Dear Hebron Community,

I am writing today with an update about COVID-19 in our community. As you know from our previous communications, we identified a positive case of COVID-19 in our community last week. As a result all classes moved online and boarding students were placed into precautionary quarantine on campus. As of today, we are very pleased to announce that those students and faculty identified as contacts have all tested negative and have been cleared by CDC to exit quarantine. This is very good news and these negative results are reflective of the fact that our students and faculty are effectively engaging in the necessary precautions of social distancing, hand hygiene, and mask wearing.

That being said, the rates of COVID-19 in Maine are rising at an alarming rate. Additionally, we have many faculty and staff who remain in isolation because of their own close contact with people suspected of having COVID-19 in the greater community, causing a resource drain on campus. We are now very focused on preventing a COVID-19 outbreak on campus between now and November 20th, when our boarding students are scheduled to leave to return to their homes both near and far. An outbreak on campus could impact those students and their ability to travel home and return to their families.

For all of these stated reasons we have decided that we will continue the Fall Term with remote learning. While boarding students will continue to reside on campus, they will not be in quarantine, and will be provided with opportunities to engage in activities outside of their dorms. All classes will be taught online through the end of the term. We are hopeful that this step, as well as other on-campus changes for boarding students to limit indoor congregate time together, will enable us to finish the term strong and healthy. It will also allow us to be well situated for our return to in-person learning for ALL students in January as scheduled.

As I have continuously communicated to students throughout the year, this is a year where we have to be flexible, resilient, and empathetic. I have been continually impressed by our faculty, staff, and students by how well they have embodied these core tenets and how well they continually adapt to the new challenges that COVID-19 presents on a regular basis. While we all look forward to a time when we can go back to life pre-COVID-19, I am confident that our community will come out of this stronger as a result of overcoming together the myriad challenges of this unprecedented year.

Sincerely,

Dan Marchetti
Head of School