NOTE: Spring Break Extended Through March 23. Dear Bolles Community:
As the nation closely monitors the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19, we continue to focus on ways this situation might affect The Bolles School – our students, faculty and staff.
As always, the health and well-being of our community remain our highest priority. To ensure a sound and careful approach to decision-making, we have been monitoring global, national and local health organizations and consulting with local healthcare professionals. This practice includes following guidelines and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for school closure, travel plans and quarantine.
Below are a few priority points we have been considering as we determine how best to put safety and prevention at the forefront of our response strategy:
Campus Outlook: There are currently no reported cases of the COVID-19 in Jacksonville.
As is typical this time of year, other cold and flu-like illnesses are circulating on each campus. It is important to remain calm and take practical steps to stay healthy. Simple, common-sense prevention and containment measures are outlined on the Bolles website here.
Housekeeping: There have been increased sanitization efforts in public spaces on all four Bolles campuses, including touch points and contact surfaces, classrooms and doors. Aramark, our operations provider, also has verified the sanitizer they use as an EPA-registered antimicrobial product for use against the COVID-19. They had been using this product in bathrooms and are now using it in all other areas as a normal cleaning procedure. In addition, Aramark is going to use our upcoming Spring Break as an opportunity for deeper cleaning and enhanced sanitization efforts on all surfaces.
Dining: To help ensure ongoing sanitation efforts within our food service area due to COVID-19, FLIK Independent School Dining has switched from their regular cleaning product to a new non-food contact surface cleaner and have increased their cleaning schedules. The product is EPA approved as a cleaning product that can help kill off the coronavirus. It is an accelerated hydrogen peroxide-based product. It is less toxic than a bleach-based product and breaks down into oxygen and water after use.
Travel: Students and families traveling internationally to areas identified by the CDC as level 2 and 3 or have traveled on a cruise ship should remain home for a period of 14 days after they return per the CDC Guidelines here. If this affects your family, please report this to your Campus Head. We are making decisions for all local and domestic travel on a case by case basis.
We will be making decisions on summer travel programs as we get closer to those dates.
Campus Events: We are reviewing any large gatherings on a case by case basis and want to minimize exposure to large groups and allow for increased social distancing. The School is carefully reviewing planned student events both on and off campus following Spring Break and will notify you of any cancellations or changes as soon as possible. Notices will be sent by email and posted on Bolles.org under the "News" tab.
What should I do if my child is sick? Stay home. We have asked that all faculty treat absences with leniency and understanding. Classwork and assignments will be posted to Schoology so students may keep up. Students may email their teachers with any questions.
If your child has a fever, we ask that parents bring in a doctor's note before they return to campus.
School Closure: In the event the School should need to close, we have attached below our Distance Learning Plan for each campus so academic lessons can continue in some form. We could never replicate what occurs in our classrooms every day, but we can ensure learning continues to progress during this situation. Please make sure your child takes home all books needed. Please click on your child's campus below to see further details.
In order to test our distant learning procedures, we are extending Spring Break through March 23, 2020. This will allow our faculty to gain additional training and comfort with the program. Athletic practices for Monday, March 23 will run as regularly scheduled. School will reopen for classes on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, unless otherwise notified.
We appreciate your efforts to take health and safety seriously, for your own sake and for that of our community. We know this is not an ideal scenario by any stretch, but as the education author Rushton Hurley writes, we can work together and look for the good in it. "An emergency is a time that calls for us to draw upon the best in ourselves. We are people whose encouragement may be a hidden comfort that keeps the lives of our students and colleagues together. Look in this and any challenge for what can make you a better educator, colleague, parent and friend, now and long after the emergency passes."
Please continue to check your email and www.Bolles.org for future updates. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Campus Head.
Respectfully, Tyler Hodges President and Head of School The Bolles School utilizes "global emails" to communicate with parents and alumni. To streamline communications, these emails are sent on Tuesdays only, except in urgent cases.
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