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Update to BBA Families - July 10, 2020

July 10, 2020

Dear BBA community:

I miss you.

It has been too long since we have all been together learning, coaching, teaching, and celebrating the many opportunities for students to thrive at Burr and Burton Academy. Yes, we discovered Zoom and Google Hangouts and the amazing capability for technology to keep us connected, but as the global pandemic drags on, we also are discovering just how much we value being together in person. I miss the magic of art and music, the excitement of athletic competition, the energy of our classrooms, the joy of working together as a community.

But we will rise, together, and we will face the future together.

As I write this, Associate Head Meg Kenny and I are working with a variety of task forces to develop safety protocols so we can get back to the purposeful endeavor of teaching and learning. We will incorporate the best thinking and the best guidance provided by the state of Vermont, a state that leads the nation in managing through this crisis. (As you know, Vermont’s COVID-19 infection rates are the envy of just about every other state in the nation.)

It will not be easy, and it will require our entire community to rise to the challenge. Masks will be required indoors. We will adjust the capacities of our classrooms. There will be temperature checks and symptom checks. We will have enhanced cleaning, disinfection and ventilation protocols.

There will be other adjustments and limitations. However, all of the adjustments will be worth it because we will be able to get back together and do what we do so well.

Some say the state is moving too slowly to reopen. Others are fearful that the pace is too fast, that a resurgence is inevitable. I will share with all of you that I have great confidence in Vermont’s leadership, and I appreciate the statewide commitment to getting schools reopened as safely as possible. Education is a moral imperative in this community and in this country, and our state leadership knows this essential truth.

So, I write this note to say that I miss you, to tell you that we are all working harder than during any other summer in my entire education career, and to confirm that we are going to open in the right way in August. Stay tuned for details.

Bulldogs stick together, and now more than ever we are going to need the strength of our community to face the challenges ahead.

I hope the summer is treating all of you well.

Mark H. Tashjian
Headmaster
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