COVID-19 Resources

Protocol for Boarders Return:

• During January Term, students will quarantine for two weeks at home.
• Students should not visit restaurants, gyms, churches, homes beyond their own, or any other public venues.
• They should avoid meeting with friends or people outside their household.
• Avoid the use of public transport or riding in vehicles with people outside of their household.
• Members of the household should limit interactions with people outside of their household as much as possible.
• If a household member must interact regularly with the wider public, we ask that they take all precautions to prevent transmission to the student.
• Arrange for a Covid PCR test for results within 72 hours of arrival on campus.
• If testing is delayed or slow in your area, please contact the Student Health Center for additional assistance.
• Make arrangements to arrive on campus for check-in within your allotted time slot.
• Please do not carpool to campus.
• Limit the people in the vehicle to just the student and one adult.
• If you need assistance with transportation to campus, please contact Amanda Bender.
• During check-in, use Henderson Drive (the road leading to Admissions and the Main Administration building) to drive to Lodge Dormitory.
• A nurse will meet your vehicle and conduct a health screening including a temperature check for all members of the vehicle. Do not come to campus if anyone has Covid-related symptoms.
• The student will proceed into Lodge for a Covid test.
• The student will return to the vehicle and you will be given a certificate for your dashboard and the student will be given a green pass. Please place the certificate on your dashboard as you enter other parts of the campus. The student will be required to present the green pass to move into the dorm.
• Drive to your child’s dormitory for move-in.
• You may assist your child in bringing belongings to the dormitory but only the student will be allowed inside.
• Please limit belongings to the essentials.
• Consider mailing items to make the return to campus easier.

 

Quarantine Protocol During Winter Return

• All students will be tested as they arrive on campus.
• Students will quarantine in their dormitory.
• Students must wear a mask in the dormitory when they are not in their own room or the bathroom. Once we receive a negative Covid test result from the testing on Day One, students may be unmasked in the dormitory except when in the presence of a faculty or staff member.
• Meals will be delivered to the dormitory.
• Students will take on additional dorm tasks in the dormitory to keep it running smoothly. Dorms will be professionally cleaned daily.
• At designated times during the day, students will have time outside but will be physically distanced from students from other dorms.
• Students will attend classes remotely from their room (please ensure your child has headphones and a microphone or headset).
• Between three to five days after arrival, a second round of PCR testing will be conducted.
• Assuming all tests come back negative, students will be allowed out of their dorms and classes will resume for in-person for learning.
• If anyone tests positive, they will be moved to an isolation dormitory and we will likely extend the quarantine process.
• School will resume under Red Flag. The Gym, Fitness Room, and Student Center will remain closed until the third round of Covid testing is completed.
• A third round of Covid PCR testing will be conducted on days 10-12.
• If all testing is negative, the Gym and Student Center will be reopened with limited capacity.
• The School will move to Orange Flag status.
• Random testing will begin after day 14 on campus.
• Our goal is to test between one quarter of the campus to the entire campus every week depending upon local conditions.

 

Day Student Protocol During Winter Return

• During January Term, day students will quarantine for two weeks at home.
• Students should not visit restaurants, gyms, churches, homes beyond their own, or any other public venues.
• They should avoid meeting with friends or people outside their household.
• Avoid the use of public transport or riding in vehicles with people outside of their household.
• Members of the household should limit interactions with people outside the household as much as possible.
• If a household member must interact regularly with the wider public, we ask that they take all precautions to prevent transmission to the student.
• Day students will arrange for a Covid PCR test on January 23-25.
• Day students will continue to learn remotely while the campus is in quarantine.
• Day students will return to campus for in-person learning once the School ends the quarantine (hopefully at the end of week one). The School will notify day students that they may return to campus and they must submit their negative test results before returning. If we must extend the quarantine beyond a week, students may need a second negative Covid test.
• Day students must check-in every day with the nurses as they arrive on campus in the Day Student Locker Room and follow all other day student protocols.
• All day students will be tested at least twice weekly for Covid.

 

Boarder Departures During the Winter or Missed Quarantine

It is our expectation that transmission rates throughout the winter will remain high. This necessitates that we maintain a “Covid bubble” around our campus as much as possible. Since boarders are “unmasked” and not physically distant in the dorm, they present a greater challenge to keeping the community safe and healthy. If they were to leave the campus, or not be present for the quarantine process on campus, they present a very high risk for our community and negate all the benefits of a quarantine. Boarding students that miss the quarantine process on campus will need to remain remote until after Spring Break. If a boarder needs to leave campus to go home or to another off-campus venue, they will also need to remain as a remote learner until after Spring Break. Boarding students would also have the option to transition to a day student during this time if they live close enough to the School.

 

Visits and Contactless Drop-Off

Projections for Covid transmission during the Winter months in the Northeast are not very positive. If projections are correct, we will not be able to allow families to visit their child on campus. If transmission rates are trending towards a more positive outcome, and the weather is permitting, we may allow contactless drop-off of items. We ask that you plan accordingly when packing and preparing for your child to return to campus. 

Forman is planning to open for in person classes this fall. We will begin the reopening of the School for students on Thursday, August 27th. Over a period of roughly two weeks, we will slowly and methodically bring small groups of students back to campus. We are asking students to quarantine in a green state for the 14 days before their designated arrival date. Please see the State of Connecticut website for more information. Students will need to be tested for COVID-19 within a week prior to their arrival and bring with them the negative results (if you are unable to arrange a COVID-19 test, please contact our Student Health Center). All students will be tested again within 14 days after arrival and on a random basis throughout the school year.

Forman will open at our highest level of restrictions, “Red Flag,” and students will be expected to wear masks while inside and in some outdoor settings, regularly wash their hands (hand sanitizer stations have been placed in every classroom and at the entrance of every building), practice physical distancing, and follow additional protocols related to health and safety. Click here for the Phasing Plan.

Protocols and procedures are informed by the advice from the Centers for Disease Control, the State of Connecticut, and the Yale School of Public Health. Forman will update its procedures and protocols as guidelines change.

 

We are asking students to quarantine at home for the 14 days before their designated arrival date. If you are coming from a country or state that has low rates of COVID-19, students will need negative test results that have been done within a week of your arrival to campus. If students are coming from a country or state that has high levels of COVID-19, you will need to quarantine in a green state for 14 days prior to arriving on campus and come to campus with a negative test result. A reminder that students can come to campus with one additional person to help them move in. If you are unable to arrange a COVID-19 test, please contact our Student Health Center.

 

Please click here for Forman's quarantine definitions. 

To limit exposure to the campus community, only one parent per child will be permitted on campus to help their child move into their on-campus residence. Detailed instructions for move-in will be shared with families in mid-July. Prior to move-in days, Forman will be conducting a Virtual Orientation for families. We will provide a couple of options for dates and times and recording will be available for families that cannot attend one of the online sessions. Details will be sent out later in the summer.

 

An important element of our plan is a set of stages or levels of safety and restrictions. This gating procedure allows us to reduce or raise the level of restrictions we have in place. We move from the highest level of safety and restrictions, “Red Flag,” through the least restrictive, “Green Flag.” This procedure is much like the stages of reopening various states are experiencing. The level at which the School will be at any given time will be based upon the current health and vigilance of the campus, the rate of viral transmission in the town of Litchfield, and the general levels of viral transmission in the region. Depending on which “Flag” the School is under will determine campus restrictions and leave protocols. You will find our Phasing Plan by clicking here.

The current phase/flag color will be posted on the student and parents portals, as well as posted in the dining hall and all dorms.

 

In an effort to maintain a healthy campus, we are trying to limit campus departures. If students are able to visit a college this fall, we ask that those visits occur during intersessions. Please note that guidelines for their visit and return to campus will depend on which flag color the School is currently under. We will re-evaluate these restrictions as the year progresses. Please coordinate any college visits with the college office as they can advise you on the best way to safely conduct a college visit. We will also be arranging a series of “drive through” college visits at some of our local colleges. Students will have an opportunity to drive around a campus, but we will not enter buildings or meet with representatives of the college.