Dear Boarding Students and Parents,
It has been far from a typical fall at TASIS, and I am very proud of everyone in our community for doing his or her part to keep us as safe as possible and to keep our school open and running. Despite the many safety restrictions in place in Switzerland and the world over, we've still managed to have a productive fall semester, and I am more excited than ever about what we'll be able to accomplish as a school when we eventually reach the other side of this pandemic. With the promising news released by Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday, I hope that day is not too far off.
The current reality, of course, is that Covid-19 infections continue to rise in Switzerland and throughout most of the world. With this in mind, I would like to turn your attention to a few recent developments and take another look at the upcoming Winter Holiday, which we last discussed in our Weekly Bulletins on October 9. Please carefully review the information below as you finalize your plans for the holiday. 2020–2021 Academic Calendar As we've said all along, we have every intention of holding to our original 2020–2021 calendar. This means that our last day of classes before the holiday will be Wednesday, December 16, and our dormitories will close at 16:00 on Thursday, December 17. Dormitories will reopen at 12:00 on Sunday, January 3, and classes will resume on Tuesday, January 5. New Quarantine Arrangements We are pleased to share that we have just reached an agreement with Villa Principe Leopoldo, a five-star hotel located just down the hill from TASIS, that will allow us to quarantine boarding students off campus. The Principe will be reserved for students who have been in close contact with any member of the community who tests positive for Covid-19. These students will remain at Principe until cleared by medical authorities, at which point they will return to their dormitories on campus.
Students who actually test positive for Covid-19 (as opposed to those who simply need to be quarantined for precautionary reasons) will immediately be moved to our isolation facility adjacent to campus. They will receive any necessary medical treatment in the isolation facility and will remain there until cleared by medical authorities.
Students in both locations will be supervised by a team composed of TASIS staff members and will have additional care provided by InterNursing, a highly respected Swiss organization that specializes in selecting and placing healthcare workers. Winter Holiday: December 17–January 4 As noted above, dormitories will close on December 17, and all boarding students must depart campus by 16:00 that day. We understand that many families would like to have their children return home earlier than this for a variety of reasons—including the possibility that flight options could be limited—and we will certainly accommodate these early departures. Most importantly, we understand that boarding students may wish to depart early to avoid the unfortunate possibility of being required at the last moment to quarantine either here in Switzerland or in their home countries. Although we fully intend to run live classes all the way through December 16, we would hate for any students to miss out on the opportunity to travel home to see their families. We know how much our students need a restful holiday, and we want to make sure they have one.
Our teachers have been providing hybrid instruction to students for a number of reasons throughout this semester, and they will be prepared to continue doing so for any students who decide to travel home before classes conclude on December 16. Please know that students who choose to leave campus early will be required to attend their classes remotely.
As you finalize your travel plans for the winter holiday, it is very important that you keep the School informed. High School boarding students and Middle School boarding parents can click on the button below to submit a leave request through REACH, our boarding student management platform. With the understanding that all plans are subject to change in these uncertain times, we do encourage you to submit travel plans as soon as possible. (High school parents, please check in with your children to ensure that they do so.) Important Note 1: High school students who are leaving early for the winter holiday—meaning they will be missing some live classes—must stop by the Deans Office prior to their departure to collect and complete a brown form.
Please know that our nurses will help students arrange to be tested if they are traveling to a location that requires them to do so before they depart Switzerland. It is the responsibility of the student to visit our Health Center and set up an appointment.
An Alternative Option for Winter Holiday As discussed in early October, we will be offering a winter holiday trip in the Verbier Valley for those who prefer not to leave Switzerland. See this previous communication for details about the Verbier trip—noting that we may need to make adjustments to the programming based upon whatever safety guidelines are in place at the time—and please click on the button below to confirm your interest in this trip. We understand that many things have changed since we offered you a chance to express your interest back in early October, so we ask that you please fill out the form even if you already did so earlier. Please direct any questions about the Verbier trip to Middle School Dean of Student Affairs MJ Breton or High School Dean of Students KC McKee.
Return from Winter Holiday At the moment, there are very few TASIS students who live in regions that require a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in Switzerland—as Switzerland has greatly reduced its "list of countries and areas with an increased risk of infection"—but we know it is possible that conditions could change again. Please know that if any students need to be quarantined upon their return in January, our plan is to have them do so safely and comfortably in facilities both on and off campus. (This plan is subject to change if Switzerland decides to add more countries to the list before January.)
We also understand that some students may have difficulty arriving on time for the resumption of classes on January 5, and we will work out all details with families—including the establishment of hybrid instruction—as needed. We think it is best to focus on winter holiday departures at the moment, but we will gather details about returns prior to the start of the holiday.
Covid-19 Testing As you will recall, we tested all boarding and day students before opening school in late August. We have also tested any students who have exhibited symptoms or who have had exposure to a known positive case throughout the fall semester.
All TASIS students—day and boarding, new and returning—will again be tested for Covid-19 prior to restarting classes after the winter holiday. For the convenience of our families, we will have testing facilities open on campus prior to the start of school. We are tentatively aiming to test students from January 2–4, and we are currently researching the option of Swiss-approved rapid testing as well.
Zoom Q&A Session for Parents We are pleased to answer individual questions from families as they arise, but we would also like to invite all boarding parents to a virtual question-and-answer session to further discuss any of the topics discussed above. To accommodate families living in different time zones, High School Dean of Students KC McKee, Middle School Dean of Student Affairs MJ Breton, and Director of Residential Life Tom Lill will host sessions at 11:00 AM (CET) and 4:00 PM (CET) on Monday, November 16. Please click on the button below for a direct link to either meeting. You should not need the Meeting ID (751 485 0949) or Passcode (7wXSgV), but we will list them here just in case.
Sincerely,
Christopher Nikoloff TASIS Headmaster |