November 12, 2020

Dear Day School Parents,

First, I want to thank you for the cooperative partnership we have shared during these past 11 weeks. When we made plans to open the campus for in-person instruction, it was with the firm understanding that we had the foundational building blocks to be able to move forward with such a plan: a relatively small population to campus size ratio; teaching spaces that could accommodate the necessary distancing; a variety of indoor and outdoor flexible gathering spaces; a detailed health and safety plan should someone contract the virus; and a thorough sanitization strategy, in addition to other important safety factors inherent in our plan. Still, we knew that the campus could never become a bubble. Members of our faculty, staff, and student community would be coming and going, to and from the campus, on a daily basis. This variable would require vigilance from all parties involved, including a firm partnership with our day student families. As we approach the end of this term, I want to thank you for this partnership and for your efforts to keep the larger Trinity-Pawling community safe and healthy throughout this term.

Secondly, I want to ask for your continued and heightened vigilance as we enter into the final week of this term. We are now facing rising infection rates in Dutchess County, NY, and even a more pronounced rise in viral infections in neighboring areas, most notably in Connecticut. I ask that you continue to work to restrict the interaction your son has with members of the larger community away from this campus and that he remains adherent to the School's request that he wears a mask when out in public. Furthermore, if anyone in the family should feel ill, please have your son remain at home until the nature of that illness can be ascertained.

Thirdly, I want to inform you that we have been increasingly observant of the density level in Scully Hall during our three lunch periods since the weather has grown more unpredictable. While we have seen some increase in the number of boarding students who are choosing to eat their lunches inside the building, we still have a fair number who are taking their lunches to go. As such, we are going to use next week as a test case for consolidating our two dining locations to Scully Hall and use the week to determine whether this will be the preferred course of action for the remainder of the year. We are hopeful that this will be the result of this assessment and that the day and boarding students will be able to share this space during lunches in ways that do not create an unsafe density of people in this space.

Lastly, on behalf of the faculty and staff of Trinity-Pawling School, I want to wish you and your family a safe, healthy, and Happy Thanksgiving.

In Community,