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Covid-19 Information & Resources
Covid-19 Protocols Update
August 13, 2021
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Dear Members of the CCES Community,
I want to begin by thanking you for your patience, trust, and confidence as we work through the varied and complicated stages of planning to ensure that we can once again open on time, keep all of our students in person and on campus, and take every possible step to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all community members.
Heading into the 2021-2022 school year, we have decided on several high-impact, straightforward measures to ensure that we can continue to deliver the quality experience that CCES has provided for the past six decades. The very good news is that many of the cherished elements that we had to forego last year in the name of safety have been reinstated: We will gather in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, enjoy live performances in the Hartness Performing Arts Center, and cheer on our teams in strong numbers.
Still, it is my responsibility to protect all the members of our community while simultaneously minimizing disruptions to the on-campus education of CCES students. Over the past eighteen months, this reality has taught us that masks, distancing, frequent hand washing, and similar measures work. Experience has made it clear that extended physical isolation is a much greater concern than using simple, proven mitigations which keep students on campus. Even this week, several schools across the Southeast have already had to tighten their approaches because of rapid virus spread.
While August 2021 is not identical to August 2020, the steady rise in cases in our community is compelling enough to demand decisive action. Thus, using the guidance of the AAP, the CDC, SCDHEC, and with input from our nurses and Medical Advisory Panel, CCES will begin the year with the following mitigations in place:
I want to begin by thanking you for your patience, trust, and confidence as we work through the varied and complicated stages of planning to ensure that we can once again open on time, keep all of our students in person and on campus, and take every possible step to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all community members.
Heading into the 2021-2022 school year, we have decided on several high-impact, straightforward measures to ensure that we can continue to deliver the quality experience that CCES has provided for the past six decades. The very good news is that many of the cherished elements that we had to forego last year in the name of safety have been reinstated: We will gather in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, enjoy live performances in the Hartness Performing Arts Center, and cheer on our teams in strong numbers.
Still, it is my responsibility to protect all the members of our community while simultaneously minimizing disruptions to the on-campus education of CCES students. Over the past eighteen months, this reality has taught us that masks, distancing, frequent hand washing, and similar measures work. Experience has made it clear that extended physical isolation is a much greater concern than using simple, proven mitigations which keep students on campus. Even this week, several schools across the Southeast have already had to tighten their approaches because of rapid virus spread.
While August 2021 is not identical to August 2020, the steady rise in cases in our community is compelling enough to demand decisive action. Thus, using the guidance of the AAP, the CDC, SCDHEC, and with input from our nurses and Medical Advisory Panel, CCES will begin the year with the following mitigations in place:
- Regardless of vaccination status, masks will be required for all students, employees, and visitors at all times (except when eating) while indoors and during arrival and departure.
- Masks are optional for everyone when outside (e.g. transitions between buildings, recess, or other breaks, and during outdoor instruction).
- Students (and faculty) will still have opportunities each day to remove their masks, as we will again maximize the use of outdoor spaces for both instruction and relaxation.
- We will maintain a minimum of three feet of distance in doors whenever possible.
- Hand sanitizer dispensers will be widely available with frequent hand-washing visits built into our routines.
We continue to expect all community members to stay home when feeling ill, to report and update our nurses on health situations, to get tested when recommended, and to comply with contact tracing and quarantine protocols. While it is not currently a requirement, we also want to encourage students and employees eligible for the vaccination to get one.
Last year, everyone in the CCES community lived into our shared Episcopal Identity and showed extraordinary resilience, flexibility, and resolve. Our faculty and staff demonstrated their courage and commitment to teaching and learning; our parents showed graciousness and support of the administration, faculty, and staff; and our students modeled their resilience and dedication to doing what needed to be done. It was the combination of all of the above that allowed us to count the 2020-2021 school year not as a lost year, but as a challenging year which pushed us to rise to the challenges. We did then, and we will now.
In the same way, these limited mitigations present simple, consistent, and sustainable approaches at this time and under these conditions. We will remain fluid and responsive to the changing conditions and guidance. If/when conditions shift, mitigations will be adjusted, so please bear in mind that all the policies are temporary and subject to change as new information becomes available. You can access our up-to-date information here.
Again, thanks to everyone for your patience, trust, and confidence as we navigate the dynamic landscape. Together as a CCES community, we can—and will—have another great year!
Sincerely,
Last year, everyone in the CCES community lived into our shared Episcopal Identity and showed extraordinary resilience, flexibility, and resolve. Our faculty and staff demonstrated their courage and commitment to teaching and learning; our parents showed graciousness and support of the administration, faculty, and staff; and our students modeled their resilience and dedication to doing what needed to be done. It was the combination of all of the above that allowed us to count the 2020-2021 school year not as a lost year, but as a challenging year which pushed us to rise to the challenges. We did then, and we will now.
In the same way, these limited mitigations present simple, consistent, and sustainable approaches at this time and under these conditions. We will remain fluid and responsive to the changing conditions and guidance. If/when conditions shift, mitigations will be adjusted, so please bear in mind that all the policies are temporary and subject to change as new information becomes available. You can access our up-to-date information here.
Again, thanks to everyone for your patience, trust, and confidence as we navigate the dynamic landscape. Together as a CCES community, we can—and will—have another great year!
Sincerely,
David Padilla
Head of School
Head of School
Christ Church Episcopal School (“CCES”) admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at CCES. CCES does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship or other programs, or athletic or other school-administered programs and activities.