March 18, 2021
Dear Students, Parents, Faculty, and Staff,
I start this week's letter reflecting on the terrible events in Atlanta, Georgia, and the killing of eight individuals, six of them Asian women. Yet another hate crime. We stand with our Asian and Asian American students, faculty, colleagues, parents, and alumni in decrying not just this incident but also the growing number of anti-Asian incidents that we have seen nationally over the past year. FBI Director Christopher Wray noted just last month the dangers that we face as a nation from racially motivated extremists, and then, just yesterday, the Anti-Defamation League released a report that notes the near doubling of white supremacist extremist propaganda targeting Asian, Black, Jewish, Muslim, and LGBTQ+ people. Hate crimes targeting Asians in particular have increased significantly in the past year. This is an issue that affects us all—there is no looking away or ignoring the problem. As members of this community, we have a responsibility and an obligation to speak up and to oppose the violence and the hatred. Loomis Chaffee faculty and students continue to work together to make this campus, as well as our wider world, a place that respects, celebrates, and values difference. Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Elizabeth Parada is working with several groups on campus to support our students and faculty.
On Wednesday, 220 faculty and staff received the first of two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on campus. The Windsor Health Department ran the clinic in the Olcott Center with the support of our Health Center nurses, Physical Plant, IT Department, and several volunteers. Many thanks to them all. The clinic will return to campus in about a month to give faculty and staff their second dose of the vaccine. It was so good to be able to see colleagues and friends getting the vaccine.
Two days earlier, Governor Lamont accelerated the timeline for COVID-19 vaccines so that Connecticut residents 16 years of age and older will be eligible to schedule vaccination appointments starting on April 5. This is terrific news, and we know that many of you have questions about how this will roll out. We are working with the Windsor Health Department to understand options for this population. Rest assured that this is an important issue for all of us and that we will keep you updated as we learn more. Parents, we also would encourage you to do your own research, and if you are able to schedule vaccines for your children, you should do so.
You also may have read in The New York Times that a new study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases suggests that three feet of social distancing in schools is sufficient when coupled with other mitigation measures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reviewing those findings. If the social distancing guidelines change, that would give us more flexibility in the classrooms. Exciting news for sure, but we still will have to wait to see what the CDC concludes.
COVID-19 testing over the past seven days has yielded no positive results on campus. We remain hopeful that continued compliance with our safety protocols by our community will keep COVID-19 at bay. Several parents of boarding students have contacted us to ask if we might allow them to visit their children at some point this spring. We are working to see if we can make this happen in a way that keeps our community safe. We know it has been difficult for many parents and students who have not been able to see each other in person in weeks. I should have more to share on this in next week's Friday email.
In closing, I hope that you will take the time to reflect on the too many incidents of hate that we have seen as a country. Let us think about the ways in which each of us can do something concrete to demonstrate our values and to make this campus still more inclusive. In addition to the reports mentioned in the opening paragraph, National Public Radio has included a set of resources and articles to read here; Time Magazine has an informative article here; and Human Rights Watch considers the issues here. Please read and become informed as we work together to counter the violence.
Stay well and take care of one another.
Sheila
The Loomis Chaffee School • 4 Batchelder Road • Windsor, CT 06095 • 860.687.6000
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