Update Regarding the COVID-19 Coronavirus in Advance of Spring Break
Dear Wooster Community,
I found all to be useful in better understanding the potential spread of the novel coronavirus and how we can make a difference as individuals, and collectively as a school community, in helping to mitigate that spread. This kind of information was useful in helping us to make the decision to shift to a virtual learning model this week. We'll continue to research and study the situation as it unfolds, and endeavor to make decisions that are in the best interests of the school and our individual and collective community members.
Community is our focus as we make our way through this unprecedented territory. We often use the terms gentle, generous, truthful, kind, and brave to describe the people whom we would like our children to be, and now is one of those times when these aspirations will be tested in all of us. Most of the testing, I hope, will be in smaller ways -- it is hard for everyone when the kids are not in school each day. It is far more difficult for teachers to facilitate the kinds of learning that we want happening, and it obviously puts a strain on families to have to account for the additional time and care involved. That said, we are all in this together -- along with the rest of the country, and the rest of the world. We are lucky in that we are part of a tight-knit school community and I am confident that together we will figure out how to make the best of this challenging situation.
One important thing that we can all come together around is maximizing the benefits of social distancing to do our small part in mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus. Hopefully we can all continue to be mindful of not gathering in large groups, conducting excellent health hygiene routines, and practicing safe behaviors when in public spaces where we might come into close contact with others. I'll be the first to admit that changing my behavior in this way has felt strange, and maybe like "too much" at times, but the best advice from doctors and epidemiologists right now is to be "better safe than sorry."
All the best,
Matt Byrnes Head of School
Wooster School |