The following is an update regarding administrative action: Following the publication of the editorial below, the administration made a COVID-19 dashboard available to all students on the student portal under the resources tile. As an Editorial Board, we are appreciative of this swift action and recognize the importance of this addition to student COVID-19 communication.

We can wear masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. We can stand 6 feet apart to reduce transmission. We can get vaccinated to build immunity to the virus. We can get boosted to reduce our risk of infection and severe illness. We are taking action to protect our physical selves. 

But what protects our minds? What protects us from the insidious stress and fears of infection in our everyday lives? 

Information.

Information is the new vaccine.

The transparency of our administration concerning COVID-19 developments on campus has been and continues to be vital in quelling the stress and fear that comes with attending school during the pandemic. This proactive effort should expand beyond largely parent-oriented communication and towards student-centered communication. It is in this manner that school can preserve its function as a safe space where learning and growth are at the forefront of the community’s mind. 

In December, Archer leaders created a COVID-19 dashboard for parents to access via their personal portal. This dashboard is updated frequently and details the vaccination rates in the community as well as the positivity rates both from on campus testing and self-reported cases. 

When parents are informed of such developments on campus, they are given an essential power: the power to decide. Understanding the risks of sending their children to school gives parents the power to make the best decisions for their specific situation. It is not a guessing game as to whether COVID-19 is rampaging through classrooms. Rather, there is confidence in the numbers posted each week. Such information can alleviate stress and fears about campus safety and student health. 

Even so, we students are the ones physically attending school each day. Hence, we have the same — if not greater — need to access information about the safety of the campus that we step foot onto each day. As of recently, Associate Head of School for Finance and Operations Jane Davis has been emailing the community with a health and safety update that recounts the positivity rate from testing and self-reported cases that week. 

Student access to campus COVID-19 developments is an integral step in creating a more focused and safe learning environment. When we understand the numerical risk of being infected at school, which has remained favorably low, we can approach each classroom with a concentrated mindset that centers upon learning as opposed to fear. When we have access to the vaccination rates on campus, we can immerse ourselves in connection with friends in lieu of holding back from social engagements in fear of infection. When we can trust our school leaders to have our health and safety at the forefront of their minds through transparency with COVID-19 developments, school can once again be an institution for learning and growth. 

We are grateful for the administration’s responsiveness to The Oracle’s request for access to the COVID-19 dashboard data as well as their willingness to discuss school communication regarding on campus cases. Nevertheless, the entire student body needs more efficient and consistent information regarding COVID-19 on campus, beyond routine emails. Having a student COVID-19 dashboard on each personal portal would provide us with a centralized point of reference for COVID-19 updates each week.

When we understand the COVID-19 related risks of attending school, each of us has the power to decide what steps we will take and how we will approach academic and social engagements. This transparency and access to information is the vaccine we’ve been waiting for.