AHOS Update (Boarding Students/Families) - March 11, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Since head of school Erin Mayo is doing admissions work out of the country, I write to update you on the latest travel policies the Academy has put into place due to the evolving COVID-19 outbreak. At this time, the Academy is restricting all unnecessary domestic travel by resident students to U.S. cities with significant COVID-19 cases as well as any international travel to countries with a Level 3 travel advisory by the CDC.  In the event a resident student does decide to travel to one of these designated areas, there is a high likelihood that their return to the Academy may not be possible in the foreseeable future. We ask that any student, faculty, or staff member that plans to travel now or during April break fill-out a travel form, so we can actively monitor and mitigate any potential exposure to our community.

Additionally—out of an abundance of caution— the Academy is curtailing participation in school-sponsored club or event-oriented travel. In many cases, organizers themselves are canceling events, as has happened today regarding the Maine All-State Jazz Festival. In addition, FA’s robotics team will not be attending this weekend’s scheduled state tournament in South Portland, nor will the usual weekend trip there be scheduled for resident students.

An administrative task force has been continually monitoring this developing situation and is actively creating contingency plans for remote teaching and learning as I write this. In the event the Academy needs to suspend on-campus classes and move to remote instruction, our plan is to prepare faculty and students fully and have necessary technology up and running by early next week. A dedicated website that centralizes all COVID-19 community updates and resources has also been developed. Please go to www.fryeburgacademy.org/COVID19 to access this information; I strongly encourage families to make use of this resource that has the latest information from health organizations and other state and local agencies.

While I know this is an uncertain time for all of us, please know the safety of our students and community is paramount. We will continue to send updates as we have them.

Stay well,

Joe Manning,
Assistant Head of School