Students Return to Campus

Last week, the School opened its doors to students for the first time in six months following the closure of campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The School kicked off the 2020-2021 academic year with a hybrid approach, with a few grades on campus at a time, focusing on safety orientations for students to learn about various new procedures.

For one, the School has mandated an online safety screening that indicates whether a student is cleared to come to campus each day. The screening, which is part of the safety app designed by Brimmer’s new health and safety partner, Auxiliary Services Organization (AUXS), requires that anyone stay home if they note that they are experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms.

A student checks into campus with the AUXS safety app.

After checking in, anyone who enters the building must first wash their hands at one of numerous outdoor hand-washing stations. Additionally, hand-sanitizing stations have been placed inside every classroom and in hallways. The School is also helping to facilitate frequent hand-washing throughout the day.

An Upper Schooler washes their hands at an outdoor sink.

Nearly all hallways and staircases are now marked as one-way with floor decals and signs to keep traffic flowing in the same direction. In areas where students wait in line, floor mats designate where to stand to maintain proper social distance.

A student follows the new outdoor signage leading up to the building.

Upper School students walk through a one-way hallway to class.

Newly purchased classroom furniture, including individual desks, allow for classes to occur with students at least 6-feet apart. Upper School students are asked to wipe down their desk surfaces and chairs before leaving a classroom.

Other non-traditional areas, such as the Dining Commons, Innovation Space, Upper School Library, Art Barn, Lower School Music Room, and Band Room have been converted into classrooms for Middle and Upper School use. The adjustments also support smaller class sizes.

A workspace period is held in the Dining Commons.

The new classroom model required some courses to make changes to format and curriculum, as all classes are adjusting to using webcams to broadcast lessons via Zoom to include concurrent learners.

For their part, faculty have spent weeks attending professional development trainings and school meetings aimed to strengthen remote teaching.

Middle and Upper School French Teacher Nicole Rudolph hopes that the community can remain positive and hopeful for the future.

"Teaching has been challenging to navigate, with students learning in person and concurrently both in the U.S. and abroad," Rudolph said. "Once we get into a rhythm it should be exciting to 'reinvent' our content areas in the midst of this singular time in history for our generation. We must each do our part to learn and be compassionate and kind so that we can see this as a time of great personal growth and community building.”

Band Teacher Luca Antonucci had to shift his Upper School Band class to allow stringed and percussion instruments only, with concerns of mask wearing requiring woodwind and brass players to participate away from the classroom.

"I’ve been really impressed this week with how well all the students and faculty have adjusted to the new routine. It has been great to see so many familiar and new faces, and I’m happy to see that we are all adjusting to our new guidelines quite easily," Antonucci said. "I feel really fortunate to have amazing tech resources that allow us to teach a classroom of remote and in-person learners at the same time. I was expecting it to be much more challenging, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that it has gone very smoothly this week in my classes, with a minimum of technological difficulties."

Rudolph and Antonucci are thankful for the hard work that the administration and building staff have put into maintaining a safe and healthy campus.

"I also really appreciate the hard work of the kitchen staff and the maintenance team. They are working amazingly hard to make in-person school possible for us," Antonucci said.

To keep Brimmer safe, Director of Health Services and School Nurse Beth Escobar has been compiling materials, resources, and personal protective equipment for the reopening of campus since the spring.

Vicki Trinh, a new School Nurse, also joined Escobar in working with day-to-day and COVID-19 policy-related concerns.

Escobar is optimistic in the School’s operations to remain open.

“I feel very confident that Brimmer will be well-prepared to handle the re-opening of school as well as any glitches after that. What I do think is we will need to be patient, nonjudgmental, flexible, and kind to each other and to ourselves during this process,” Escobar said.

Escobar thinks that the tight-knit School community will prevail during the pandemic.

“Things will be different, [and] could be very different, but from that a new wonderful school experience can grow. [The] coronavirus isn’t going to win at Brimmer. We’re a close, strong community, and we’ll survive and prosper,” Escobar said.

The kitchen staff also transitioned to packaging prepared meals in tupperware lunchboxes, allowing for lunch to be held in different locations around campus.

Director of Food Services Craig Roman and Head Chef Taran Gavrin implemented are continuing to offer options for students with dietary restrictions and allergies.

"We are very happy and excited to be serving our community again. We hope to provide the same quality, nutrition, and flavors that everyone has come to know and love from the kitchen," Roman said. "Lunch is a time when everyone can take their mind off the classroom for a few minutes a day and our goal is to provide that same comfort during this challenging time."

To limit the lunch line, students are dismissed by classroom to pick up their food in the Dining Commons, before eating under the newly installed outdoor tents or on the grass. The outdoor areas allow for distancing beyond six feet, allowing students to remove their masks. When weather becomes inclement, the School will move lunch into the various classrooms.

During lunch, students spread out on the field and in the outdoor tents.

The tents also allow for students and faculty to work outdoors, with walls ready to be added as the weather gets colder. Some classes are also currently being held entirely outside, while weather permits.

Students converse and eat lunch under a tent.

Priya Mallidi ’23 feels optimistic about the weeks ahead at school.

“I enjoyed being able to finally see my friends in a safe environment,” Mallidi said after her first day.

Zakkai Mares-Van Praag '22 is appreciative to be able to return to school.

"The Hybrid learning pattern for the first few weeks is certainly different, as is learning in a socially distant way. However, I think that Brimmer is making it work the best it can," Mares-Van Praag said.

"Although I was nervous for the first day of school, the Brimmer community has done well adapting to the new schedule and rules on campus," Leah Bell '22 said. "I was really excited to learn that school was reopening because I want to see my friends and teachers, but at the same time I want everyone to feel and be safe and healthy."

Oliver Baggett '24 decided to return to campus instead of staying remote to learn concurrently.

"Although I am worried about the risk of infection, I still think that going into school has its merits. I'm seeing firsthand all of the effort put in to make in-person school happen," Baggett said.

While the School plans to continue its hybrid-learning schedule, allowing three Upper School grades on campus and two in the Middle School beginning September 21, the administration has stressed that it is prepared to reassess. Students’ behavior around following the School’s health and safety policies will play a part in how decisions are made, along with local COVID-19 metrics and other external factors.