After 12 weeks of in-person classes, St. Andrew's-Sewanee School has moved to online learning 10 days before the previously scheduled plan. The move was prompted by positive cases among the school’s non-residential population.
“When we began the school year, an expert in the field told us that we had all the right protocols in place, but that they would be shocked if we made it past Labor Day without a positive case,” said Head of School Karl J.
Sjolund. “We beat those odds by 10 weeks, and that is a testament to our community’s commitment to physical distancing, face coverings, and hand washing and the school’s move to more outdoor learning and regular on-campus COVID-19 testing.”
He said SAS "received great feedback from its parents and students when the school was forced to pivot online quickly in the spring and is even more prepared for online learning now."
Academic Dean and Assistant Head of School Kelley Black said, “Over the summer, our teachers were provided with additional training for how to teach online. These will not be merely video classes. They will be a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning planned for the necessity of an online environment showing the same commitment to personalized and deep learning that characterizes a SAS education.
"In addition to a significant investment in faculty training, the school has put in place additional technology to help teachers and students have the best experience possible."
While a few cases might not trigger a move to online learning for other schools, SAS is a small and very interconnected community, officials said.
COVID Coordinator Dan Monahan said, “As we looked at who would need to quarantine in the coming days, we saw that our middle school and upper school students interact, each teacher interacts in multiple roles with many students, and our day and boarding population is interwoven. This deep connectedness is a hallmark of our school, and why we kicked off our COVID protocols in the fall with the motto, ‘We’re in this together.’”
SAS was scheduled to go online on Nov. 24 in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday and remain online through the end of the semester. Second semester is scheduled to begin on Jan. 11 with a week of online learning as boarding students return to campus to quarantine and the entire school population is tested in anticipation of an in-person start on Monday, Jan. 18. All boarding students have been given the option to remain in-residence for the entire school year.
The school has only a few spots for spring enrollment but is now accepting applications for Fall 2021. For more information, go to www.sasweb.org/admission.