I hope you are right @DroidsLookingFor.
FWIW I can confirm that hybrid classes are a complete disaster for virtual kids. Like watching someone else’s classroom happening on TV. I do appreciate that it needed to be tested though perhaps to know that. I think a solution might be not to combine virtual and in persona students, as much as I know they were hoping to do that. It really does not work well for kids at home though. Disappointing all around for sure.
Thanks @cityran and @familyrock for sharing information about your schools. We have been told that school will resume sometime @ January 10th. The students have not yet been told to pack up or to anticipate online winter term, yet. There is an uptick in cases in CT this week and I anticipate more cases as people travel for the Holidays.
Really appreciate everyone keeping us informed and sharing the plans for winter term.
@stalecookies oh they could make the accommodation but they’re choosing not to. Incredibly frustrating. The two-hour meal window could easily be sliced into 4 sections, and spread kids as needed around the dining hall (which is ENORMOUS), restaurant and conference rooms at the inn (owned by the school, currently closed to the public), library carrels, large lounge in the enormous athletic center, etc etc etc. And if even that doesn’t provide sufficient capacity, how about a round robin of sorts where you eat in your room 1-2 days/week but the rest in the various facilities?
Where there’s a will there’s a way. A bottomless endowment, and yet…
@Calliemomofgirls so sorry - but not totally surprised - to hear that being virtual in a mixed classroom is bad. I do think splitting class sections into all-virtual and all-local is a better choice than making 100% of classes all-virtual. There’s non-sibi/EBI but making everyone’s experience the inarguably lessor one is the wrong way to go IMO. So far no one has asked me, though I look forward to the call from the parent fund 
Apparently it is quite cold up on the Mesa this week (45 degrees), and Cate is powering through with all outdoor classes. Kiddo described the layers of clothes and blankets required to make it work. He is not aware of a plan to move his classes indoors yet. Brrrrrr.
On the bright side, he said it was finally feeling more like Cate, now that people can socialize, there is a rhythm to the day, sports practice, and they can get hot food. He sounded normal-stressed, not covid-stressed.
The school is committed to winter break Dec 11 - Jan 10. One week quarantine upon return. Who knows about what happens next.
Kids are certainly learning how to adapt to change this year.
Our kids started the year remote from home for 4 weeks, after the school balked last minute at bringing them on campus. Once they finally got on campus and finished the 2 weeks of quarantine, they had to adapt to having classes throughout the day and night. Now cases are increasing and there is uncertainty about being on-campus after winter break, so they have to pack up everything before leaving for break. As if that wasn’t enough, the school had an anonymous threat against students last week that resulted in a lockdown and moving all night classes to remote. And of course, the lockdown included sports, so the kids could not compete in the one virtual event scheduled for the term.
Now the school has instructed teaches to assign no homework or assessments (quizzes, tests, papers, etc.) for the rest of the term. Apparently, the school feels everything is too stressful to require things of the students now. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d say the structure and normalcy of school assignments is better for mental health than the limbo of no expectations for the final weeks of the term.
I’m not complaining…just sharing one school/family experience and the craziness of these times. It is what it is, and we just support them through it, hope it builds character and makes them appreciate the better days to come.
Thanks @Altras for your insights. Our school has not given us any directive to have students packed - given what is happening at PA and a couple of other schools in MA, I asked one of our Deans yesterday about plans for winter term. I was told that the school is planning to a return in mid-January. Our students are stressed more than usual at this time of year - finals and presentations are coming up next week. Several students we know “left early” - so they can take finals remotely - hmmmmm…I am hearing interesting reasons why. I like your school’s idea of just not having finals this term.
In case you missed this NYT’s article @ Thanksgiving travel risks for students coming home…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/colleges-coronavirus-thanksgiving.html
What are most BSs doing about this?? Our school tests regularly, so kiddo’s last test will be two days before she leaves. My nephew will be coming here from a CT BS and I think his mom is sending him an at home test to take before flying. And my niece goes to a college in Boston where she is tested every 3 days, so none of them are much of a risk. But I can see how this is a problem. I’ve heard many colleges had outbreaks after Halloween (parties), so the timing for coming home / covid risk isn’t great.
And I agree that final exams and packing don’t go hand in hand. I also think if school is going to be closed for 4 months, they should let the kids spend these last few days hanging out with each other. Fortunately, for the most part, freshman don’t have exams this year (a change made early on due to covid), but I’d still rather kiddo spend time out and about w her friends than in her room packing boxes.
Hey - my kiddo would love nothing better than to spend Winter semester down here in the swamp prepping for golf season! But to be serious, it is very stressful (as you say @cityran ) to pack up and study for finals. Our school has been testing weekly and the few positives they have had this term have been “false positives”. Whew! We are planning on testing kiddo, then keeping kiddo isolated at home upon return for Thanksgiving until the rapid COVID test (48 hours) comes in.
I think it is really hard to plan for winter term given all the uncertainty. In a way PA is ahead of the game because they called it now, allowing everyone to make alternative plans and set up all sorts of activities for the kids at home or alternate winter location for the family if the rest is remote as well. Our school is waiting as I think they would like to be on campus, but the numbers are skyrocketing in the last week in CT and now all over the tri-state area and if they don’t break this trend soon nobody is doing in person school in January.
As several people already mentioned, faculty resistance is a huge deal in a number of the schools. A friend of mine has a kid at PA, and was absolutely outraged that after all the hoops to get on campus and in the classroom (later cohort plus quarantine) they get to class and only one (!) of his core teachers is actually in the classroom. They were completely unaware of this beforehand and not at all happy. I am sure the school was getting complaints left and right. But with the numbers going in the wrong direction fast, it may be impossible for the administration to force the issues even if they wanted to, and most do not want to do that. So the remote school is safest decision that has likely more supporters than the next alternative if the covid situation does not improve, for the schools with healthy endowment that can easily weather the revenue decrease. There are schools that are in a different boat financially and that plays into the decision, but PA behaves much like Harvard in the college world as far as covid goes, very cautious conservative approach catering to the faculty above all.
If it helps anybody feel any better about going virtual, my son did Phillips Academy Andover E-Summer last summer and had a fantastic experience. He learned a ton and interacted wonderfully with his teachers, both of whom were enthusiastic, creative, committed and intelligent.
I feel like my son’s school – and I am pretty sure, all the other boarding schools – is doing the best it can. Will it please everyone? No. Will it be perfect? Far from it. But these are good, smart people doing the best they can to navigate a dangerous, uncertain and constantly changing environment. So I cut them quite a bit of slack, and I recognize that I only see the tip of the iceberg of all the possible facts around this situation.
Doing the best they can is all they can do!
@CateCAParent My child goes to Idyllwild Arts. They have a much different climate then Cate. It snowed last week. Not east coast snow, but snow 
They returned Oct. 5, staying for Thanksgiving
home for Dec. break
Back to school in Jan. but no Spring break and ending May 1.
They had 1 covid so far, 2 wks after return. Interesting though, not even her roommate got it.
I believe that in our state, the guidance remains the same – employees who can work from home should do so. Perhaps the corollary is that employers can’t tell someone they have to work on site?
While there are certainly places where only on-site work is possible, I wonder if this is why schools can’t force teachers into the classroom?
And to @Calliemomofgirls ’ point, having sat through many a live meeting with a group of virtual participants, I understand why the combo class doesn’t work! I appreciate the schools that are running two versions of classes – in person and virtual.
@417WHB your friends are not alone in that feeling. I can say based on our own experience and similar comments from several other parents with whom we’ve spoken that based on the degree of surprise (and unhappiness veering toward outrage) that the school did a pretty poor job of expectations management in terms of the # or % of teachers who would be doing in-person classes.
With increased discussion about and probability of a 4-6 week shutdown, does it make any sense for any BS to plan to bring students back on campus in January? It seems most likely that would occur very shortly after the January inauguration. Plus, I personally doubt it will have the same effect (since spread is mostly via social and community interactions), leading to probable extension of the shutdown beyond 6 weeks. Can a BS operate with boarding students under a stay-at-home order? I honestly, don’t know the answer.
@Altras someone above mentioned that what we know as parents in these situations is likely just the tip of the iceberg. “Some day” we’ll find out that some of the decision makers at some of the BS are/were part of - or closely connected to - the group informing the incoming administration’s plan for the 4-6 week shutdown.
I’m still INTERNET MAD but I’m confident they all know a hell of a lot more than I do about all of this! (In a way, this makes what happened on campus this fall, and what didn’t, all the more sad-making).
Soon enough we’ll all be commenting in a “will there be a spring semester?” thread.
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I’m not going to even address the 4-6 week lockdown because every cell in my body is hoping we won’t have to get to that point.
In other news, our school has SIX new positives among the staff. We’ve jumped from 8 total cases to 14 total cases in a week. Students holding strong at 7 (none active). At this point, I’m hoping the school stays open through next week.
Ouch.
One day at a time indeed.
@cityran , wow. That sucks. Hope everyone is mild or asymptotic.
Hang in there.