The Administration Team, led by Head of School Joe Powers, is the task force working to develop the comprehensive plans for opening school. We are in communication with the Board of Trustees, health and safety experts, and our local school membership organizations (AISGW, AIMS). We have surveyed our community and are working with our faculty on academic planning and professional development throughout the summer.

The Woods plans to open school on Monday, August 31, 2020. We are prioritizing in-person instruction and are focused on getting our students, faculty, and staff back on campus in the safest possible way and under the guidance of our state and local health officials. While guidance continues to be in flux, we continue to prepare for several scenarios.

Open Campus - All in School

The Woods Academy campus and buildings are open to all faculty, staff, and students for in-person learning with universal health and safety measures (see FAQ) in place. This scenario would happen if the impact of COVID-19 were drastically reduced as determined by our state and local jurisdictions. Social distancing measures would most likely still be in place and we would have instructional plans for any student unable to attend in-person.

Hybrid Model

The Woods Academy campus and buildings would be open to faculty, staff, and students with limitations on the number of people allowed on campus due to size restrictions and guidelines. Schedules would be created where students would rotate between in school and out of school instruction. New technology has been purchased and would be implemented to allow for more synchronous instruction. This model would occur if there were an increase in transmission in our area that warranted such restrictions as defined by our state and local authorities.

Distance Learning

The Woods Academy campus and facilities are closed and we are delivering instruction through our distance learning program. We continue to update our platforms, digest feedback, and provide professional development to our faculty and staff in the event that this model is required. In order for us to be in this model, there would need to be a determination that the risk of COVID-19 transmission would be high in our area and require the physical closing of school by our state or local authorities.

These models continue to be developed and provide flexibility within each. Many scenarios exist under each model and we continue to stay in touch with our local and state authorities as we prepare for the coming school year.

The Woods is guided by the CDC, local health officials, and the specific recommendations from the State of Maryland in order to determine what is required to open our doors safely and minimize the risk of virus transmission on campus. We have examined the physical campus and are preparing to meet the recommendations of physical distancing by arranging classrooms for compliance and re-purposing other areas in the school in order to give us more space in which to place students. We are also preparing to use our new outdoor lab in the courtyard and other outdoor spaces as much as possible.

Universal health and safety measures are safeguards put into place for individuals, organizations, and venues that mitigate, but do not eliminate entirely, the risk of transmitting the virus that causes COVID-19. The effectiveness of these measures depends upon the commitment of the entire community to work in concert with each other to adhere to them.

Basic universal health and safety measures include, but are not limited to:

• Physical distancing of at least 6 feet whenever possible
• Mask-wearing in public spaces and/or when physical distancing is not possible
• Good health hygiene practices (e.g., regular hand washing and hand sanitizing)
• Two layers of daily health screening:
  • Home health screen prior to school: Monitoring your family’s health and not sending children to school when they are sick. 
  • School Arrival Health Screen:This will include a health and temperature check at school prior to entering the building.
• Practicing enhanced precautions if you are near a vulnerable group or population (e.g., seniors, immunocompromised individuals)
• Facility cleaning that includes regular sanitizing and disinfection.
   

The nurse will be expanding her space to include the current Nurse’s Office and add the entire faculty lounge for the coming year. This space will allow us to care for those students who are well and need basic care, along with space for those who are ill and waiting to go home. We continue to stay up-to-date on best practices related to COVID-19.