June 8, 2020

Dear Trinity-Pawling Parents and Prospective Parents,

I hope that this letter finds you well and your family in good health. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with more details regarding the School's plan for the 2020-2021 academic year. As I have said on various virtual gatherings, it has been and remains the School's objective to commence the next school year on campus with a commitment to the same length of a school year as would typically be the case.

The Spring Term and its remote learning environment reminded us of something that we knew but took for granted: learning happens best when it happens in community. While this is true of all learning, it is particularly true in the case of Trinity-Pawling, where the relationships between the students and faculty and the availability of extra help are catalysts to the learning and growth processes. Through creativity, disciplined hard work, and collaboration, it is essential that we work to forge a safe, adaptable environment that can allow for students to return to campus in measures that are compatible with the health and safety demands associated with COVID-19.

As I and others plan for what the next school year will look like, I am struck with a deep appreciation for the advantages of doing this planning from the perspective of envisioning how Trinity-Pawling has distinct advantages over larger public schools, independent day schools, or even larger boarding schools with regard to student safety. From my perspective, here are some critical advantages to consider.

Trinity-Pawling can provide robust health monitoring protocols because we have nurses who live on campus and a Health Center that is supervised on a 24-hour basis.
Most Trinity-Pawling students board on campus, creating an environment where residents' health is easier to monitor and safeguard.
Our Center for Learning Achievement, featuring our distinctive LEAD and ESP programs, benefits from a time-tested and unique curriculum that guides instruction, rather than merely providing a support structure for extra-help (something which is available from all of our faculty on a daily basis). All of this is highly accessible at Trinity-Pawling. While we succeeded at providing this type of distinctive programming remotely, its benefits are far more effective when we are all on campus.
Most of the dormitories at Trinity-Pawling are small, and all of them are subdivided into smaller units which creates easier monitoring of social distancing parameters.
Because we have a relatively much smaller day student population, especially compared to an all-day population, Trinity-Pawling can provide daily screening for students coming onto campus.
Trinity-Pawling has a 250-acre campus with many areas to gather outside for meaningful purposes. By many accounts, the virus does not live as long outdoors, and the sunlight is a critical component in mitigating its virulence.
Trinity-Pawling has limited entrances to campus which can be monitored. All deliveries can be re-routed to areas not frequented by students.

This week, I met with the faculty and staff to provide them with more details of what next year might look like, and I would like to provide you with this insight as well. First and foremost, all of our plans are now and will continue to be subject to the guidance of the CDC and the laws of New York State. Secondly, our plans are also guided by the operative interplay of six critical factors in dealing with life with COVID-19:

Protocols and Processes for Antigen Testing
Protocols and Processes for Tracing and Tracking if there is a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 combined with a dynamic screening process for those coming to campus
Protocols and Processes for Therapeutic Treatments as they become available, including the requirement for everyone to receive the vaccine for the seasonal flu
Social Distancing Protocols
Quarantining Protocols for those who test positive for COVID-19, as well as protocols for those who were in close contact with someone who tests positive for the virus
A robust Hygienic Cleaning Strategy

Last week, we created multiple task forces that are working both independently and collaboratively to ensure a comprehensive strategy and plan for how we will operate when Trinity-Pawling opens for the new academic year. Each of these task forces are guided by the interplay of the six critical components of our operational strategy listed above. These task forces address the following areas:

Health
- This task force is charged with monitoring the evolving information from the CDC and the State of New York on such critical information addressing:
  - Testing protocols and resources
  - Tracing and Tracking Procedures
  - Variable impacting quarantining and distancing measures
  - New information on the virus and its transmission
  - Mobilization of the on-campus health resources and School response in the event of a positive diagnosis
- This task force will ensure that the Health Center and the School as a whole is operating under a singular response strategy for a positive diagnosis, either directly (on campus) or indirectly (off campus).
- This task force will also provide recommendations regarding the use of masks or face coverings that is consistent with the current guidelines of the CDC.
Residential Life
- Assessment of dormitory density and rooming configuration to ensure optimal safety and distancing measures in dormitory rooms.
- Assessment of bathroom density in each dormitory.
- Development of dormitory-specific protocols for congregation in dorm rooms, common areas, and bathrooms.
Dining
- Development of protocols for dining, including space density and how food is delivered to the diners.
- Exploration of alternative dining areas on campus to address density issues.
- Exploration of "grab-and-go" options for some meals.
Academics
- Assessment of square footage of each available classroom space to ensure appropriate density to comply with distancing guidelines.
- Creation of a new, temporary academic calendar that addresses the necessary number of class sections that will be created to comply with distancing guidelines.
Pedagogy and Professional Development
- Creation of a Professional Development plan for faculty to work toward best practices for synchronous and asynchronous teaching. This assumes that:
  - Some students may not be able to return to campus for in-person instruction, but would still wish to be a part of the Trinity-Pawling learning community.
- With the Dean of Faculty, work to create a Professional Development Evaluation Plan to ensure that all faculty are learning, growing, and evaluated on their growth under these new conditions.
- Work to ensure that faculty have the professional resources to enhance their skills with Project Based Learning.
Technology
- Ensure that the technological infrastructure is equipped to facilitate variable conditions and increased use of bandwidth for asynchronous learning.
- Ensure that classrooms are equipped with the necessary hardware to facilitate synchronous learning.
- When necessary, troubleshooting of technological challenges as they emerge.
Community Gatherings and Social Life
- Work to create plans where the strengths of the community can be leveraged for students on campus in ways that are commensurate with distancing guidelines and protocols.
- Working with the Health Center, continue to provide dynamic programming and resources that address the emotional health and well-being of the students and the larger Trinity-Pawling community, including parents, during the challenges associated with COVID-19.
- Create an engaging plan for social activities for boarding students that are commensurate with guidelines for health and distancing protocols.
Social Distancing
- Creation of campus specific policies and procedures for proper distancing protocols for various different aspects of daily life on campus.
- Working with the Health Center, creating protocols for the use of masks or face coverings when social distancing parameters cannot be assured.
Day Students and Visitors
- Creation of specific plans and protocols for monitoring the health and interactions of day students coming on campus.
- Creation of a plan to allow for visitors on campus consistent with screening protocols.
Athletics
- Working with the Founders League and under the auspices of guidelines of the CDC and the State of New York, develop a plan for interscholastic athletics that adheres to the guidelines of distancing and hygiene.
- Creation on campus of sports-specific personalized instruction if interscholastic athletics are limited at the time of a particular sports season.
- In the event of limitation of interscholastic athletics, develop a wellness plan for physical fitness available for all students.
Calendar Revision
- Examine the 2020-2021 School Calendar and assess any potential changes that may involve:
  - Adjusting the vacation schedules to allow for longer vacations off campus and the elimination of long weekends.
  - Ensure that the 2020-2021 School Calendar provides the same number of learning days and weeks of instruction that are normally provided by Trinity-Pawling, with the understanding that the State of New York may force school closures in the event of a second wave of the virus's virulence.
Communication
- Continue with a commitment to provide regular and predictable communication vehicles to keep parents apprised of campus developments and adaptations of plans to meet potential variables.

As the need for more task forces emerge, more will be created. As mentioned above, these task forces are designed to be interdependent and reflect the School's belief that learning and preparation are more comprehensive and thoughtful when done collaboratively.

The work of these task forces constitutes the foundation of the plan that will guide our operation in the coming school year. Much progress has already been done to gather the necessary data that will allow these task forces to come together with a comprehensive plan. This plan will allow Trinity-Pawling to deliver an exceptional learning experience on campus that has been constructed in ways that work to accommodate the necessary provisions that must be in place to respond to the challenges caused by COVID-19.

There is no way for Trinity-Pawling, or any school for that matter, to accurately predict what the conditions will be three months from now. It is important to underscore that we are three months into this new reality, and already much has changed since mid-March.

It is to be expected that much will change from now until the start of the new school year. In July, the School will be able to communicate with greater clarity some of the specifics of a plan for the year that will emanate from the work of these task forces. To do so now, would be premature given the variable nature of the situation. I am confident, though, that the plans that we are now creating will allow us the flexibility and adaptability to adjust to new developments in order to have an operative plan in place for the start of the school year. I also recognize that this plan will inevitably change during the course of the school year as the conditions change.

Building a Bridge to the Future

The metaphor that I have used with the faculty and staff is that we are tasked with building a bridge to the other side of COVID-19. The other side is to be envisioned as that time when either there is a vaccine that is widely accessible or a robust therapeutic treatment that renders the virus no more deleterious as the seasonal flu. In either scenario, we would be able to return to a scope of operation that will be akin to what we have done in the past, before COVID-19.

The bridge that we are building will be temporary. It must be strong, because it needs to get us to the other side. It doesn't need to look pretty or to have any semblance to anything that is permanent, because the bridge is a temporary one. It is not designed to be a lasting structure, but a functional one.

When we are able to get off the bridge on the other side, we will do so with the wind at our sails and traction that will allow us to quickly regain the momentum that we have established over the past several years at Trinity-Pawling. I also believe that we will be even a stronger and more vibrant School on the other side of the bridge because of the collective learning and growth that will have taken place.

This journey at Trinity-Pawling will be distinctive, life-changing, and evolving. We will continue to honor important traditions and the timeless values that have distinguished the Trinity-Pawling experience. Yet, we will also continue to be nimble so to provide our students with the educational fortitude that will equip them with the skills and confidence to adapt.

I am proud of how Trinity-Pawling responded to the challenge forced upon all schools this past spring. We demonstrated adaptability, flexibility, and foresight. I am confident that these same traits will lead us forward toward this next academic year. I am also confident that we will continue to demonstrate that we are successfully delivering our mission to educate and instill a value system that prepares young men to be contributing members of society amidst the challenges of an ever-changing world.

Onward!