COVID-19 Protocols

Outlined below are protocols Loomis Chaffee has put in place for the 2021–22 school year to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infections in our community. These protocols apply to all students, faculty, staff, parents, and visitors to Loomis unless otherwise noted. While we hope to provide students with a living and learning experience more reflective of a pre-pandemic year, we are monitoring the continued spread of COVID-19 and the related recommendations from federal and state agencies.

The Omicron variant is particularly contagious. While it also appears to be somewhat milder, it still poses a significant risk to some individuals. Consequently, we have enhanced some of our COVID-prevention protocols until conditions improve.

Thank you for your attention to and compliance with these protocols. We hope we will be able to ease some of these restrictions as the pandemic wanes.

COVID Exposure Guidelines

Last Updated: January 17, 2021

What do I do if I test positive for COVID-19?

Report all positive cases to the Health Center using the Student Report of Positive Case of COVID-19 form.
Carefully review the COVID Positive Cases Guidelines (PDF) and Positive Test Flow Chart (PDF) to determine next steps.

First page of the PDF file: PostiveTestFlowChart_FINAL

What do I do if I'm the close contact of someone who tests positive?

Exposure (close contact) is defined as a contact within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, accrued over 24 hours (1 day), regardless of facial coverings. If the school determines you are a very close contact, such as a roommate, follow the process for not fully vaccinated individuals.

Report all exposures to the Health Center using the Student Report of Exposure to COVID-19 form.
Carefully review the Close Contact/Exposure Guidelines (PDF) and Close Contact Flow Chart (PDF) to determine next steps.

First page of the PDF file: CloseContactFlowChart_FINAL

COVID Booster Clinic for Students

The booster eliminates the need for close contacts who are asymptomatic to quarantine. For that reason and for the general health of the community, we strongly recommend that your child be boosted.

If your child has received the booster, please email a copy of their updated vaccination card to the Health Center at health_center@loomis.org.
In late January, Loomis Chaffee will host two booster clinics for students.
- All students have been emailed a link to sign up for a clinic.
- Parents who would like their child to participate in an on-campus clinic must complete and submit a consent form. The consent form is available in the Magnus Health portal and it must be uploaded to Magnus once signed.

Questions about the clinics may be directed to the Health Center at health_center@loomis.org.

Additional Information

Last Updated: January 22, 2022

Masking

Following the 2021/22 Winter Break, the following masking protocols will be in place until further notice.

In accordance with the state of Connecticut mandate requiring masking in school settings, all school community members and visitors must wear face masks indoors. (Please refer to the Dormitories section below for dorm-specific guidelines.)
The latest advice is that cloth masks are not as effective against the Omicron virus as surgical or medical-grade masks. We ask community members to wear these higher-grade masks upon return from Winter Break. The school will supply two masks per person to get you started; boarding students can get them in their dormitories, day students in the Deans of Students Office, and faculty and staff in their mailboxes.

Dining

All dining hall options will be grab and go. Day students are welcome for lunch and may eat in the dining hall, but we ask that they have breakfast and dinner off campus unless they have an on-campus evening activity such as a practice or school-sanctioned meeting. Boarding students will pick up their food in the dining hall and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in their respective dormitories. Common rooms are off limits for dining. Faculty and staff may pick up breakfast, lunch, and dinner to go. No family members of faculty and staff will be allowed in the dining hall, even if vaccinated.

Masks must be worn at all times in the servery and dining hall except when you are seated at a dining hall table and eating.

Dormitories

Classrooms

Building Access

At this time, only fully vaccinated community members may enter campus buildings. This rule also applies to unvaccinated members of faculty and staff families. This rule does not apply to students with a medical exemption and Admission visitors taking an official tour of campus. Please note that access to each dormitory is restricted to students, faculty, and staff that live or work in that dormitory.

Athletics - Updated 1/22/2022

Masking for indoor sports remains in effect. As of January 22, 2022, we are pleased to welcome Loomis Chaffee families as well as those of our opponents to begin attending contests indoors.

All visitors must be fully vaccinated.
All athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators must be fully masked.
No food or drink is allowed in the spectator stands or athletic venues (other than the athletes at benches and teams in designated areas).
Spectators must sit/stand in designated areas in each athletics venue. There will be signs designating these spaces.

Family Visits to Campus

Trips Off Campus

When the winter term resumes in January, boarding students will be required to stay on campus, with rare exceptions. Day students are asked to take special care to limit their interactions when they are not at school. Walking into the town of Windsor will not be allowed. The weekend of January 8 will be a closed weekend; boarding students will not be permitted to per off campus. Day students will not be allowed on campus that weekend except for sanctioned school activities such as sports practices, etc.

Evacuation Planning

It is imperative that all families have 48-hour evacuation plans for their children. We expect Omicron to create more positive cases and close contacts than its predecessors, and that potential volume will mean relying on families to partner with us. If you are not able to commit to picking up your child and have no one nearby who can assist, there are outside services, such as Student Health Advocates (studenthealthadvocates.com) that some of our families have used. It would be best to make an arrangement with them in advance.

Visitor Information

As of January 1, 2022 no visitors will be allowed on campus unless they are on an Admission tour, or have received special permission from the school. Visitors will need to be masked at all times, including outdoors.

If you are coming to campus for an Admission tour and are not feeling well or recently have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, please delay your visit.

As before, town residents are welcome to use the Loop Road around the perimeter of campus for walking. Any visitors with questions can stop at the Visitor Center, located on Batchelder Road just south of the Island Road intersection, near the baseball field or call Campus Safety at 860.202.5978.

Interscholastic Athletics

Winter Spectator Policy Effective January 22, 2022

As of January 22, 2022, we are pleased to welcome Loomis Chaffee families as well as those of our opponents to begin attending contests indoors.

All visitors must be fully vaccinated.
All athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators must be fully masked.
No food or drink is allowed in the spectator stands or athletic venues (other than the athletes at benches and teams in designated areas).
Spectators must sit/stand in designated areas in each athletics venue. There will be signs designating these spaces.

Please check with our opponent schools who are hosting our teams at away contests; each school has its own policy and may differ from ours. Policies are fluid and subject to change.

The following document outlines Loomis Chaffee’s interscholastic athletics COVID-19 protocols for the fall 2021 season. Information about the winter 2021–22 season will be posted soon.

Athletics COVID-19 Protocols

Testing

For the remainder of the 2021–22 academic year, we will be testing the entire community as needed. (Those who are not fully vaccinated will continue to be tested twice a week.) Announcements and updates about testing will be posted to Community eNews, the Daily Bulletin, and Parent eNews.

Watch this video for important instructions including restrictions on eating, brushing teeth, and other activities before providing a sample:

Where do I get my testing supplies and drop off my saliva sample?

Boarders and dorm boarding faculty: Your testing supplies will be packaged for pick up by the dorm head (or designee) in the Health Center. They will be ready after 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. Please send someone over to the Health Center to get them. The tests should be administered and collected in the dorm and returned to the Health Center by the duty person (or designee) on Wednesday nights.

Day faculty/staff/students: Drop off your saliva sample on Thursdays in the Burton Room (in the Athletic Center) between 8 a.m. and noon. You pick up the next week's testing supplies when you drop off your test.