June 2nd

Dear Gordon Families,

I write with an important update about the summer and a final invitation to join me this week and next to hear more information about our planning for the fall.

Summer camp decision

After deep consideration and consultation with Gordon's Leadership Team, Jenny Alario, our school nurse Sandy Horton, and our consulting physician Dr. Jennifer Friedman, I have decided that we will not run Summer at Gordon for the month of July. 

A few weeks ago, I shared that June camps would be cancelled. There remains a week of camp, just for Gordon families, currently scheduled for the last week of August. We will continue to monitor the situation and make a decision about that August week at a later date.

Right now, the Leadership Team is hard at work planning for reopening campus in the fall. The long list of health and safety measures that we will need to have in place in order to open safely in September are no different than what the school would need to have in place in order to open safely for camp in July. Rather than devote mental energy and work hours to preparing to open a summer camp, I would prefer the school keep our eye on the prize of reopening campus in the fall.

I know this news is disappointing to many of you. While this is not intended to replace a camp experience, I am excited to share that Assistant Head of School Lynn Bowman is working with the Division Directors and the faculty of all three divisions to offer summer online academic programming for rising Preschool through eighth grade Gordon students, free of charge. We will run three two-week sessions starting on June 22nd. More details about the program and registration will be available on Tuesday, June 9th.
 

Fall reopening planning

Gordon is committed to and planning for a return to an in-person, on-campus program this fall. Whether we are able to return to normal operations or a modified program will be dependent upon public health and government guidelines, and guidance from community experts and our consulting physician. Short of a stay-at-home mandate from Governor Raimondo, Gordon will reopen in September.

Planning for the fall is already underway. The school has established a Futures Planning Committee and working sub-groups to research best practices and emerging trends in the following areas: Educational Program; Health, Safety, and Wellness; Campus Operations and Logistics, and Business Continuity.

In addition to leaning on the wisdom and expertise of our internal community, Gordon has contracted with Auxiliary Services Organization, also known as AUXS, to support the school in our reopening planning. AUXS specializes in working with independent schools, colleges, and universities to offer expertise on campus operations, programs, and safety. We are working with AUXS to develop an agile plan that will allow the school to respond to multiple contingencies and be ready to deploy the right model in order to reopen safely in the fall.

I look forward to sharing more details about this planning process at the Town Halls, which will begin this evening at 6:00pm. We already have over one hundred and eighty people signed up to attend! If you have not RSVP'd, you can do so at www.gordonschool.org/townhalls.

In partnership,

Noni

PS: The last days of the school year are always busy, and this year is no exception. I outlined this coming week in an email last Sunday; it is online for your reference.