training that adhere to the state health and safety guidelines.

Will the weight room be available to students – returning varsity players and incoming freshman athletes?
We are currently determining how we will support effective and safe athletic training for our students. We will rely on the guidelines from the local and state health officials to develop the appropriate protocols to keep our students safe and healthy.

If sports are organized in the fall, what is being discussed about streaming indoor athletic events if spectators are not allowed on campus?
We are evaluating the feasibility of live-streaming athletic events if spectators are not allowed on campus.

Will the athletes wear masks while performing their sports?
We will be relying on the health and safety guidelines published by the local, state, and federal health officials regarding the most effective way to manage athletics while protecting the health and well-being of the athletes.

Would I have to quarantine when I arrive on campus? Where would it be done?
Students will likely have to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in the US if they are arriving from an international location. That quarantine will either be done with a local guardian if you have one or on campus if you do not. Students who are able to arrive prior to the start of classes will be asked to arrive on September 1. We will be monitoring state health guidelines to determine if domestic distant boarding students from outside MA will need to quarantine before arriving on campus.

What will the tuition be if our students must be remote for the fall term?
You will be charged modified tuition for the duration of time that your child is remote.

Does my child need a local guardian if they can’t stay on campus during breaks or if they get sick?
We are advising every international family to identify someone in the US living within driving distance of the school who could be a designated guardian if a student gets sick and needs to quarantine off campus. However, we understand that may not be possible for all families. So, we will work with each family on a case by case basis.

What will the daily class schedule look like and will it be more accommodating to remote international students?
Yes, we are working on a modified daily class schedule to ensure that our international students can take their classes synchronously during normal waking hours. We also are improving the technology to support hybrid learning in our classrooms.

If my child is traveling alone to the US, and my student is advised to quarantine, could they do it on campus?
If a quarantine is required or recommended based on guidance from the State of MA, it will be the responsibility of the family to quarantine their child in Massachusetts, before coming to campus.

Could my child come early to campus to quarantine before classes start or will they have to take classes remotely in their dorm rooms until they have quarantined for 14 days?
No – see above.

Could my child stay on campus during vacation breaks if they can’t get home?
We are creating a remote-learning period for all students in our calendar between the scheduled Thanksgiving and winter vacations to make it easier on students to travel home. Ideally, we would like all students to be off-campus during that period. For our one-week spring vacation, we will allow students to stay on campus if they cannot make any other arrangements.

Will dormitories remain open during the long break between Thanksgiving and the start of the winter term?
Dormitories will be closed from Thanksgiving until the start of the winter term and we are expecting that all students will be off-campus during that period.

When are U.S. embassies going to open?
We don’t know as this depends on the circumstances in each country.

If I am a new student and I can’t get a visa due to embassy closures, can I still enroll?
Yes. If you are living overseas and encountering visa delays, you can enroll and study in our remote learning option.

If students study remotely for the fall, what will happen to their I-20?

• For new students that do not have an existing I-20 that they are transferring, their new I-20 is not considered active until it is used to enter the USA. If a student is not able to attend in person during the fall, the I-20 will need to be re-issued with a new start date correction. If a new student studies for the entire year remotely, the I-20 may be cancelled.
• For new students who have an I-20 that was transferred to LA and who have stayed in the USA, we anticipate that you would need to be a boarding student when in-person classes are in session.
• Returning students with valid visas and I-20’s – we hope that the updated guidance related to visas from our government will allow us to help returning students keep their I-20’s “active” until the student can return to campus. (NAFSA and others are driving this change in guidelines).

Note for all students - if you enter the USA on a tourist visa, we will not be able to allow you to complete registration and/or to take classes at our institution. This is for your own protection so that you do not violate your visa status.

If the United States closes its borders, what would happen to the student?
It has not been our experience that the US would prevent an international student from returning to their country of origin. If, however, the US places a travel ban on travel from a student’s country of origin to the US, we will allow that student to continue to take classes remotely until they have a chance to travel again to the US.

When will my child be able to come home during the school year vacations?
Based on our preliminary school calendar, your child will be able to come home between Thanksgiving and the middle of January. There will be a one-week vacation break in March, but that may not leave enough time for your child to return home and travel back to campus. We strongly recommend that each international student have a local family or guardian with whom he or she can stay if needed.

What will the daily class schedule look like and will it be more accommodating to remote international students?
Yes, we are working on a modified daily class schedule to ensure that our international students can take their classes synchronously during normal waking hours. We also are improving the technology to support hybrid learning in our classrooms.

When will my child be able to come home during the school year vacations?
Based on our preliminary school calendar, your child will be able to come home between Thanksgiving and the middle of January. There will be a one-week vacation break in March, but that may not leave enough time for your child to return home and travel back to campus. We strongly recommend that each international student have a local family or guardian with whom he or she can stay if needed.

How will my Class of 2021 senior be able to complete the college process?
The College Counseling office will be reaching out to students and families regarding how they are going to support them through the college process this fall, even if it is remotely.

If local students choose to do remote learning, would they be permitted to optionally come to class in person? Can a student choose (on a regular or irregular basis) live education some days and remote other days?
In order to ensure continuity of experience, effective space and capacity management, and controlled symptom testing and contact tracing, we will not allow students who choose to do remote learning to optionally come to class in person, particularly for the fall term.

Can you talk about Winterim and do you know the dates of March vacation week for planning purposes? Will you be doing something separate/special with Seniors during this time?
We will not be holding the traditional two-week Winterim this year. Instead, we will be holding a one week, project-based, experiential learning experience on campus called WINTerm on campus for one week in March. Following the one-week WINTerm, we will have a one-week spring break, rather than the traditional two-week spring break. The shorter spring break is because we will be providing a longer break period during the period between Thanksgiving and the beginning of the winter term on January 10th. We have not determined yet if we can offer something separate from WINTerm for seniors, but that has been discussed and we will continue to share details as they develop

Will the remote learning between Thanksgiving and Winter Break look pretty much the same as the remote learning of Spring 2020? If not, how will it be different?
The remote learning during Thanksgiving and Winter Break will follow the normal class schedule that has been created for the calendar 20-21 school year. There also will be an exam period during this portion of the school calendar.

During the period of the fall term that is on-line, will the classes meet virtually at the same time/schedule they were meeting in person? How will exams be given during that time?
Yes – classes during the portion of the fall term that are on-line will meet on the same schedule as the rest of the term, except for the exam period. Exams will be administered on-line.

What will the schedule look like? Will it be a regular 5 day/week schedule, or will it be changed?
The current plan is to have a regular 5 day/week schedule. We have made some modifications to the start and end of the day to extend classes for those international students doing remote learning.

It appears there will be more downtime/away from school time between November and January. Are there any plans to offer unique on-line courses/certifications during that period?
The plan for the remote learning period has some additional vacation time built in during that period, but we have also reduced the amount of vacation time in the spring, so the number of actual school days and weeks has remained constant. Outside of the WINTerm and different club activities, there is no current plan to offer additional on-line courses and certifications during that time.

Are you continuing with Red/Blue weeks?
We are going to try and recreate as much of last year’s schedule as possible. However, we will be extending the day to better accommodate our remote learners and eliminate some of the larger free blocks that we had in the 2019-2020 school year.

Can you explain why spring break is only one week instead of two weeks?
Spring break has been revised from two weeks to one for two reasons. First, we will be providing a longer break between Thanksgiving and the return to school on January 10th to allow our international students to travel home and back and deal with any quarantine requirements they may have on either/both end during their travel. Second, because of the long break between Thanksgiving and January, we needed an additional week of school added to the spring term to compensate for that. Finally, we are assuming that our international students will likely not return home for spring break, so reducing the amount of time that they have to either stay on campus or be with a local guardian in the US to one week made the most sense.

If the infection metrics in Massachusetts look good, would there be consideration of in-person learning in December rather than virtual?
We will be evaluating the likelihood of having our students remain on campus between the Thanksgiving holiday and the December holidays. However, it will only be two weeks of classes and a week of exams and would affect the ability of some of our international students to effectively travel home for the holidays with such little time before school re-opens in January. The only thing we are considering is allowing those varsity athletes that play a winter sport and are able and willing to stay on campus during this period to remain. All other students will likely be asked to be remote during that period.

As many of your rising seniors couldn’t visit colleges in the spring, how will you support this part of the college process in the fall?
We will be hosting virtual information sessions with colleges and universities that have typically visited campus in the fall. In addition, we will be encouraging our students to leverage the virtual tour and interview protocols being established by all the colleges and universities.

Will you still have teachers in the library for help during study hours?
We will likely have several proctored locations on campus where students will be assigned during non-class periods to do their homework and get extra support from their teachers. In addition, we will still be offering office hours and other informal periods of time during the day where students can reach out for extra help both in-person or digitally.

In a worst-case scenario, would you offer online classes all year long? How would the classes be?
If we had to, the school is equipped to offer remote on-line classes for the entire year.
We have designed our daily schedule to accommodate our international students that are learning remotely into the daily class routine.

Will the fall theater performance be done over Zoom? If so, what would be needed to try something in person instead? If sports are done in person, could theater to some level be done in person, even outside for parts of it? Could several smaller groups do one acts and meet in person instead of Zoom?
All our extra-curricular theater plans for the fall are under development. Where possible, we will try to conduct performances in person while taking the proper health and safety precautions. The location of the performances will likely be in places on campus that allow us to ensure the health and safety of the performers.

For those who are active in the performing arts, will vocal and instrumental, dance, and theater ensembles continue to meet in person?
It is our hope to allow those that are active in the performing arts to continue those activities in person, allowing for proper social distancing as required by the state health and safety guidelines.

For students taking a music class, how will classes be conducted during the fall and then during the remote session?
The Music Department is currently in the process of determining how they will conduct classes both in-person and remotely. More details on that will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

Will there be LA singers and singing classes in the fall?
It is our intent to provide the normal singing programs in the fall modified to ensure compliance with health and safety guidelines.

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