Dear Burgundy Community,

As confirmed COVID-19 cases have been identified in our region, Burgundy continues to closely monitor and follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Virginia Department of Health, and the Fairfax County Department of Health. Jeff is communicating with AISGW and VAIS heads of school and executive directors on a regular basis. Our Burgundy Board Risk Management committee, which includes trustees and administrators, and Board Executive Committee are working with our administration to evaluate the latest news and information, and we have a Burgundy COVID-19 Task Force, which is a subset of these larger groups as a smaller, more nimble decision-making body where needed. 

The safety and health of our students, employees, and Burgundy community continue to be top priority. According to the CDC, the COVID-19 outbreak continues to present a rapidly evolving situation. The progression and potential impact of the outbreak on our area and our school are difficult to predict, and we therefore remain focused on prevention as well as readiness.

Our response may escalate in proportion to increasing cases of the virus’s appearance in our area and in response to local authorities’ decisions and advice. From here on, we need parents and employees to be prepared for that escalation, which could include changes in operations and even closing the campus and using remote learning for a period of time.  For the time being, however, we plan to stay alert to the latest news and advice and to update you regularly regarding our awareness of the situation and any changes to current protocols or decisions. 

For now, here are some additional requests and reminders:

  1. Anyone with a fever and/or flu symptoms should stay home, and we should maintain normative illness procedures about returning to school or work (24 hours without severe symptoms and fever-free). 

  1. If any of us has reasons to believe we may have been exposed to the virus or in close proximity with someone infected with the virus, then we should take appropriate measures to self-monitor for symptoms and speak to medical personnel as needed. Here are some helpful guidelines defining ‘exposure’ and ‘close contact’ Per the CDC, ‘close contact’ is defined as: 

    1. being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time; close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a healthcare waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case

    2. having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on).

  1. Soon we will be incorporating and socializing alternatives to handshakes and hugs in favor of more social distancing procedures such as elbow bumps or waves.

  1. We are asking families to keep continuous awareness of the CDC’s travel advisories and information for travelers and urge families to avoid all non-essential travel to level 2 or level 3 countries as identified by the CDC.

    1. If parents or any household members travel or have traveled to CDC ‘level 3’ areas they must follow CDC protocols, alert Burgundy and remain quarantined at home for 14 days, self-monitoring for symptoms.

    2. Household members similarly must remain off-campus for 14 days, and therefore students with household members who have traveled to these ‘level 3’ areas may return to school only after no member of the household exhibits symptoms or fever for 14 continuous days. While absent, students will have a remote learning plan. 

  1. We continue to evaluate school meetings, field trips, and our school spring break gap camp and Bahamas trip. As with other health and safety situations, the School and community will respect parents’ discretion regarding students’ participation .

  1. We ask all families to be prepared for possible disruptions of our regular school and work routines, including school being closed; here is the CDC’s link to support family readiness.

This virus presents a challenge to our community as it pushes us to plan for extreme circumstances while maintaining a sense of calm and normalcy. The health and safety of our community is our first priority, and we will continue to keep you updated. We all will need to continue to stay alert and nimble in our collective response to the evolving COVID-19 health situation. Here finally is the link to the CDC’s Q/A section on COVID-19.

Best,

Jeff