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Date: 9/8/2020
EASTHAMPTON – Classes have begun at the Williston Northampton School and to ensure the safety of the students and community in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Williston has an extensive list of precautions.
“It is safe to say that almost every aspect of the school is different in some way,” said Director of Communications Ann Hallock.
Williston used a three-step process to welcome their students back to campus.
Hallock said they strongly recommended two weeks of “safer-at-home” learning and required two negative COVID-19 tests before beginning school in person. Students had to test negative up to 72 hours before campus arrival and test negative upon arrival to campus.
“Students who do not have two negative tests may not start the school year on campus and must start the school year remotely,” Hallock said.
According to their details on their testing, families had the option of having their child tested with their primary care physician (PCP) or use one of the campus test days, which they offered for the convenience if families were unable to secure a test from their PCP.
If a student was unable to receive a test before arriving, they were tested immediately and had to quarantine until a second negative test was confirmed after three to five days.
Williston will also be testing all students, faculty, and staff weekly and doing daily reporting of symptoms and contact tracing. Students and families were also asked to sign their Williston Compact, which lists the school’s expectations for being part of the community.
For the first three weeks, the campus will be closed. Students cannot have visitors or leave campus, the only exceptions are their day students who return home at night, but during this period they must refrain from any non-Williston activities and travel. Hallock said students may walk into certain parts of town that are considered within campus boundaries but must maintain all the rules of the Williston Compact. After the three weeks, the school will re-evaluate whether they will loosen, tighten, or stay the course with their policies.
“Any student that is violating the above policies will be asked to begin remote learning from home,” Hallock said.
“In addition, we’ve made many physical alterations to the campus to make sure we are de-densifying the spaces as much as possible. These measures included adding more single dorm rooms, using large spaces for classrooms, air purification, plexiglass installation, mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing, outdoor tent spaces, and many more,” said Hallock.
All members of the Williston community are required to wear masks at all times, whether they are indoors or outdoors. The school provided each student with one mask at the start of school and asked students to bring multiple masks so they can be changed daily.
Every class is set up in a hybrid model that way families who wish to have their child learn remotely can.
“We have some students who are starting the school year remotely for travel reasons, for example, international students who cannot get a visa or flight at this time, and we have a handful of local students starting remotely for health or personal reason. We definitely want to be able to accommodate whatever works best for each family,” Hallock said.
The dining commons has also been adjusted and will be cleaned after each meal. The school has increased the number of dining areas, including the use of outdoor tents, more picnic tables, and a food truck. Plexiglass shields have been installed on all dining tables and the school has changed the way food is served. According to Hallock, there are more grab and go options so that students can take food and head outside.
“Students are assigned to one of three different lunch periods, and they are assigned to a specific location so that we can make sure we never have too many students in one place,” said Hallock.
Williston has increased the amount of cleaning that will be done. According to their website, they have invested in new equipment designed to remove bacteria and germs. Their website states that all dorm bathrooms will be cleaned three times a day, showers will be cleaned using the Kaivac cleaning system. All dormitory common rooms will be cleaned daily using a Victory Gun sprayer.
All other campus bathrooms will be cleaned two times a day. Locker rooms will be fully cleaned each day using the Kaivac cleaning system. The Fitness Center at the Sabina Cain Family Athletic Center will be cleaned after each use with a Victory Gun sprayer.
Classrooms will be cleaned every night and after each class by teachers. At the end of each class, teachers and students will use disposable disinfectant towelettes to wipe down surfaces they individually touched during class.
Like many independent schools, there will be no competing when it comes to sports. Hallock said some activities and sports will happen, but with modifications that make them safer and increase social distancing. Most of their events like assemblies and celebrations that involve larger groups will be held virtually.
If any member of the community has symptoms or test positive will be immediately isolated from the rest of the community. “We have spaces on campus set up just for such a circumstance,” said Hallock. They will then begin the contact tracing process to determine if anyone else on campus is at risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
“We will be using a contact tracing app for this, which allows us to see if anyone has spent more than 15 minutes within 6 feet of another person, as well as interviews and other follow-ups,” said Hallock.
The school will be using an app called Automatic Contact Tracing that has been developed by Price Waterhouse Cooper. Hallock said when students are on campus the app records via wireless and Bluetooth signals their phones proximity to any other phones that also have the app.
“If a student ends up testing positive for COVID, our Health and Wellness Department can log in and see if anyone has been in close enough proximity to that student’s phone to warrant further testing, quarantining, and so on,” said Hallock.
According to Hallock, the app does not allow the school to track anyone’s specific location and all data is automatically deleted after 30 days. When a student is off-campus, there is no data collected by the app. She said the school is using a method called Mobile Device Management to push the app out to student phones. Once the student has it, they can log in using their existing Williston accounts.
“In conjunction with the app, we also have a number of people here trained in contact tracing procedures, so we will also use that kind of follow up as well, should we need to,” Hallock said.
Students who test positive but feel well can continue classes remotely. Those who can return home will recover at home. For students who cannot, will isolate and be cared for in the dedicated spaces.
All of Williston’s protocols and reopening plans can be found on their website at https://www.williston.com/campus-info/williston-reopening-plan/.