Andover is Broken

I’m trying to understand why Andover, alone among the boarding schools we know, has so many teachers who have decided it is too risky to teach in person.

I honestly don’t know any teachers complaining about the risk at other boarding schools. Those who are not immunocompromised or have other special circumstances - they wear one or two masks and at times a face shield. They have physical barriers in the classroom. They open the window. They have filters. The level of testing is through the roof.

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No, Andover is not a business, it is a non-profit organization.

No, families already enrolled cannot “take their business elsewhere”.

Schools have a much more important mission than merely “filling the seats”.

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And a business can’t do anything it wants, either. It must obey various laws and put service and quality at the top of its concerns if it wants to thrive.

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I have to say, if Head of School thinks this way, he should be fired.

Unfortunately, the statement is true. However, being true doesn’t make it right.

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I am only aware in the situation in my area but as far as I know, and I know several doctors who sit on health boards in the area and have spoken to them, there hasn’t been in school transmission from students to teachers. So I am not arguing that it is safe to teach in Georgia where no one is wearing a mask and the kids are packed in like sardines (sorry Georgia) but in MA to say that teachers are deciding between teaching and death is absurd. There is enough evidence to show that being in a classroom, under the conditions in MA, is generally safe. The fact that people are terrified is understandable, but not excusable when it means they refuse to use facts to make decisions.

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I mean, public school kids have been PLAYING CONTACT SPORTS for goodness sake - with very few outbreaks. The decision making process for all these things is broken. I know public school kids playing a full season of school basketball but only going to school in person 4 hours a week.

We had two private schools in our league play each other recently and then found out one of the girls had covid and played anyway - everyone quarantined, as far as I know none of the others players got covid. No one is paying attention to facts.

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I’s also add this. Having a different opinion that teachers should teach unless they gave a medical condition, doesn’t make you entitled, not sympathetic or anything else. And folks should not attack others because they share an opinion other than their own.
Needs have to be measured and decisions made. People are starting to recognize the costs of online learning to STUDENTs and families as well.
We might ve going into fall Covid issues. It’s been a ling time. I don’t think it’s fair for students and parents to hold the entire burden.
As for medical issues, this could ve determined by a third party. Most BS’s are small communities and have flexibility. We know of three which are currently allowing teachers to opt for remote for health/age reasons.

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Even though I’m applying, I’d rather schools do remote teaching if it is not safe for teachers and students to return to campus. Online teaching works pretty well in my public school district. With huge amount of money private schools have, I suppose they could do an even better job? It is true that we will miss a lot of fun of boarding schools but that’s temporarily and eventually we will all get back to normal.

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Andover has a less controlled environment due to the large number of day students–about 25%.

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PA is no different than Choate with Day % and has a lower Day % than Loomis and Middlesex. Each of those 3 schools are able to bring all students back to campus.

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As a current student at PA, I am frustrated with how they have handled tuition, lack of communication and some of their policies, but understand their perspective. More people should be given the choice to put their health first, and I think teachers have every right to do so. I am indeed struggling more than normal by learning remotely, but I understand the reasons why.

I do not know where your ‘data’ is coming from. I know that the prior term had the highest average GPA in a couple of years. Among my friends who are open with me, I didn’t know a single person who was failing. I have no idea about the third fact, but I doubt it’s true. The fourth fact you have listed – no students have been asked about their suicidal ideation. Furthermore, reducing students to statistics, especially with such a personal one is highly unethical.

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Also, I’d love to PM but I’m new to forum would you be able to contact me? Thank you.

Hi Altras, me again.

Just because the risk is lower, this is also something that affects the families and friends of these teachers. Just because the risk is lower, does not mean we should ever justify putting people’s lives at possible risk. Coming back on campus would directly increase the likelihood of them catching COVID. Not to mention, with the US healthcare system, a lot of people cannot put themselves at risk for other reasons besides death.

More people should be given the opportunity to put their health and their families first. Under our current capitalist operating system, students should logically be receiving better tuition by paying in full. However, this is a choice made by the administration. If anything, they should have cut tuition and continued to let teachers make the decision on how they want to teach. Teachers are already undervalued in America, which is disappointing to see.

We can compare it to other operating systems, however, this does not mean that the way comparable jobs are functioning is ethical.

Seeing the posts by other students on this thread and hearing what my peers have had to say, I think most students are frustrated with how things are playing out. However, we are not willing to jeopardize anyone else’s health for a chance to be back on campus.

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Jumping in with the useless contribution that I see both sides.

I asked kiddo what he thought about it, and he said (a) he was amazed that so many teachers were willing to teach at all, and (b) Andover was so much more porous than Cate - and he didn’t think even Cate could control the spread even as isolated as it is. That isn’t to say he wouldn’t be back on campus in a heartbeat if he could be, regardless of whether the teachers are being required to be there or not.

I think it is interesting that many of these youngsters seem sympathetic to the teachers who want to stay away, even if it means distance learning that they hate.

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I’m just appalled at the level of personal attack/disrespect this thread is starting to take.
I had hoped we were above that and could have disagreement without disrespect and anger towards one another.

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I think teachers in general are very apprehensive to go back, whether it is public, private or boarding school and it just depends on the balance of power whether they are in the classroom or not. And the fact that many of the teachers in the classrooms don’t really want to be there is undoubtedly having an impact on the quality of teaching regardless.

But there are a lot of issues on the school/students side too. While someone has said how fall has been a success at many school, it is not necessarily the case. While there was no raging covid outbreak anywhere, the student experience was very much impacted and in many cases not worth it, judging by the number of students staying remote for winter term. Between arduous quarantine requirements (particularly for international students), absence of most in person activities, and severely limited social life the campus is nothing close to normal. Older kids with built in network who got some activities (sports practices etc. ) may have preferred it from zooming from home, but many new students had rather difficult experience.

And it is getting more problematic now with planning for the spring. The local schools just about everywhere have started contact sports and other in person activities, all the extracurriculars are in full swing everywhere while boarding school students are expected to be willing to be locked in on campus with little to do. More and more kids will opt out if things don’t change in the spring, who wants to miss second year of your sports season while all your friends are playing? Or your music performances, or robotics competitions or whatever? While the bubble concept may be best to keep covid away it is really making for subpar boarding school experience as it takes away many of the reasons students choose boarding school in the first place.

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Hi Altras. I’m a current senior at Andover. Where’s your data coming from? I don’t recall ever being asked about suicidal ideation during my time at Andover, so I’m especially curious about your stat about a “45-60% increase in suicide ideation.” Please link your sources in a comment!

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Hi all! Just wanted to jump in here and remind everyone to be respectful. It’s a stressful time and this topic seems particularly difficult. It’s fine to disagree, but let’s not harm other people in the process!

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It is so hard to make sense of any of it. The regional differences are huge. In Cal it is the private schools that have more (but limited) freedom, and sports are still impacted (though there are club teams out there). The decisions so localized. The conditions are fluid. The impacts will last a generation.

It is all so sad and frustrating. I understand why the tensions are so high.

Thanks for your respectful inquiry.

Those data are not for PA. Apologize for that confusion. They are from the American Academy of Pediatrics. You can easily Google and find. There is much speculation that depression and anxiety is much higher, but those are difficult to measure, since baseline rates are not low and it’s difficult to quantify subjective changes in those already experiencing symptoms or with a history of variable symptoms. Suicidal ideation is a quick survey. That said, the CDC has shown a 28% increase in mental health ER visits in teens.

The other data are also easily Googled. And the sources are neither few nor obscure.

The repeated suggestion that teachers are putting their health first has also been refuted by science. If they remain members of their community, they are at no greater risk of COVID, and may even be at lower risk at school according to multiple sources, including the CDC.

This is why there is a raging national debate at this very moment. An accumulating body of scientific evidence is not only debunking myths built on fear, but actually revealing a substantial and real health crisis (nevermind the educational impact).

I hope I have “checked myself”.

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