Dear Burgundy Community,

I sincerely hope all of you are enjoying the summer! While COVID-19 vaccinations have played an important role in giving us a more normal summer and curtailing the impact of the virus, it is clear that we are not yet past the pandemic.

In the fall, we look forward to returning to 100% in-person learning and nearer normal operations, as conditions allow, with mitigations remaining in place (adjusted where possible; think dimmer switch and swiss cheese metaphors) to keep everyone safe. We continue to encourage all individuals who are eligible to be vaccinated. The science to date strongly indicates better outcomes for our communities and individuals in all scenarios, the more of us are vaccinated.

As we stated in late spring, and in accordance with guidance from the state of VA, CDC, CHOP, and AAP, we are emphasizing the importance of in-person instruction, which is optimal for students’ learning and their social-emotional and personal growth. If we are fortunate, for the remainder of the pandemic the emphasis may be on vaccination and mitigation and preventing and managing outbreaks, within acceptable risk.

Unless health conditions require it, there will be no remote learning. We believe that the ongoing efforts to vaccinate everyone, including more and younger children, will help support that goal. We’re also remaining hopeful that we’ll be able to continue to get back, carefully, towards a more normal school year, and we are planning accordingly, even as we continuously watch the news and review all the latest guidance. Testing may become a bigger part of our strategy; we are looking at this very closely. Meantime, a key to our success remains maintaining mitigations!

We remind everyone that signing our enrollment and employment agreements commits us to follow all of the school’s policies and procedures, including those relating to a pandemic, whether we personally like or agree with each decision or not. We’re asking everyone, therefore, to commit to keeping current with and following Burgundy’s most up-to-date protocols. This includes avoiding high-risk travel or other unsafe activities (think big sleepovers) for unvaccinated students within two weeks of the opening of school or first class activity on campus, whichever your child participates in first (see specific guidance below). Please note: the contractual commitment to all of the School’s rules including our COVID-19 protocols is operating this year in lieu of last year’s separate COVID-19 Social Contract.

We will continue to review all available information and guidance from the CDC, AAP, State of Virginia, VDH, CHOP, our local medical experts, and other sources, including tracking our own and peer schools and outcomes, in order to make the most informed decisions and more specific plans for this coming fall. The protocols and previews we are offering below for your review are based on current conditions — COVID-19 variants, surges in regional cases, or other circumstances could force us to make adjustments or, in the worst-case, to change course or implement different risk-mitigation measures. Our guidance in some cases will be more conservative than someone else’s. Please see our updated COVID-19 mitigation protocols below.

Daily Health Screening
Parents and employees will continue to be expected to complete the Magnus online surveys for COVID-19 symptoms and potential exposures before reporting to campus each day. This includes a home temperature check. There will be no temperature-taking at morning carpool. Note: Parents and employees must upload vaccination documentation and other requested information in the Magnus Health portal.

Masks and Distancing
Indoors:

  • Based on current conditions and to protect the majority of our students, who are not yet eligible for vaccination, we will start the school year with everyone masked indoors, and we will aim to maintain three feet of distancing. Employees working indoors with other vaccinated adults (with no children present) may remove masks if all present consent.
  • Only parents who are vaccinated will be able to volunteer at school or chaperone on Cove or field trips.
  • Singing indoors, masked, will be permissible, but may be relegated to outdoors only depending on conditions.

Outdoors:

  • Masks will be optional outdoors for vaccinated individuals only.
  • Vaccinated teachers in all grades can teach outdoors without a mask when distancing can be observed.
  • Vaccinated teachers also may allow all students to be mask-free outdoors, if they choose, when students are distanced (at least three feet*) and stationary; *this may shift to six feet if metrics are higher
  • Singing and other activities will require more distancing.
  • For the start of the year, unvaccinated children who are working or playing closely together even outdoors will be masked.
  • In larger gatherings where distancing is not likely or possible, everyone will be masked, outdoors as well as indoors.

Please note:

  1. Per CDC guidance, all passengers and drivers must wear a mask when on a school bus. All individuals in carpools that include members of different households must be masked.
  2. Adjustments to these masking protocols can and may be made as we assess current conditions.
  3. Distancing continues to be a good practice regardless of vaccination status.


Illness

  • Non-COVID-19 related illness: we will require at least a 48-hour symptom-free (without medication) stay-at-home period and a doctor’s note to return. [Burgundy also may require a negative COVID-19 test at School’s discretion.] Siblings may attend school provided they do not have or develop symptoms.
  • COVID-19 diagnosis within the household: any person who tests positive must isolate for 10 days; if true isolation is not possible, then the unvaccinated family members will have to quarantine for an additional 14 days after the 10 day period, for a total of up to 24 days. To learn more about the difference between isolation and quarantine from the VDH, click here.
  • COVID-19 exposure:
    • Vaccinated persons who are exposed to or in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case should monitor symptoms and isolate if they develop symptoms. [This could change.]
    • Unvaccinated persons must complete a quarantine for 14 days and continue to monitor for symptoms.
      • Stay home for 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19.
      • Watch for fever (100.1◦F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19.
      • If possible, stay away from people you live with, especially people who are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19.
    • Please report known exposures to the School by emailing clinic@burgundyfarm.org.


Vaccination
Vaccination is strongly urged for all eligible employees and students and their families. Data is undeniably affirming the effectiveness of vaccination at limiting the spread of COVID-19 and reducing illness. Individuals, families, and our communities all are safer and better protected when vaccination rates are high. We may move, particularly if/when the FDA gives full approval to the vaccinations, to require COVID-19 vaccination for all eligible. For now, we urge everyone who’s eligible to receive the vaccination. Upload proof of vaccination to the Magnus portal.

Testing
Burgundy to date has not relied on routine campus testing to screen for COVID-19. But we have continued to monitor our COVID-19 testing options. We are prepared to test, and we reserve the right at any time to require testing. This may be as soon as prior to the start of school.

Travel

  • Please refrain from unvaccinated students taking high-risk travel (air travel but not masked local travel such as Metro or bus) within two weeks before the start of school or any orientation activity on campus.
  • Plane, train, and bus travel for unvaccinated employees and students will continue to require a quarantine, regardless of international or domestic travel. Please see the specific guidelines below:
    • Get tested with a COVID-19 test 3-5 days after travel AND stay home in self-quarantine for a full 7 days after travel per CDC guidance.
    • Even if you test negative, stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days and continue to monitor for symptoms.
    • If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.


Off-Campus Activities
As we continue with other critically important protocols, we also must continue to rely on careful decision-making by families and employees regarding off-campus activities. There will be no official limitations, for now, on student sports or other outdoor activities for the fall. However, per CDC guidance, larger group activities indoors should be masked. We may issue further guidance as appropriate.

 

We hope this information is helpful to you as you think about the year ahead. Again, we will be refining and adjusting plans as necessary, including with additional public-health guidance that may become available, while also monitoring regional and school-community COVID-19 conditions.

Further updates on a host of topics will be shared nearer to the start of school. As previously announced, Extended Day will operate, including a free plan for the 2:15 pm early Wednesday dismissals. Also, we are hopeful of having a resumption of interscholastic sports and other activities, conditions allowing and in collaboration with peer schools.

As with this past year, we will need to count on Burgundy community members to exercise careful judgment to help keep our learning community healthy and on-campus and able to enjoy as rich and full a program as we can!

In the meantime, if you have a specific question about your child, please reach out to their division head. If you have general questions about school plans or protocols, please direct them to covidquestions@burgundyfarm.org, to be addressed in future communications.

Jeff