April 19, 2021
Dear Chatham Hall Community,
It has been wonderful to see so many of our parents on recent weekends, and to welcome spectators to our spring sporting events. As we are truly speeding towards the end of this remarkable school year, I have some more good news. Vaccination rates in our campus community are high, as of today 94% of employees are fully vaccinated and 67% of eligible students on campus have at least begun vaccinations, and this number is getting higher every day. This means that we will be able to provide just another small slice of normalcy in the closing days of the year: some photos and videos without masks!
We know that year-end traditions are very important to our students and families, and we want to be able to provide photographs and videos that allow us all to see our community members happy, together, and Turtle Strong. In particular, we know our seniors would like some “normal” mementos from their year. This does not mean that students will ever be required to unmask. Instead, it means we can offer those who have been vaccinated the option to do so for photos and videos only.
Starting in May you will likely begin to see more photos and videos of individuals and small groups of vaccinated students unmasked, as those students involved feel comfortable. To assist us in capturing as many memories as possible from this year, we will have some helpers on campus (photographers and videographers, masked and socially distanced) in May when the most number of community members are fully vaccinated. As you know, students unmask for a variety of reasons already, including for meals, during athletics practices, in their dorm rooms, and with their dorm “pods,” and we are delighted that we will be able to extend this to other locations and small groups for those interested.
If you have any questions about our masking and distancing, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Dean of Students Marin Miller. If you have any questions about photos and video, please feel free to contact our Chief Communications Officer Beth Stefanik.
Esto Perpetua,
