Dear Miss Hall’s School Families,
I write with important news. Because of a significant increase in positive COVID cases in Pittsfield during the past week, we have made the decision to shift to campus reopening level ORANGE — and move to online classes for all students — effective tomorrow, Friday, November 13, until further notice.
As you know, safety is our top priority, and we make this decision to ensure the well-being of our students, adults, and the larger community. Level ORANGE means the MHS campus is “open with restrictions.” We move to this level when either external conditions or on-campus conditions warrant additional caution. In this case, we are shifting to ORANGE because external conditions — increased local/state positivity rate, moderate risk of local outbreak, and public school closures — warrant additional caution. Fortunately, our MHS positivity rate continues to be at 0%, and we have no known close contacts with positive cases at this time. This is due to our weekly monitoring testing, our intentional policies and protocols, and the efforts by everyone on- and off-campus to follow the Common Good Guidelines to which we all have pledged.
The move to ORANGE means that all classes will be online through the end of the term on November 20. Academic courses will continue to run in two cohorts, morning and afternoon. We will not offer in-person athletics or other extracurricular activities, and sadly, this means that the fall play and other on-campus events scheduled for next week will need to be modified or postponed. Day students can come to campus if they need to pick up academic materials or other belongings, and boarding students will continue to follow on-campus protocols and will depart campus after their last commitment on November 20, unless they are staying on campus through Fall Break.
With positivity rates increasing locally, nationally, and globally, this is an important reminder that we all need to take additional precautions to protect the health of our MHS community and extended communities. We believe it is safer for day students if they remain home and it is safer for boarding students to remain on campus and limit exposure.
That our positivity rate on campus remains at 0% means that our protocols are working, and we ask that all at Miss Hall’s continue to follow them. This includes adhering to the Common Good Guidelines, wearing a mask at all times, observing travel restrictions, and following best practices from health experts such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wherever you are. Now is the time for everyone to double-down on efforts to stay healthy and do your part for the common good.
As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
All the best,
