Daily Health Screening
Upon arrival to school, each day all students, faculty and staff will complete a health screening, which includes a questionnaire, temperature checks and hand sanitization. (See
Healthy Community.) Day parents play a critical role in home health screening and creating a culture of self-monitoring, and boarders will be assisted in ensuring best practices by residential staff and the Schmon Health Centre. Students should not report to campus, classes or activities if they display the slightest suspicion of illness or COVID-19 symptoms, or if a they have come in direct contact with someone confirmed to have COVID-19.
Daily Schedule & Learning Routines
All of our students will learn on campus—every day.
The Upper School schedule remains the best vehicle by which Ridley can articulate its vision and mission, and the 2020-21 schedule is no different. It has been co-created upon several central and enduring promises. We shall continue to prioritize community, relationships and wellbeing; ensure equity of access to the Ridley experience; seek innovation and look for new ways to enhance learning; provide clear and easy to follow routines that will offer students and parents normalcy and stability; all the while promoting the paramount importance of the health and safety of our entire community.
Ensuring that our schedule routines reduce density and align with Public Health recommendations, we will observe two metres of physical distancing between students, wear masks (see
Healthy Community section) and class sizes will be small. To accommodate these smaller class sizes, we have developed a learning model—to be delivered daily—which includes a combination of synchronist learning, asynchronist learning, and CONNECT classes.
Each morning, teachers will deliver two in-person classes to students in the classroom (synchronist). Each classroom will be fitted with a video camera, which will live stream the content to students who are unable to be there in person (asynchronist). This would only apply if classrooms were to reach maximum occupancy for physical distancing or if students are unable to be on campus. Alternately, students who are in different time zones or unable to view the classes in real time, will be able to access the recorded content on their own schedules.
In the afternoon, all students will come together for CONNECT classes, where they will be placed in small groups if they are physically in the classroom, or as one large group if they are online. These CONNECT classes will unify students, overcome the limitations of distance, and enable each student to engage with and go over important material with their teacher. Over lunch, students will also be able to access teachers in Learning Labs and Tutorials.
This blended model ensures all students will be fully supported in their learning, allowing them to connect with lessons, teachers, and each other—whether they are online or on campus. It also allows us the flexibility necessary to ensure students can access learning at all times, whatever changes are required to keep our community safe.
Ridley will continue to offer students a broad and rich curriculum, keeping their safety top of mind. Access to scheduled classes in the Arts and Physical Education will continue to provide students with a variety of opportunities to foster the development of mind, body and spirit. Health care protocols will require students to work in smaller groups and participate in Music, Theatre, Art, and Physical Education classes which have been organized in compliance with physical distancing measures. Additionally, the regular sanitation of equipment and teaching spaces will be an ongoing priority. Our Saturday programme will begin in earnest this September, with a particular focus on flourishing practices—we are committed to keeping student well-being at the core of all we do.
Activities & Co-curriculars
At Ridley, we believe in educating the
whole child and recognize learning happens both in and outside the classroom. As such, activities and co-curriculars are central to the Ridley experience—and an integral part of our community and culture. We know that participation fosters connection and helps build relationships, and this, in turn, supports wellbeing. With this in mind, we remain committed to delivering a robust co-curricular, arts and athletics programme, supported by appropriate modifications to ensure student health and safety in our studios, theatre and gymnasiums. For details regarding COVID-19 mitigation measures adopted by our sports and co-curricular programmes, please refer to
Healthy Activities.
Healthy Dining Routines
In order to mitigate risk and ensure a healthy dining experience for our students, we're working closely with Chartwells, our partner who is equally committed to meeting the high level, impeccable standards needed to keep our community safe.
Starting in September, the dining experience will be modified to provide appropriate physical distancing and other safety precautions. Lunch will continue to be served to both day and boarding students. Families should expect the following adjustments to daily dining:
- Lunch period will be staggered across two hours, in order to limit density in the Great Hall.
- In addition, there will be a new service hosted in the Iggulden Gym, where students will be able to pick up packed "Grab and Go" lunches.
- Boarders will continue to enjoy breakfast and dinner in the Great Hall, but will take dining shifts. Self-serve stations will no longer be available. During weekends, all meals for boarding students will be provided on campus.
For each of the above considerations and plans, our Upper and Lower Schools are committed to an atmosphere of collective responsibility—by thinking about ourselves, not just as individuals but as part of a community, we can continue to keep Ridley safe.