April 21, 2020
Dear Bolles Community,
As many of you heard this weekend, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education announced Florida K-12 public schools will remain closed for the remainder of the academic year and distance learning will continue for the rest of the second semester. Based on this information, the Bolles leadership team has decided to follow the same protocol for our own school community. As such, we will continue with distance learning through the end of the semester. The last day of the fourth quarter and second semester will be Friday, May 22 for middle and upper school and Thursday, May 21 for lower school. While our preference would be a much sooner in-person return to campus, we will continue to move forward with our distance learning momentum and promote student academic environments that have proven safe, healthy and successful.
This discussion of dates and end-of-year-planning naturally brings us to the topic of Commencement, which has long been slated for May 23, 2020. Throughout the past two months, Bolles leaders have been in constant reflection and consideration of this important tradition. At this point, we have decided to keep graduation on Saturday, May 23, 2020 and will likely limit the number of people who will attend. Should circumstances warrant a change, we have identified Saturday, June 6 as an appropriate fall back date. We will continue to gather information regarding appropriate health guidelines and parameters and will announce our detailed plans about how we will proceed with this event shortly. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we celebrate our seniors, while also meeting today's social distancing standards. One thing we do know, it will be the most unprecedented and memorable commencement in school history.
At this time, our goal is for sports activities and summer camps to begin the week of May 25. More information will be made available as we get closer to the end of the academic year.
Until then, I invite you to take a look at the new way we are inviting others to "experience Bolles" from a distance. I think you will be proud of the way this page showcases how our faculty and students have taken learning to new heights and have risen to such glorious occasion in virtual settings. In every way and in every new place, our community continues to demonstrate The Bolles Way: pursuing excellence through courage, integrity and compassion. I hope that you will humbly continue to share these sentiments with others in the Jacksonville community.
Thank you for the amazing support you have shown to our teachers, students and leaders during these extraordinary times. Your family's health and happiness are at the heart of our resolve and we will continue to move forward with this priority as our guide.
Be well,
Tyler Hodges