Hi, I know they were remote after the holidays- but I am not sure if that is still the case. Does anyone know?
Current Lawrenceville student here—we just began our spring break, but we’ve been remote since Thanksgiving. Boarders will return to campus for quarantine (and online classes) March 12, and in-person activities will begin March 25.
According to my friends at Peddie, they opened for hybrid around a month ago. I am unsure of when their break is.
Thank you- is the school communicating when the school will go back to in person? Are the families upset? I am a bit surprised to hear it’s still remote.
Yes, they have held some webinars regarding how Spring Term will be different from Fall Term, the entry protocols, testing, etc. I think the main reason they made it remote for so long is to avoid boarding students having to leave and come back twice in such rapid succession while still having a spring break. It’s definitely a bit disappointing not being back until so late, but at least for me personally (as a day student) the cold weather would have made it miserable anyways, so I’m not too mad—I was actually getting afraid to go to school near the end of November due to the spike in cases so I think it was the right decision.
Lville is communicating regularly with parents but families are definitely upset about the remote winter term. Having said that, the restrictions NJ has put on the school really limit the opportunities that students can interact with each other indoors (no eating in the dining halls, maximum of 6(?) in the common rooms, limited use of the field house, single rooms, etc), so most social interaction happens outside. Because of the winter weather (and this winter has been especially brutal), it made more sense to go remote. Unfortunately, there are a lot of new students, my own included, that were on campus for only two months, have now been home for three months and really don’t want to go back to school. I’d guess the rate of re-enrollment will drop this year.
That’s so sad. That after all that effort in keeping up their grades, writing essays, testing, interviewing and the rollercoaster of application season (and the presumed joy of receiving and accepting an offer), the students have had such a sub-par experience in the first months of their new school that they don’t want to return.
I’m so sorry that your kid has to go through that.
Do you know if schools are giving any extra timing for the submission of re-enrollment contracts? I mean, they need to know how many kids are coming back for 10/11/12 grades so they can calculate how many offers to extend, but it must be so hard. For everyone.
@MacJackAttack Agree it has been a sad year for many. I do want to point out that remote winter term was pretty common this year for lots of schools. Since this is a thread about L and P, I just wanted to point that out: this issue isn’t a unique thing. (Not sure if it came across that way to anyone reading, but just in case.)
Yes. Sorry, I didn’t mean to cast shade on L’ville specifically and their covid plan.
@MacJackAttack Not at all. I don’t think you did. I just didn’t want anyone reading this thinking: oh wow that is really an unusual approach! When, as much as it frankly sucks, it’s been the approach at a lot of schools. The good news is that next year will look a LOT different! So I understand parents looking into “how schools handled Covid,” I would look at broader issues like communication, strong leadership, overall reasonableness etc. and not get too hung up on the exact details since next year will be so different.
That said, I do think many schools will have higher attrition rates, not because people are “against the covid policies” but because covid has made the experience really less pleasant and as a result a lot of kids may not love their school this year.
Yes to all of this…our frustration is more about Covid and the NJ govt/health department than about the school. We realize that the school administration has their hands tied. Would kiddo have had a better overall experience by this point, at a school that remained open over winter term and had fewer restrictions? Most certainly, but we still feel very strongly that she is at the “right” school. We’re optimistic that Spring term will provide the opportunity for kiddo and other new students to (finally) fall in love with their school.
It has definitely been a very long and stressful 18 months, first with visits and applications, and now with covid. We have not been given an extension on re-enrollment contracts (I believe they were due at the end of February), but I am certain the school would be flexible on an individual basis. I also believe a student could withdraw until July 1 (?), only losing the deposit made the initial year of enrollment (and making a waitlisted student very happy).
Lawrenceville stayed remote through the term. They are just now repopulating campus and will be back in person on 3/26. Peddie was remote through the holidays but went back mid January. They added a small amount of interscholastic competitions the last few weeks of the term.