Middle School Quebec Trip Canceled (3/10/2020)

As the information on the COVID-19 virus continues to proliferate, we’ve been keeping a careful eye on what we can find out about recent outbreaks and the continued spread of the virus. This has been a rapidly evolving situation, and one we’ve been monitoring closely.

Today, I’m writing to let you know that we have decided to cancel the April 17-20 Middle School Quebec Trip out of an abundance of caution. This decision is consistent with state officials recommending that international trips be canceled at this time. As you may have heard, we have also canceled Upper School spring break athletic trips. This decision is based as much on what we know as what we cannot know right now, as well as the sense we have that travel right now increases the risks the virus poses to all of us. In the end, we understand that cases in our area tell us that we may not be entirely free from worry no matter where we are in the US, but we don’t feel that potentially increased risk to be something we would willingly step into in the current uncertain environment.

This news may be disappointing for the students, but these are unprecedented times, and we’re doing what we can to put community health and safety first in our decision making.

It is our intention to refund the cost of the trip to each family, and we are currently working with the travel provider we partnered with for the Quebec trip to determine exact details.

We thank you for your understanding and patience as we work with local health authorities to follow appropriate guidelines and protocols to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the best way possible. We continue to monitor the situation daily and will be keeping an eye on the recommendations coming to us from the CDC and the local board of health.

Sincerely,

Ned Parsons
Head of School