Dear Burgundy families,

Our four COVID-19 task forces now are meeting weekly and reviewing all aspects of our preparations for the return to campus, beginning with the highest priority issues and questions regarding the health and safety and general wellbeing of all of our students, employees, and families. We have reviewed the Virginia Governor’s “Recover.Redesign.Restart” reopening of school report, which came out last week, as well as guidance from VCPE (the Virginia Council for Private Education) who will help oversee schools’ re-openings. We continue to plan for a return to campus in September and school in-person.

We will communicate through the summer on our progress. Our planning conversations are drawing on the expertise of Burgundy community members with medical, scientific, and other relevant background and experience as well as data and guidance from the region and indeed around the world, including by the CDC and federal, state, and local authorities. Mitigation of risk from COVID-19 is the primary focus, knowing that we will not eradicate all risk but reduce it with overlapping protocols and best use of our facilities and staff. We will work diligently but patiently through our task force agendas as we keep close awareness of our regional context and outlook. We will release information regarding our decisions, and indeed our thinking processes, as appropriate across the summer.

As we develop plans to welcome all of our students back to campus this fall, we will remain prepared to flex to meet the circumstances and the needs of our community members. We recognize that while Virginia is currently in a phase II of reopening, we can not be assured what phase the State will be in come late August or early September. Regardless of the scenario we know that there will be meaningful adjustments to many aspects of our school lives and how we operate. We will take the necessary time and care to ensure that all employees, students, and families are up to speed.

Talk to you soon.

Jeff