COVID-19 Response

Dear families, 

As we reach the end of a busy week for Meadowbrook, I really just want to thank you all for your tremendous support. I am overwhelmed -- in the best possible way -- by the offers of help, the thank you messages, and the encouragement. I know I say this a lot, but truly, I have never been so grateful to be part of the Meadowbrook community. 

In that spirit, I wanted to let you know that teachers and administrators are all feeling that similar love and outreach. We are reading all your emails and hearing you -- and it is definitely taking longer than usual for you to hear back from us! We feel a little bit like one of those call centers that say “we are experiencing higher call volume than normal,” and we just want you to know we are listening! 

Check-in and feedback form

To that end, we want to know how you are doing. Please take a few minutes to complete this check-in/feedback form. It’s a way for us to get a sense from our families about how you all are doing and what kind of help you need from us. I can only imagine how each of your families are managing in these truly remarkable times. Know that I think you’re doing all you can do, which is amazing. 

Distance Learning Kickoff and Orientation Resources for Families

Distance learning begins this Monday, March 30. Many of you attended webinars yesterday and today to get oriented on what to expect. If you were unable to join us, recordings are available. Click here to watch the Lower School Parent Orientation and click here to watch the Middle School Parent Orientation. These videos and other resources are also available on the Parent Portal of the website. Be sure to log in and check out what’s available there. If you have forgotten your login information, please email Pam Ulrickson, who can help. 

 

 

 

Key Dates for Distance Learning and Potential School Building Reopening

Finally, I’m sure many of you have heard that Governor Baker has ordered all schools in Massachusetts closed through May 4. We will continue our distance learning program until at least that date, and we will be monitoring the situation to see when we can safely return after May 4th. Just two weeks ago I could not have imagined not seeing you and your children in person until May. I’m brokenhearted to stay far from you all for this long, and I’m also buoyed by all we’re trying to do to care for each other.

As a reminder, we have two upcoming school holidays: Good Friday (April 10) and Patriot’s Day (April 20); we will honor those holidays and have a break from distance learning on those days. All events between now and May 4th should be considered “off” - some will be postponed, some will be canceled, and some will be recreated, virtually!

Come have coffee with me

I miss seeing you all and would love to have coffee with you. These will be times where we can simply catch up, socialize. I’d love to see your faces and hear how you’ve been.

• Monday March 30, 7:30-8:30 am
• Tuesday March 31, 7:30-8:30 am
• Tuesday March 31, 4-4:30 pm
• Wednesday April 1, 7:30-8:30 am
• Friday April 3, 7:30-8:30 am

Drop in at any point to say hello. To join by video (my preference!) click:

https://zoom.us/j/861925985

Or to call in by phone, dial: 

646-558-8656 (Meeting ID: 861 925 985)

Conclusion

I wish you all a restful and healthy weekend. I gather virtually with a group of heads of school a few times a week since this all began. We are reminding each other, and all our families that the best thing we can do for our children right now is to actually start by taking care of ourselves - if we are physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually, healthy, we can care for our children. So I implore you to care for yourselves, too, even first, so you can be your best self for your young people. I am doing my best to do the same for my family, my friends, and this community. If you’re interested, here’s my favorite meditation app and my favorite 7-minute workout!

We are looking forward to a new chapter of Meadowbrook come Monday! 

Sincerely,
arvind s. grover
Head of School 

Click here to view a video message from Head of School arvind grover. Stay safe and well. Be sure to reply to this email to send notes to Mr. grover directly! 

 

 

PS: My pick of the week location is the deCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln. We had a family picnic there and enjoyed it! It's free but fair warning: there are no restrooms!

 

 

Dear families,

After careful consideration, we have decided that in the interest of the safety of our community, Meadowbrook will be closed until at least Monday, April 13. On Monday, March 30, students will begin distance learning. Please watch the video below to hear more details about how we can all support each other during this time. We are also asking all families to complete this survey to tell us about the technology resources you have available at home. 

Feel free to reply to this email if you have feedback you’d like to offer. Thank you for supporting each other during these unprecedented times. As always, we welcome the opportunity to hear from you. 

Sincerely,
 

arvind s. grover
Head of School 

 

Dear families,

As the country and the world continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19, I am writing today with an update from Meadowbrook along with information on what we will need from your family as we focus on the safety and health of the school community.  

We continue to be in regular contact with local health officials and are carefully monitoring local, state, and national health organizations for the most up-to-date guidance on keeping our school safe and healthy for everyone. I am also grateful for all of you who have shared resources with us. I’ve included a few of the most helpful resources we have at the bottom of this email.

Spring vacation and travel guidance

One of the necessary elements of Meadowbrook’s preparation is to gather accurate information about where our community members are traveling in the coming weeks. 

To that end, all families and faculty -- whether you are traveling or not -- are required to complete this form to advise us of your travel plans. This mandatory registration allows us to create a record of where members of our community have been, should infection occur in our community. Please complete this form by Wednesday, March 18. 

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR TRAVEL PLANS

Important note: Families will not be able to return to school after spring break until this process is completed. 

We are intentionally taking strong measures to ensure student, family, and faculty safety. We will need every community member’s cooperation to make this happen, so I thank you in advance for helping us. All information gathered will be shared only with appropriate school personnel; we would share it with public health authorities should the need arise.

With our upcoming spring vacation involving travel for many families we offer the following general guidelines:

• If your Meadowbrook student (or anyone who lives with your Meadowbrook student) travels to a level 3 country (as designated by the CDC), they must stay home from school for 14 days from the time they left and practice social distancing (e.g. not attending off-campus Meadowbrook-connected gatherings).
• If the CDC changes designation of a country you visited to level 3 during or immediately following your trip, we will require the same 14-day waiting period to return to school.
• If your Meadowbrook student has had contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19, they must stay home from school for 14 days as well. Please notify the school right away if you suspect your child has been exposed. 

 

Upcoming student trips

We continue to be told that the U.S. and Massachusetts remain at low-level risk for COVID-19 transmissions. We have two scheduled upcoming overnight domestic trips for students which cover the Baltimore/Washington DC Metro Areas and Gettysburg, PA. The CDC has not placed any restrictions on domestic travel. As of now, both trips are proceeding. Of course, the situation is evolving rapidly and we can and will make any necessary changes to trips.

 

Stop the spread of germs

We are continuing our vigilance here at Meadowbrook. The best advice for illness prevention is to practice good personal hygiene habits -- thorough hand washing, not touching your face, coughing/sneezing into a tissue or your elbow, and staying home if you are sick. It is worth repeating: please keep your child home if they are sick. Our faculty will be very understanding of absences due to illness! 

Our consulting physician has asked us to remind all families that if you suspect that you or your child may have the virus, the best course of action is to consult your primary care physician or pediatrician's office for guidance. She noted that many facilities do not have testing kits as yet. 

Potential school closure

In the unlikely event of a longer-term closure, our faculty is considering many options, including the possibility of sharing learning resources with you and your children remotely. School closure decisions may be made by local, state, or federal agencies, or by the school itself. We met as a full faculty this past Friday and discussed how we could best serve students and families should we be closed. We are all hopeful that a closure will not be necessary.

On speaking to your children

A key role in the lives of children is to help them be safe, physically and emotionally. Please limit their media exposure and discussion of this pandemic. We don’t want to ignore their needs, but we do only want to give them what they need. Riverside Trauma Center has a brief and helpful guide on how to manage your own reaction to all of this and how to talk to your children about it. It is attached.

Despite the intensity of all that is going on right now, I am hopeful that you and your families are able to have an enjoyable spring break. I know that quality family time, rest, and as always, some great reading, is high on my list. Thank you always for your partnership in keeping our community healthy,

Sincerely, 


arvind s. grover
Head of School 



Additional resources:

CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) site

CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 Information for Travel

Mass.Gov Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) site

Dear families,

Today we have been made aware of a presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in a parent of two Wellesley Public Schools students. Two schools there closed early today so that they could be thoroughly cleaned. Additionally, late this afternoon we were informed that a parent of a Weston Middle School student has suspected exposure to COVID-19. As a result of that news, the Weston Middle School has been closed for the weekend to be cleaned and disinfected. To the best of our knowledge, all of these schools are planning to reopen for the regular school day on Monday morning. 

We have no new news to report specific to Meadowbrook. We remain in regular communication with local health officials, and we are continuing regular cleaning practices in addition to a deeper clean this weekend.  We will be sure to let you know if things change. 

Our common refrain bears repeating: If your child is sick, please keep them home. Some of our devoted students have pleaded with their parents to come to school even when sick. As a head of school, what better problem could I ask for? If you have any reason to suspect that you or your child has been exposed to COVID-19, please reach out to me or the School Nurse, Kim O'Toole immediately.

Today our faculty spent the majority of the afternoon planning for impacts of a potential school closure. While we remain hopeful that closure is an unlikely situation, we want to be as prepared as we can be. After I briefed the full faculty, we broke up into three teams: lower school, middle school, and non-teaching faculty. All groups worked together to come up with ideas on how they could best support students, families, and each other in the event of a closure.

I will be back in touch before spring break begins next week with another update. 

 

Sincerely,

arvind grover
Head of School 

Dear families,

I’m reaching out to you again today to provide an update on how we at Meadowbrook are responding to the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

As you have heard me say many times, the safety of our students is always our top priority. With that in mind, we have been in regular communication with the town of Weston’s Board of Health. We are monitoring information from the Centers for Disease Control, the State Department, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. We have also received guidance from the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Health officials continue to assure us that the risk to our community for coronavirus is low, while the risk of influenza virus remains high. We will continue to follow the guidance of our local and national health experts as we make decisions for Meadowbrook.

Our standard preventative health measures remain in place, and our teachers are reminding students that good hand washing is still our best practice to stay healthy. Students should also avoid touching their face, mouth, and eyes. You can help remind your children about hand washing while at school and encourage them to practice it at home as well. As always, we ask that students stay home if they are sick. Students should be fever-free without the benefit of fever-reducing medications for a full 24 hours before returning to school. This is critically important and we need everyone’s help to keep our community strong. 

Right now, we are not considering closing school due to either flu or coronavirus. We are working hard to keep everyone in our community healthy. If a situation arose where we needed to close school we would do so without hesitation. We are currently considering all implications to students, faculty, and families in what we hope is an unlikely scenario of needing to close. Any decision we make would be done in consultation with advice from local experts and health officials. There are scenarios where local officials would make the call for us to be closed, and we also reserve the right to close school should we feel it the most prudent thing to do.

As I mentioned in my message to you last month, it is important for us to remember that when scary things are in the news kids often are listening carefully and watching closely. Here is some guidance as you think about how to best support your kids.

• Let them know they are safe - they are safe at home and at school. Let them know the grown-ups are working carefully to make sure that is so. That is our job, not theirs.
• Talk to them - listen and watch to see if they want to talk, and if they do, make time for it. 
• Meet them where they are - it will look very different for young children (short and simple conversation, very concrete), upper elementary and early middle school (answer questions, separate reality from fantasy), and older children (longer discussion, perhaps reading something informative together, focused primarily on their own role in safety and how to get support/help if they need it).
• Remind them how to stay safe - in this case, active handwashing with soap and water, not sharing drinks, coughing/sneezing into an elbow, etc.
• Keep an eye out - watch for changes in their state (different eating/sleeping habits, etc) to see how they are doing emotionally
• Maintain a normal routine - this is critical for children (and helpful for adults, too). Give them the mental security of knowing what they’re doing each day.

This is a quickly evolving situation, and we are receiving updates often. We will continue to provide regular updates as we have more information to share. 

Thank you for being true collaborators in ensuring that all Meadowbrook kids have a safe place to learn every day.

Sincerely, 

arvind s. grover
Head of School 

Dear Meadowbrook families,

As you likely know from national news reports, a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan City in China and is spreading. The most important thing to me and this faculty is the health and safety of your children. We have been closely following the guidelines and updates from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, and we have also been in touch with the Weston board of health.

As health officials manage the response to this new coronavirus, they tell us that we should proceed in the same manner in which we combat the flu virus.  Although this is a situation of great concern, these organizations are not identifying the outbreak as a public health emergency locally. What is of concern is the spread of seasonal influenza; the flu remains a much more prevalent health risk in our community at the current time.

As a reminder, please observe the following guidelines and remind your children to practice healthy hygiene:

1. Wash hands often: 20 seconds with hot water and soap if available, otherwise with a 60% or higher alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Students who become ill must remain home until 24 hours fever free (without fever-reducing medication) 

 

China trip
Meadowbrook’s bi-annual cultural immersion trip to China is scheduled for summer 2020. This is an incredible experience and many dozens of students, faculty, and families have experienced the wonders of China and its people over the years. Due to the emergent circumstances we may or may not be able to offer the trip this year. We have not yet made a final determination about whether the trip will take place. 

 

Talking to your kids
When scary things are in the news kids often are listening carefully and watching closely. Here is some guidance as you think about how to best support your kids.

1. Let them know they are safe - they are safe at home and at school. Let them know the grown ups are working carefully to make sure that is so. 
2. Talk to them - listen and watch to see if they want to talk, and if they do, make time for it. 
3. Meet them where they are - it will look very different for young children (short and simple conversation, very concrete), upper elementary and early middle school (answer questions, separate reality from fantasy), and older children (longer discussion, perhaps reading something informative together, focused primarily on their own role in safety and how to get support/help if they need it).
4. Remind them how to stay safe - in this case, active handwashing with soap and water
5. Keep an eye out - watch for changes in their state (different eating/sleeping habits, etc) to see how they are doing emotionally
6. Maintain a normal routine - this is critical for children (and extremely helpful for adults, too). Give them the mental security of knowing what they’re doing each day.

We have heard students talking about the virus, about China, about impact on friends and family, and more, all out of this news. We have had to intervene at times to interrupt factual inaccuracies. It is important to help students avoid buying into and relaying stereotypes about Chinese people, food, and customs, so we will proactively do this. I ask for your support in this, too.

 

Be sure to keep an eye out for misinformation. In the age of lightning-fast social media, facts often lose out to sensational stories. In a school like ours we embrace knowledge and facts; we learn from and rely upon science. I often ask people to distinguish between the facts and the story. You can model this for and with your children.

As always, we will monitor this situation and any situation that could impact the health of our students. I will be back in touch should we need to share any other information with you. At the risk of reiterating, your children’s safety is our number one priority.

Sincerely,

arvind s. grover
Head of School