![]() December 18, 2020
Dear Parents,
First, I want to wish you and your family the very best for the coming holidays and for a bright, healthy, and happy new year. I know we are all looking forward to the hope of a new year. To be sure, though, the first few months of the new year will continue to be challenging as we wage our battle against this pandemic.
Secondly, on behalf of the faculty, I want to convey how impressed we have been by the quality and thoroughness of the work that your sons have done during this Wintersession. The projects were creative, dynamic, and, hopefully, enjoyable. We were pleased to offer this approach to teaching and learning during this short period in the School's calendar.
As we look to the coming winter months, our undivided attention has been directed toward how to maximize the health and safety of this community while also delivering an educational product that is the most productive and meaningful for our students and for you as parents. As I have said many times, the most effective teaching and learning happens in a community where the energy of interpersonal relationships is created and nurtured. This energy can be replicated in a remote learning environment, but it is not as fully efficacious as learning in person. Moreover, social interaction and growth during adolescence is a critical component of the larger developmental process of adolescence. Finding the right avenue that maximizes both safety and the efficacy of the learning and growth experience for our students has always been the primary navigational beacon for Trinity-Pawling School.
As the School prepares for the second half of the academic year, our focus is directed towards the delivery of our educational commitment in ways that effectively manage the risks of social interaction in this pandemic until the vaccine is widely available. With this in mind, I wanted to share the School's current plans for the next eight weeks at Trinity-Pawling School. These plans have been adjusted from what was communicated in the fall, and these changes have been necessitated by the spread of the virus throughout the nation. Specifically, the School has sought to take measures that will significantly reduce the traffic to and from campus in order to minimize the opportunity for viral spread.
I will also add that these plans, like the crisis itself, are fluid. As conditions change, they will be adjusted accordingly. However, for the immediate future, this will be the protocol for reopening the campus in January.
I realize that these adjustments to our COVID-19 plan represent a change of direction from how the School operated in the Fall Term. Unfortunately, the highly dynamic conditions of the pandemic has forced these changes, and they have been created out of an abundance of caution for the safety and health of the students and everyone living on campus while also working to optimize the learning experience for our students. If the conditions pertaining to COVID-19 warrant a reconsideration of these plans, then this will be done and any changes will be communicated to you in a prompt manner.
Should you have any questions, please submit them using this FORM to facilitate a timely response.
Thank you for your support of Trinity-Pawling and for your understanding of our efforts to continue to provide a meaningful learning experience in ways that best manage the health and safety of the larger community.
In Community, ![]() William W. Taylor Headmaster Trinity-Pawling School | 700 Route 22 | Pawling, NY 12564 | 845.855.3100 | www.trinitypawling.org © 2020 Trinity-Pawling School |