Students will not come to campus starting next week due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, according to an email from Head of School Elizabeth English sent Thursday afternoon. Instead, classes will be conducted remotely using tools like the PowerSchool Learning Hub and Zoom, with an orientation day on Tuesday and classes beginning Wednesday. Online learning will last until Friday, March 27, but students may be able to return to campus after Spring Break.

Yesterday after school, faculty members were trained in the use of Zoom, a virtual learning platform, and some students learned today how to use the platform. Tomorrow, the rest of the student body will be taught how to use Zoom and communicate with their teachers during the time away.

The remote learning will follow an A/B block schedule with alternating Purple and Green days. Each class period will be an hour and a half long, during which students may meet on Zoom’s shared video platform for lectures or complete independent work.

In the email, English also wrote that the two Archer Abroad trips to France and Mexico have been canceled, along with ninth grade Arrow Week.

“While we acknowledge the position of those who view closing as a preventative measure, we also acknowledge the difficulty this poses for families who do not have child care, the social isolation our students may experience, and the lay-offs our third-party vendors may face such as kitchen, security, and transportation staff,” she wrote. “We are determined, however, to support one another and create community however far apart we may be.”

The Oracle will continue to report on this developing story.