Dear Burgundy Families,

We are eager to welcome our students back to school in September and to share our plans to provide on-campus learning for all students this Fall. This return-to-school planning update will begin to explain how, conditions allowing, we intend to reopen campus full time, five days per week while protecting the safety and wellness of our students, faculty, staff, and all community members to the greatest extent possible.

We will also ask you to complete a brief survey regarding the decisions outlined in this letter and our planned return to campus.

Our approach to reopening will continue to be informed by the Forward Virginia blueprint, existing state or local mandates, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other respected sources, including, but not limited to, the American Academy of Pediatrics. We also will work in partnership with local and state public health officials and will adjust our plans and protocols as appropriate.

Families and students should expect that the Burgundy experience will be different than it has been in the past. As detailed below, Burgundy will implement community and campus mitigation strategies such as physical distancing, cohorts, mask-wearing, health checks and/or certifications, strict attention to hygiene, enhanced cleaning, etc. for the foreseeable future in order to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and to keep our community as safe and healthy as possible. Some of these strategies may take on a different look at different developmental age levels, but we will be direct and firm with expectations, with supportive teaching and training

We want to be clear that perfect mitigation of COVID-19 risk is not possible and cannot be our goal. Rather, educating children is our mission, and protecting the health and safety of our children and community while making our best efforts to deliver that mission during a pandemic is our immediate goal.

Principles and Priorities for Reopening School on Campus

Safety and Health

We will follow general CDC principles and Virginia and regional guidance for reopening schools to inform how we will reduce risk and protect the total well-being of our students, faculty, staff and our families, recognizing that we also have responsibility toward the wellness of our greater local and regional communities.

Program

We will offer the fullest on-campus Burgundy program we can while making necessary adjustments to our programs and procedures and doing our best to accommodate student needs. We will be ready to deliver the best possible program for all students, respecting that at different times some students may not be able to attend school on campus. We are planning for remote accommodations for students who are not able to be on campus and a fully remote option in the event that campus must close.

Community

In all of our efforts we will capitalize on two of our greatest resources: our incredible campuses and our incredible people who make up the Burgundy faculty and staff, our parents and families, and alumni and alumni parents.

Adaptability

We will remain vigilant, nimble and realistic, ready to adjust our overall approach as the context demands.

What safety protocols will be in place?

The School’s protocols will be based on CDC recommendations and applicable state, regional, local and other respected guidance. Our baseline protocols include the following:

1. We will require students, parents, and all employees to wear masks. We will review if and when ‘breaks’ from masks can be offered, for instance for JK and K students outdoors or where physical distancing or reopening phases may allow.
2. We will adhere to a six-foot physical distancing guideline as an expectation for students in classrooms, to be maintained as completely as possible.
3. We will coach students to keep distance and practice enhanced hygiene, including enhanced and more frequent cleaning of high touch surfaces, to reduce risk of person-to-person and surface contact transmission.
4. We will use appropriate signage and other visual and auditory cues to help guide and remind students and others on campus of our health and safety protocols.
5. Employees and families will certify in writing before the Fall reopening and daily thereafter that they and students are in compliance with the School’s COVID-19 protocols and procedures and that they are symptom- and fever-free.
6. No person with a fever exceeding 100.1 degrees Fahrenheit or who is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 symptoms (that cannot be attributable to other causes) may be on campus.
7. Beyond drop-off and pick-up, parents may attend events or participate in campus activities only with prior administrative approval or invitation. Otherwise, no visitors other than specified contractors and pre-approved/invited parents should be on campus.
8. All arrivals after morning carpool arrival shall check in at the Main Office (following existing policies).
9. Student arrival and departure times and/or locations may be staggered.

More details on these protocols are forthcoming. Variation from these safety protocols can occur only with certification from the Head of School who will be in consultation with the COVID-19 Task Force Coordinating Committee.

What will on-campus learning at Burgundy look like this fall?

Subject to guidance and mandates issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia, our plan is to re-open our campus with all students on campus five days per week. We have identified spaces that allow for physical distancing, and we have staffing required to re-open, and our plans are consistent with, and at times may exceed, state and federal guidelines.

With the understanding that these plans are subject to changing guidelines and circumstances, our current planning and expectations for the fall include the following protocols:

1. All regular classes and activities will be in small group “cohorts” that generally do not mix with other classes or groups.
2. Cohorts of students will stay together for the day; specials teachers will travel to homerooms.
3. So that we can maintain distancing in classrooms, some homerooms may be moved to spaces away from where they typically would meet.
4. Teachers will utilize outdoor spaces and decks, teach outdoors as much as practicable, and maintain ventilation in classrooms open to the outdoors, weather permitting.
5. Students will be given ample opportunities to play and socialize outdoors.
6. We will adjust and/or decide to forego participation in sports and other social co- and extracurricular activities depending on current data and the levels of risk and possible mitigation.
7. We are planning for remote accommodations for students who are not able to be on campus for whatever reason.
8. We are actively discussing whether and how we can run an Extended Day program.

What about the Cove?

1. BCWS has developed some protocols to be used starting this summer and has been piloting some visits to the Cove of small groups of children with first graders who missed their first Cove trip in the spring. BCWS Protocols
2. Plans for Fall Cove trips are still under consideration. More information to come.

No plan will eliminate all risk, but as we continue to develop procedures and policy, we will layer in more specific strategies and protocols to reduce risk to the greatest extent possible. The standards outlined above are meant as a baseline. Our response will include readiness to adjust to different circumstances as appropriate, tightening or loosening protocols as required. Burgundy will be releasing a comprehensive plan and guidelines for reopening later in the summer, by early August.

As we look forward to the fall, we know that Burgundy will still be Burgundy, but we must make some meaningful changes to routines and procedures to protect one another and our community. We are going to ask each community member to commit to these new procedures and routines so that together we can operate school as safely as possible. As always, protecting the safety and holistic wellness of our students, faculty, staff, and community will guide our decisions.

Please complete the parent survey by Wednesday July 8th at 5:00 pm. The school plans to host two Town Halls (dates TBD in mid-July and mid-August) and a series of Zoom office hours to answer specific questions you may have. In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying a healthy, safe, and relaxing summer.

Sincerely,

Jeff Sindler
Head of School
Co-Chair, Burgundy’s Reopening Task Forces

Joanne Petty
Co-Chair, Burgundy’s Reopening Task Forces

Chad Breckinridge
President, Board of Trustees