Dear Members of the Notre Dame Community,
As you know, the Notre Dame Community has seen an increase in the number of confirmed Covid cases this week. As a result, we also have more students in quarantine who are working virtually from home.
While Notre Dame's cases are still relatively small vis-à-vis the total number of students, faculty and staff at Notre Dame, the Academy's current situation is indicative of the increase in infection rates in the surrounding geographical areas.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and throughout this academic year, Notre Dame Trustees and Administrators have monitored the Covid situation very carefully in order to ensure the safety of our community. Schedule adjustments have been made, as needed.
In order to protect our cherished Thanksgiving holiday traditions and to preserve our campus-based, deeply honored Christmas traditions, the Executive Committee of the Board has voted on the following schedule changes. See adjustments to schedule in bold:
November 13: In-person Classes on Campus (as scheduled)
November 16-20: All Virtual Teaching/Learning. No campus based instruction. Kairos Retreat has been rescheduled to January 19-22, 2021 and all other scheduled co-curricular activities are cancelled.
November 23-24: Parent Teacher Conferences (virtual) - no classes
November 25-27: Traditional Thanksgiving Holidays - no classes
November 30 - December 4: All Virtual Teaching/Learning
No campus based instruction. All co-curricular activities are cancelled.
December 7-18: In-person classes resume on campus for traditional Notre Dame Christmas student traditions (for example, Advent Angels).
During this extended virtual opportunity, we ask that you adhere to all the protocols that are in place concerning safety (for example, social gatherings and travel) from the CDC, Chester County Health Department and Notre Dame.
Thank you for all your efforts to keep our beloved Notre Dame Community safe. We hope that these additional layers of protection around the Thanksgiving holiday season afford you the opportunity as a family to prepare safely to give thanks for God's many blessings.
Sincerely,
Judith A. Dwyer, Ph.D.
Head of School