Dear Bancroft Community, 

What a year it has been. Together we have found ways to work through the challenges that COVID-19 presented. And together we have triumphed. This is the time of year we look back and celebrate milestones of all kinds – but before we get to those, I want to salute all our students, families, faculty, and staff who stayed true to Bancroft's mission and values under the most unusual circumstances. In time, the images of masks and social distancing will fade. But what will remain are the memories of our community coming together to find truly creative and inspiring ways to help our students own their learning.

Year-End Celebrations

Last Thursday and Friday was about celebrating the resilient Class of 2021. Commencement might have looked a little different this year, but it was still a festive occasion. We were so glad to have the Seniors back on Shore Drive to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas in person. To watch or rewatch the Virtual Commencement Ceremony, and to help celebrate our graduates by leaving comments on their pictures, please visit our Commencement website.

Last week, we also celebrated our Lower and Middle Schools with their respective closing ceremonies. It is always a joyous occasion to see students excited to move up a grade or prepare for a brand new experience in a new division. Bancroft is truly a place of growth and I want to thank the many parents and family members that joined our Zoom calls to celebrate with us last week.

COVID-19 Vaccination Reminder

While the summer is a great time to rewind and refresh, it's also an important time to get the COVID-19 vaccine if you are eligible. Vaccination is a key element as we plan for the reopening of school in the fall. The more members of our community who are vaccinated, the more rules and regulations we can lift. General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine, you can find locations with available appointments here by entering your zip code.

Over the summer, we'll be pausing these weekly letters and will update you on fall planning when we have important updates to share. Thank you again for your cooperation and enthusiasm this year. 

Have a great summer!

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

We've reached the penultimate week of school and it has been fun to see the flurry of culminating activities happening all over campus. We can take great pride in having provided a robust and engaging school year even in the midst of the many challenges and uncertainties brought by the pandemic. As we approach this year's finish line, our students and faculty are celebrating as they wrap up responsibilities and finish final projects. We've been lucky enough to enjoy many end of year events outside including a concert from our Upper School Rock Band, Lower School Field Day, and the Middle School Egg Drop competition. 

I want to share some summer projects that will be taking place at Bancroft over the next few months. We are excited about these opportunities to improve the community experience by enhancing our facilities and optimizing campus design. 

Courtyard Renovation

The architectural design of our campus accentuates the relationship between inside and outside spaces, helping to connect us with nature and one another around every corner. The courtyard between the dining hall and bookstore will be receiving a major renovation this summer which will transform the space into a more functional place for activities, classes, and gatherings. This transformation includes removing the loading dock parking area which will improve campus security and create a much more inviting aesthetic as you enter campus. We expect this project to be completed by opening day of the 2021-22 school year.

Solar Project

As part of the school's continued effort to be environmentally responsible, we have recently reached an agreement to add a 300KW solar panel system to the roof of our Field House at 100 Shore Drive. Our current 200KW system, located on the roofs of the Fletcher Athletic Center and McDonough building, provide approximately 20% of our campus electric power. This summer's upgrade will provide the school with even more solar generated electricity to help power the entire campus. We expect this project to conclude before the end of the summer. 

Thank you all again for your perseverance during this unprecedented time. Next Friday will be our final weekly update for the 2020-21 school year, but we will be in touch during the summer with updates about reopening for 2021-22. Have a great weekend.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

The end of this school year is nearly here and this gives us a great reason to celebrate the impact that all our students, faculty, and staff have made in this exceptional year. In ways both big and small, our community has come together in a spirit of cooperation and creativity. Our upcoming year-end celebrations mark the end of an unusual year, to be sure. But they also set us on the path forward for a fully engaged experience next fall.

COVID-19 Vaccination Survey

If you have yet to fill out the COVID-19 Vaccination survey I sent out in last week's email, please do so — you can access the survey here. This information is immensely helpful as we prepare and plan for next year. 

Thank you to the members of our community who have already filled out the survey. The results so far show a high level of vaccination among our population. We still need more input from the community, however, to know if an on-site vaccination clinic here at school would make sense. We appreciate your diligence with this.

Departing Faculty and Staff

As the academic year draws to a close, it's also time to say a heartfelt thank you to members of the Bancroft community who are transitioning to new adventures. We would like to wish Middle School Assistant Teacher Angelina Carpenter, Upper School Math Teacher Jen Dalton, Upper School English Teacher and English Department Chair Martha Fortier, Interim Director of Admission & Financial Aid Jesse Fortney, Upper School History Teacher Heather McLeod, Assistant Director of Admission Will Meyers, Upper School Long Term Substitute Teacher Sara Provost, and Executive Assistant Jane Turner all the best with their new experiences. 

This is also a time to thank members of our community who are retiring after caring for our students for many years. We send our deepest gratitude to School Counselor Carol Botty, Evening / Summer Nurse Jim Kamosky, Hope Graham Program Teacher Judi Sbrogna, and Physical Education Teacher Carol Ryan for the many ways they have impacted our students, families, and Bancroft community.

Vanessa Marcotte 5K Run

The Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation is holding a Virtual 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, June 12. Vanessa was a Bancroft alum from the class of 2007 who was tragically killed by an act of violence in 2016. The Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation partners with organizations that provide educational programs and mentorship opportunities to promote female empowerment and gender equality. If you are able, I hope you consider participating in this important event. If you plan to run, please join the Bancroft Bulldogs team when you register!

Summer Programs

While the school year is ending shortly, our summer programming is just ramping up for the season. Curious campers will once again gather on Shore Drive to take part in our Bancroft Summer camp programs. There are still a limited number of summer camp spots available if your family is interested. Learn more here!

Another important program running this summer is the Worcester Partnership, which brings students from Worcester Public Schools to campus to give opportunities for continued learning throughout the summer. This free, Bancroft-run program has been in place for nearly 20 years, and it's an important part of our dedication to engaging with and supporting the children of Elm Park Community School. One of the ways the program remains free is through fundraising — The Worcester Partnership Golf Classic, which will be held this year on Monday, June 14 at the Haven Country Club in Boylston, is an important and fun fundraising event. Even if you don't plan to tee off, I urge you to support this great program by making a donation. Thank you for your consideration and support.

We will take a break from these weekly letters starting June 11, but we will be sure to stay in touch over the summer. In the meantime, we hope you are all able to relax, refresh, and enjoy some time with your family and friends.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

It's hard to believe there are only 11 full days of school left this year. These two weeks are filled with excitement, transitions, and anticipation for the future. As we get ready to send the Class of 2021 off to their next adventure, we also prepare to welcome many alumni "back" to campus for our Virtual Reunion this weekend. 

Last weekend, alum Matt Wade '97 of the band 'My Silent Bravery' performed at our PFA Night In event. I'm inspired by Matt's story. His musical journey started here at Bancroft, and through his senior co-op experience, Matt was given the opportunity to test an idea and craft a path forward which led to his career as a musician. I'm excited to see what paths our current seniors take once they leave Shore Drive in a few short weeks. In the meantime, here are a few updates. 

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic

I urge all of our community members who are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In order to resume a more typical Fall at Bancroft, we will need as many members of our community as possible to be fully vaccinated.

Bancroft School is in discussions to potentially host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for our community on campus sometime in June. In order to host a clinic, we need to know how many community members are currently eligible, already vaccinated, or plan to be vaccinated once they become eligible. 

Please fill out the form once per student or faculty / staff member.

We appreciate your cooperation as we gather the necessary information. 

For those of you still looking to book a vaccination appointment, UMASS has walk-in COVID-19 vaccines (also appointments) at Mercantile Center in Worcester for ages 12+. Click here for more information.

General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine, you can find locations with available appointments here by entering your zip code.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need assistance with resources on finding vaccine appointments, please reach out to School Nurse Liza Marzilli.

Mask Update

The CDC has recently announced that those who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or stay six feet apart. As I mentioned in last week's letter, we will not be changing our COVID-19 protocols on campus. While the vaccine is now more readily available, a sizable portion of our student population are still not yet eligible and we need to continue to protect our entire community. We have all worked hard to build good habits over the past year, and I'm thankful for your patience and perseverance. Let's keep up the good work in these last few days.

School Play

Tonight is opening night! I hope you all can catch the pre-recorded performance of "Scenes from Metamorphoses" by Mary Zimmerman based on Ovid's retelling of Greek myths being shown on YouTube Premiere tonight at 7:00 PM, Saturday at 1:00 PM, or Saturday at 7:00 PM. Our students and staff have worked incredibly hard to put on this production and I think you'll enjoy this inspiring performance. Click here to find links for all three shows!

Art Show

Take a virtual tour of the Upper School hallways which our Visual Arts Teachers and incredibly talented student artists have transformed into a full-on art gallery! Check out the 2021 Bancroft Art Show here.

Thank You

I want to thank our community for coming together to support Bancroft through the PFA Night In Auction. All together, $34,877 was raised to help support the great work of the Parent Faculty Association. Well done!

Blue Out on May 28

To celebrate the end of the school year, next Friday, May 28, will be a school-wide Blue Out. Please have your students wear their new Bancroft t-shirts — and make sure they bring their Bancroft spirit. 

Have a great weekend!

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

This is the season of next steps and celebrations, a time to honor the transitions that come at the end of the school year. Seniors wrapped up their final day of classes last Friday, putting the 2020-2021 academic year in the books for our soon-to-be graduates. They are currently wrapping up end of year activities and working on co-op projects with local organizations. We will also soon be celebrating the accomplishments of our 5th and 8th graders as they progress into Middle and Upper School respectively. These younger students are leading activities in their divisions this month, helping bring a spirited end to the school year. 

Before I get into this week's updates, I would like to take a moment to thank our Health Services team for their hard work in keeping us all safe and informed all year. This group was remarkably nimble, flexible, and creative in providing great care to our community. I hope you will join me in expressing sincere gratitude to our Health Services team - Director of Health Services Liza Marzilli RN, Jim Kamosky RN, Janice Kapaon RN, Sharon Fitzpatrick RN, and Upper School Health Care provider and Athletic Trainer Wayne Penniman PT, DPT, ATC.

COVID-19 Updates

Vaccine Update

The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that children 12 to 15 years old are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as the agency expanded its emergency use authorization. On Wednesday, the CDC recommended the coronavirus vaccine for that age range as well. If you are a parent/guardian of a 12 to 15 year old, please register your student for a vaccine appointment. The more vaccinated members of our community we have, the more we can feel confident in relinquishing the protocols that the pandemic has forced us to implement. We are encouraging everyone to be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine, you can find locations with available appointments here by entering your zip code.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need assistance with resources on finding vaccine appointments, please reach out to School Nurse Liza Marzilli.

Mask Update

As you may have heard, the CDC yesterday announced that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances such as in healthcare settings or on public transportation. While this is welcome news and a sign that things continue to trend in the right direction, our school will continue to require masks to be worn on campus by everyone, regardless of vaccination status. This decision is being made to protect the health & safety of ALL of our students, many of whom are still not eligible for vaccination.

End-of-Year Celebrations

Now that the days are getting warmer, we are only a few weeks away from our end of year celebrations. I want to share with you details on the Lower School Closing Ceremony, Middle School Closing Ceremony, and Commencement.

The Lower School Closing Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 8 at 9:00 a.m. This will be a virtual event, and all parents, family and friends will be welcome to join. An invitation with links to the event will be forthcoming. 

The Middle School Closing Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. This will be a virtual ceremony, and all parents, family, and friends will be welcome to join. The ceremony will especially honor our 8th grade students, and will feature student and faculty speakers. An invitation with links to the event will be forthcoming.

Commencement for the Class of 2021 will be divided into two events. On Thursday, June 10 at 6:00 p.m., a Virtual Celebration of the Class of 2021 will be held. The entire Bancroft community is invited to this event, which will feature student and faculty speeches and a student performance. On Friday, June 11 at 5:30 p.m., a diploma ceremony will be held on campus on the varsity athletic fields. For the health and safety of our guests and greater community, socially distanced seating and mask-wearing will be in place. This event is limited to faculty and guests of our graduates. Both events will be a meaningful sendoff for the Class of 2021.

Virtual Spring Open House

Our Virtual Spring Open House will be held this coming Tuesday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. Select spaces are still available as we are looking for talented and capable students to join our community. Please share the word with any families and students you think would be interested. More information, including a link to sign-up, can be found here. 

Upper School Play

Our Performing Arts department has been hard at work reimagining theater this year and are excited to share that they will debut a pre-recorded performance of "Scenes from Metamorphoses" by Mary Zimmerman based on Ovid's retelling of Greek myths next Friday and Saturday evening. Links for the free virtual shows will be sent to the community next week and I hope you will support these artists and enjoy the show. 

PFA Night In! Auction

The PFA Night In! Auction continues through May 15. There are great items available and I hope you will consider contributing to this important fundraiser for the school. While we can't gather in person this year, we can come together online and show our support. There are hundreds of items to browse, from birdhouses to brewery swag bags. Bid early, bid often, and bid high! We appreciate your support.

Last Day of Classes

A reminder that the last day on campus for each division is as follows:

Lower School: Monday, June 7

Middle School: Monday, June 7

Upper School: Friday, June 4

I hope you have a great weekend!

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

It was so wonderful to see everyone on campus showing their pride by wearing their new Bancroft spirit shirts. These moments of sharing something positive together as a full community help to unite us and remind us that we are all in this together. Parents and family members can share their pride by wearing Bancroft gear made available through our online school store.  

We have many reasons to be proud of our faculty for all they have done this year. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, so I hope you will take a moment to share a note of thanks with your teachers. They have taken every opportunity this past year to engage with our students, with one another, and with our community. Another great way to show your support for our educators is through our Parent Faculty Association Auction, which is now live. I hope you will check out some of the great items up for auction. 

This week, I had a chance to check out something new in town — Polar Park Baseball Stadium in downtown Worcester. I got behind the scenes as things are getting prepared for opening day with one of our alums, Katie Oliver '12, who works as the Manager of Special Events for the Worcester Red Sox. I was inspired by the magnitude and location of the ballpark — it's a true sign of emergence in our city. I hope you'll be able to catch a game at some point this season. In the meantime, I have a few updates for our community below.

COVID-19 Vaccination

I want to encourage ALL members of our community, including parents and eligible Upper School students over the age of 16, to become vaccinated. Students ages 12-15 should become eligible for the vaccine in the next week.

As more members of our community become fully protected, the more COVID-19 health and safety restrictions can be reevaluated and removed. General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine, you can find locations with available appointments here by entering your zip code.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need assistance with resources on finding vaccine appointments, please reach out to School Nurse Liza Marzilli.

Next School Year

As I mentioned last week, we continue to actively prepare for the school year ahead, when we are hoping to remove many of the current limitations we have put in place this year. This includes a return to our prior daily schedule across divisions and more on-campus activities for students, faculty, and families. We are hard at work reviewing our options for how we will operate, and we will continue to track changes in federal and state regulations. The increasing availability of vaccines is a critically important part of our ability to be more fully open in the fall. The more members of our community that are vaccinated, the more we will be able to do. Recent updates about what's allowed for vaccinated people, including greater mobility and fewer mask-wearing expectations, alongside a statewide expectation that more businesses will be fully open by August, have signaled important changes ahead. However, the majority of our population — our students — are not yet vaccinated, so we will continue to keep their protection and safety our priority as we maintain many of our precautions over the next several months. You can expect additional updates as our policies adapt to reflect the reality around us.

Virtual Spring Open House

Our Virtual Spring Open House will be held on Tuesday, May 18 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Please share the word with any families you think would be a good fit for Bancroft. More information, including a link to sign-up, can be found here. 

Teacher Appreciation Week

Our students have put together a video for teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. I hope you enjoy it!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

With Spring weather making its way to Shore Drive this week, our students have been able to take their learning outside. I experienced this first hand earlier in the week, when I sat down with a second grade student at recess. We had a nice talk, where the student asked if I knew how to do a handstand. I asked him to show me, which prompted another student to show off their handstand skills, as well. Soon, the entire second grade class had come over and were doing handstands, cartwheels, and rolling down the hill. This enthusiasm — paired with 'Field Day' in the Upper School — reaffirmed that our students are creating joy and meaningful engagement in their time together at school. 

Next Year

As we prepare for this summer and the school year ahead, we are hoping to remove many of the current limitations we have put in place this year. This includes a return to our prior daily schedule across divisions and more on-campus activities for students, faculty, and families. We are hard at work reviewing our options for how we will operate, and we will continue to track changes in federal and state regulations. Recent updates about what's allowed for vaccinated people, including greater mobility and fewer mask-wearing expectations, alongside a statewide expectation that more business will be fully open by August, have signaled important changes ahead. However, the majority of our population — our students — are not yet vaccinated, so we will continue to keep their protection and safety in mind as we maintain many of our precautions over the next several months. You can expect more updates as our policies adapt to reflect the reality around us.

COVID-19 Vaccination

As the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine progresses throughout the state, more members of our school community are becoming eligible to participate. I continue to encourage ALL members of our community, including parents and eligible Upper School students over the age of 16, to become vaccinated. 

As our school nurse Liza mentioned earlier this week, a Bancroft parent has shared that vaccination appointments are actively available at the Walmart at 25 Tobias Boland Way in Worcester starting next Wednesday. Registration information can be found here. 

We ask our families to continue keeping school as your top priority and to protect everyone in our community by paying attention to your symptoms, wearing your mask, and limiting travel and group gatherings. General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine and the Worcester location is not convenient, you can find additional locations with available appointments here.

PFA Night In Event

The Parent Faculty Association has planned a fun community evening to enjoy from the comfort of your own home on Saturday, May 15th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. You can learn more about these events and sign up here.

Open House

Our PreK-12 Virtual Spring Open House is just around the corner, on Tuesday, May 18 from 6:30-7:30 p.m! Do you know a family that might be a great fit for Bancroft? Be sure to let them know of this event, where they can learn about everything Bancroft has to offer. More information on the Virtual Spring Open House can be found here. 

I appreciate your continued patience and cooperation as we emphasize health and wellness for our entire community. Have a great weekend!

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

An important part of our responsibility as educators is to help our students process and make sense of powerful news stories that unfold across our nation and around the world. In response to recent news of a guilty verdict in the George Floyd murder trial and instances of gun violence, our faculty and staff have shared resources that guided students to appropriately process the historic events as they unfolded. We must continue our mission to help our students grow into "citizens of an increasingly complex global community." 

Our strategic plan, BluePrint 125, has a section devoted to implementing "Equity In Action," and faculty and students continue to lead the way in this effort. With this guiding document, we will continue to evaluate and improve how we operate and how we treat one another. To support this work, we have contracted with an organization to conduct a community climate assessment next fall to help us better understand where we can improve and make adjustments to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion stay at the forefront of our action. I hope you will stay involved as active participants, and I encourage you to review the strategic plan to understand where we're headed and how you can help us achieve our goals. As we have proven over the last 13 months, we are certainly stronger when we work together to face challenges.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

I am pleased to report that our faculty and staff are nearly fully vaccinated. This has created a bit more mobility for our teachers within their respective divisions and helped immensely with scheduling. It has also successfully lessened the amount of Zoom teaching that had previously been necessary. 

I encourage ALL members of our community, including parents and eligible Upper School students over the age of 16, to become vaccinated as well. As more members of our community become fully protected, the more COVID-19 health and safety restrictions can be reevaluated and eventually removed. General information related to the COVID-19 vaccines can be found here. If you are eligible for a vaccine and have yet to sign up, you can do so here.

End of Year Celebrations

As June approaches, the planning is now well underway for our end of the year celebrations including our 5th grade and 8th grade closing ceremonies, and Upper School Commencement. While these events will look different than in a typical year, we are fully committed to honoring the hard work and achievements of these students. Both our 5th grade and 8th grade ceremonies will be held entirely virtually on June 8th and all parents, guardians, and extended family and friends that wish to take part are encouraged to attend online. More detailed information will follow in the coming weeks.

The Upper School Commencement ceremony will happen over two days. On Thursday, June 10th at 6 p.m., we will broadcast a virtual ceremony for the Class of 2021. Members of the class and faculty will be preparing speeches, and we will debut this video on our website on Thursday evening. The link will be provided to families the week before, and all are welcome. Opportunities to share congratulatory messages for graduates will be available on this webpage as well. On Friday, June 11th, a diploma ceremony will take place on the athletic fields at 5:30 p.m. More details on this event will be forthcoming from the Upper School including RSVP information and an explanation of the safety precautions that will be observed. We look forward to providing our graduates with the special send-off that they deserve. 

PFA Night In Event

The Parent Faculty Association has planned a fun community evening to enjoy from the comfort of your own home on Saturday, May 15th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. The planned virtual events include live music from Bancroft Alum Matthew Wade '97, a make your own watercolor class, a mixology session, and an online auction in support of the PFA featuring some outstanding items. This event promises to be a lot of fun and I hope to see you there! You can learn more about these events and sign up here.

Bancroft Summer

Mother Nature continues to keep us guessing these days, but the calendar says that summer is not all that far off. Registration for all of our summer programs, both virtual and in-person — day camp and academic camps — are now open. Space is limited so sign up now!

Next Year

We are actively preparing for the return to school in the fall with the goal to be back to a more normal school environment. This includes a return to our prior daily schedule in all divisions and more on-campus activities for students, faculty, and families. There are still many options for how we will operate, and we are hard at work planning with an emphasis on ensuring health and safety while strengthening the community experience. You can expect to get more updates from me as decisions become clear.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Friends, 

On this same weekend one year ago, we had a late spring snowstorm. Page, Bridgette, and I decided to visit campus to play around in the snow. We had a lot of fun and took many pictures — some of which I've included below. So much has happened in the year since those photos were taken. But two things have remained the same year after year — our community coming together to support one another, and New England weather always keeping us on our toes.

I hope you enjoy these stories about the ways our students have been owning their learning these past few months. Before that, I have a few updates for the community. 

Travel Advisory

As I mentioned in last week's letter, Massachusetts has changed its travel guidelines from mandatory to advisory. While this is a great step and confirms that things are heading back to normal, I urge our community members to limit unnecessary travel and closely follow the state's recommendations when you do travel. Traveling out of state brings an additional risk, and that in turn becomes a collective risk for our community. Please do your part to protect our community and limit any unnecessary risks. We will continue to follow COVID-19 protocols on campus such as social distancing, hand-washing, and mask-wearing. If you have traveled and think you made a close contact, please stay safe and get tested — testing is now widely available. Our families, faculty, and staff have worked hard this academic year to keep the community safe, for which I am grateful. Let's not undo that work. 

BluePrint 125

Our Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff have been actively working to get our strategic plan, BluePrint 125, off the ground, even while managing through the pandemic. The plan is broken up into three pillars that encourage a call to action for all of us — Innovative Teaching for Active Learning, Equity in Action, and Invested Community. I invite you to take a look at each pillar and what it represents. Two critical projects are underway with respect to planning for conducting an equity audit and a rearticulation of our mission, vision, and values statement. I'm excited to see our community come together to build off of this innovative plan and look forward to reporting more in the months ahead. 

Next Year

It might only be April, but the next school year is on the horizon and we are actively preparing for the return to school in the fall. While I can't make any specific promises at this point, we are aiming to be back to more normal school environment in the fall, with a return to our prior daily schedule in all divisions and more on-campus activities for students, faculty, and families. There are many options for how we will operate and we are hard at work planning with an emphasis on ensuring health and safety while strengthening the community experience for all. You can expect to get more updates from me as decisions become more certain.

Have a great weekend!

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

While the classroom environments inside our campus buildings are always full of active learning, many have been empty at different points of the day as warmer weather has brought learning outdoors. It is always fun to see faculty utilize our green space and be flexible with their classrooms. I know the sunshine has also been a welcome sight for our students who are playing instruments, practicing with athletic teams, meeting with clubs, or socializing with friends. The fresh air has been good for us all and the renewed spirit on campus is palpable. With April now upon us, I am writing with a few updates on what to expect as we move into the home stretch of the school year.

Travel Advisory Information
We encourage you to continue to take the necessary precautions to protect yourselves, your families, and our community when considering travel. Effective March 22, 2021, all visitors and returning residents entering Massachusetts are advised to follow the state's updated travel advisory as detailed here. This is an advisory but not a mandate, and we continue to encourage our community to abide by the advisory whenever possible. You will also notice our MyMedBot questions will adjust slightly to reflect this change from the state, beginning next week.

Faculty Mobility / Campus Tours
As many members of our faculty and staff have received the COVID-19 vaccine, teachers will now have the ability to facilitate classes in-person which they previously had to conduct over Zoom. With the freedom to move to different classrooms and engage a higher number of students throughout the day, it in turn will limit Zoom classes and screen fatigue for students. This also means that student clubs will now be able to meet with faculty advisors in person. Our Admissions team has also been able to offer incoming and prospective families campus tours after school hours and on weekends with appropriate social distancing and safety precautions in place. Many of these families have committed to Bancroft for next year without having been to campus, which is a testament to what they are hearing about this community. The successful vaccine distribution amongst our faculty has allowed us to safely take these exciting steps. As more members of our community become vaccinated and protected, we will continue to reevaluate our current health and safety protocols.

Athletics
Spring sports practices have begun and in-person competitions will start in May for the Upper School, where we will be both hosting and traveling to competitions with an abbreviated schedule. Our spring sport athletes are looking forward to competing and representing Bancroft on our fields and on the road. New sport-specific COVID-19 guidelines will be implemented for these competitions and Director of Athletics Tracy Jones will communicate directly with student-athletes and families in the coming days.

Spring Open House
As always, we continue to seek the next group of future Bulldogs to join us on Shore Drive. Our Spring Open House event will be held virtually on Tuesday, May 18. This is a great opportunity for prospective students and families to hear about all that Bancroft has to offer and meet some of our administrators, faculty, and students. If you know any families that would be a good fit at Bancroft, please help us spread the word!

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I hope you enjoyed your spring break and took advantage of the warm weather and shift in routine. It has been great to see our students back on campus this week as we enter the final stretch of this most unusual school year. It is hard to believe that one year ago we were only just learning to deal with COVID and make adjustments to keep our community safe. I'm very proud of all that we have accomplished together over the last year and am grateful for the many ways you have all stepped up to be a part of the solution. When we work together with a common purpose, we can accomplish great things. 

It is critically important during this time that we remind ourselves of our obligation to engage with the broader world and help our students prepare to be active citizens who care for others. With this in mind, it is impossible to not be saddened and outraged by the spike in anti-Asian racism we have seen across the country. Bancroft is home to many diverse perspectives and backgrounds including students of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander descent, and we must stand in full support of these students and their families. All our students bring unique perspectives to the table and those perspectives should be approached from a lens of understanding and appreciation. It is part of what makes our campus so special. Let us all challenge the hate and negativity we have seen by celebrating the wide range of lived experiences in our community and affirming that our differences make us stronger. 

COVID-19 PCR Testing

Thank you for your cooperation as we administered COVID-19 PCR testing here on campus. Out of the 489 tests this week, only one positive result was recorded. This testing has been important, particularly as we start in-person learning after extended breaks, to ensure we are returning to a safe environment and mitigating any spread within our community. Please continue to practice good behavior around social distancing, mask-wearing, hand-hygiene, use of the MyMedBot application, and limiting group gatherings. Our school's success with mitigation has everything to do with our community's collective effort. Let's keep it up as we enter the home stretch of the school year. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your testing results, please reach out to School Nurse Liza Marzilli.

N.E.A.S.C. Accreditation

Every 10 years, as a part of our school's effort to continuously self-improve, we seek reaccreditation with The New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Independent Schools (NEASC-CIS). Accreditation is not a single event, but rather an ongoing, voluntary cycle of comprehensive internal and external assessments, short- and long-term strategic planning, and periodic reporting sustained by professional partnership and support. I am pleased to report that our school received a two-year post-accreditation evaluation, and they noted our exemplary effort and accomplishments despite the challenges of this past year. We are ALL responsible for this good news. It takes a village to both maintain our school's standards and be constantly looking ahead to our future. 

School Lunch Update

Creedon & Co. officially started this week as our new lunch program provider. Everyone is welcome to sign up for the program, even if you have not previously participated. For those of you that are taking part in the program, please be sure to click on the 'Place Order' button to confirm your lunch order once selected. If you don't click the 'Place Order' button, your order stays in the shopping cart and is not processed.

For complete instructions, click here. If you have any questions about the new process, please email BancroftDining@CreedonAndCo.com.

Moving Forward

As our faculty and staff continue to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, they will be able to interact with more students. More classes and clubs will be able to meet in person (this means fewer Zoom events each day), and we expect our Upper School athletes to be in competition later this spring. Most of our current COVID-19 protocols will stay in place, but I'm confident that our faculty and students will continue to show the leadership and purpose required to transition to a new phase. More information about these adjustments will follow, but it is exciting to be able to get back to some semblance of our pre-COVID activities.

Thank you all for your continued support and partnership.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

I hope you have had a restful Spring Break so far — I'm glad the weather has started to reflect the change from Winter to Spring. The handful of warm days remind us that Spring is a time of renewal, and so I want to share some things that are happening across our campus.

COVID-19 Testing Reminder

As a reminder, we will be holding on-campus COVID-19 PCR testing after Spring Break. Testing will be conducted on Tuesday, March 30 — if you haven't yet signed up for a testing spot, you can sign up by clicking here. This test is required for all students, faculty, and staff to return to campus, regardless of whether they have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The schedule for the week after Spring Break is as follows:

Monday, March 29 — Remote learning

Tuesday, March 30 — No classes; On-campus COVID-19 testing

Wednesday, March 31 — Remote learning, awaiting test results

Thursday, April 1 — In-person learning

Friday, April 2 — In-person learning

For more information on the testing procedures, click here. If you have any questions about the testing process, please contact school nurse Liza Marzilli. 

You might have noticed that the MyMedBot application has been turned back on. This is intentional — we want to make sure everyone is back in the habit of filling out the daily questions, as well as to make sure there are no issues before our return to campus next week.

School Lunch Update

We are excited to be partnering with Worcester-based Creedon & Co. for our school lunch program moving forward. You should have received an email yesterday with information about our new partnership. You will also receive an email today directly from Creedon & Co. with sign-up and ordering information.

If you have any questions about the new process, please reference this document or email BancroftDining@CreedonAndCo.com.

Campus Projects

I want to give a quick update on a few projects that have been in the works around campus. These projects continue our commitment to energy efficiency and help improve the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. Since the summer, we have been updating our fire alarm system as required by the city of Worcester, and this work is nearly complete. Over Spring Break, we have also been installing energy-efficient lighting across campus. These lights will significantly help reduce energy costs and brighten spaces. The difference will be noticeable — our students and faculty across campus classrooms should see the changes as they return to campus next week. 

Admission Hiring Update

After an extensive search, I am excited to share with you that Susie Horan has been selected as our new Director of Enrollment Management. Susie is an experienced admissions professional who possesses the passion, organizational skill, and creativity that we are looking for in this important role. Her background in admissions work, expertise with financial aid, and experience as a college coach and recruiter make her well suited to lead our enrollment efforts. Susie is currently serving as the Associate Director of Admission and Director of Financial Aid at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School in Waltham. She has been a part of the admissions team and served as a coach at CH-CH since 2013 and previously worked at Canterbury School in Connecticut. Prior to her work in independent schools, she was a college Field Hockey coach at Holy Cross, Boston College, and Worcester State University. Susie and her family look forward to joining the Bancroft community this summer. 

An advisory search committee made up of myself, parents, administrators, and faculty from across divisions all helped in this effort. We also partnered with Chris Baker of The Baker Group, who specializes in admission searches. The advisory committee was impressed by Susie's strong and positive personality. Her energy and sense of humor were obvious in the meetings. She also described how she cares for families and students through the admissions and financial aid process, noting that it is an important emotional and financial decision for any family.  

The job title, Director of Enrollment Management, may look a little different. This is a more contemporary title that is used across the industry to reflect the complex nature of this important role. Susie will still direct our admissions and financial aid work; the new title better reflects the strategic role and comprehensive nature of the job, which encompasses all aspects of enrollment. Susie's first day will be July 1. Interim Director Jesse Fortney will continue to lead admission and financial aid efforts through the current admission cycle. Please join me in welcoming Susie Horan to the Bancroft community!

I hope you enjoy the last few days of your Spring Break — we're excited to have our students and faculty back on campus next week.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

I hope you have all had a wonderful Spring Break so far. The sun is out, the days are longer, and I look forward to welcoming our students back on campus following another week of rest, relaxation, and recharging.

School Lunch Update

After receiving helpful feedback from our community about lunch service this school year, I am pleased to share that we will be changing our lunch provider to Worcester-based Creedon & Co. effective April 1. I am confident that this change will bring a big improvement in our lunch experience — namely, upgrading the quality of the food and providing more options to our boxed lunch subscribers. We encourage all families to register for the boxed lunch program, even if you haven't participated before.

With this switch comes a few changes in how things will operate. The lunch selection process will still be online and bi-weekly; however, families will order directly from the Creedon website. Billing will now run through Creedon, meaning that families will have more flexibility in ordering and will no longer need to commit to an entire month.

You will receive an email next week with more details, including information on billing, menu selection, and lunches for faculty/staff. In the meantime, any questions can be emailed to diningservices@bancroftschool.org. 

Massachusetts Travel Restrictions

Governor Baker announced yesterday that the Massachusetts Travel Order is being replaced with a Travel Advisory, effective Monday, March 22. The recommendation is still that upon entering Massachusetts all travelers quarantine for 10 days, but there are no longer penalties for non-compliance. While this is a big step for the state, I still urge our community to be vigilant in following the Centers for Disease Control's COVID-19 guidelines and quarantining when appropriate. We have been successful so far in keeping our school community safe, and I want to continue down that path. 

COVID-19 Testing Reminder

As a reminder, we will be holding on-campus COVID-19 PCR testing after Spring Break. Testing will be conducted on Tuesday, March 30 — to sign up for a testing spot, click here. This test is required for all students, faculty, and staff to return to campus, regardless of whether they have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The schedule for the week after Spring Break is as follows:

Monday, March 29 — Remote learning

Tuesday, March 30 — On-campus COVID-19 testing; no classes will be held

Wednesday, March 31 — Remote learning

Thursday, April 1 — In-person learning

Friday, April 2 — In-person learning

For more information on the testing procedures, click here. If you have any questions about the testing process, please contact school nurse Liza Marzilli. 

Campus Protocols

I want to thank you all for diligently following the on-campus protocols we've had in place since school started. I know it hasn't always been easy, but we have maintained a safe campus up to this day, and for that I am both grateful and proud. Now that more faculty and staff are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, we are given the opportunity to remove some of the safety layers we've had in place since the start of the school year. 

When we return after Spring Break, we will start the process of revising our protocols. Teachers will be able to interact with more students, and more classes and clubs will be able to meet in person as opposed to over Zoom. Many of our current COVID-19 protocols will stay in place, but I'm confident that our faculty and students will continue to show the leadership and purpose required to transition to a new phase. More information about these adjustments will follow.

Enjoy the rest of your Spring Break!

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

As the snow starts to melt on campus, the energy on Shore Drive is upbeat. Our students have been able to venture outside more often, and I particularly enjoyed tasting some of the maple syrup our teachers and students crafted on Wednesday with sap from our own maple trees. This project helped turn our campus into a laboratory for students across divisions to share in a learning adventure together. Engaged learning takes lots of shapes these days, thanks to the creativity and collaboration among our teachers. We are grateful for the many ways these adults have supported our young people during this most unusual year of our lives.  

COVID-19 Update

Governor Baker announced this week that K-12 teachers and staff will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting next week on March 11. We are excited that the vaccine will be available for all of our school employees. This is an important step for our community. 

While our employees will be beginning the vaccination process, we still need to stay attentive to our current COVID-19 protocols — wearing masks, limiting social interactions, practicing good hand hygiene, staying home if you or a family member is sick, using the MyMedBot application for daily screening, and keeping at least six feet of distance. With a decline in the spread of the virus, warmer weather, and more widespread vaccination, we will be able to consider some adjustments to our COVID-19 protocols in the spring. We will keep you updated on these adjustments as they develop.

Spring Break is now only a week away, and I know we are all looking forward to taking time to relax and refresh. As a reminder, please continue to follow the Center for Disease Control's COVID-19 guidelines throughout the two-week break; if you travel out of state during the break, it is your responsibility to adhere to the state's latest travel guidelines upon your return. Protecting our community during this time is vital for a safe return to in-person learning after the break. 

As I mentioned in last week's letter, we will be working with OccuMed New England to provide on-campus COVID-19 PCR testing on Tuesday, March 30 following Spring Break. This testing is required for all students and employees. The schedule for the week after Spring Break is as follows:

Monday, March 29 — Remote learning

Tuesday, March 30 — On-campus COVID-19 testing; no classes will be held

Wednesday, March 31 — Remote learning

Thursday, April 1 — In-person learning

Friday, April 2 — In-person learning

More details regarding this testing, including sign-up information, will follow in the next week.

Spring Sports Update

Our Director of Athletics, Tracy Jones, has been working closely with our peer schools in the Eastern Independent League (EIL) and the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) to plan for the upcoming Upper School spring sports season. We are excited to report that we are planning for competition later in the season. Although the EIL has determined that there cannot be an official Spring 2021 EIL schedule or championship events due to the interstate nature of the League and the varying COVID-19 protocols and academic structures currently in place, all schools are optimistic that there will be competition this spring, with health and safety protocols in place. You can view our general COVID protocols for Athletics on our website. Additional sport-specific health and safety protocols will be shared with participating students and families once spring teams are formed.  

The Upper School sports season will run from Thursday, April 1 to Friday, May 28. The Middle School after-school sports program will begin on Monday, April 5. Additional information and signups for both Middle and Upper School sports programming will follow shortly. If you have any questions, please contact Tracy Jones.

Ibram X. Kendi Event

I want to thank all of you who participated in the webinar with award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi. The event featured Dr. Kendi's thought-provoking responses to a series of questions from independent school parents, faculty, and trustees from across New England. We were joined by nearly 10,000 attendees in partnership with the organizers from the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE). The webinar was an important and valuable event for our collective community of independent schools — and serves as an important reminder that we need to continue our work to put Equity into Action on our campus. 

Bancroft Radio Theater

This year, our Upper School spring theater production will take on a new look as the students are performing three shows from the golden age of radio. Each show has been pre-recorded and will be released live online so the community can watch them together. I know the students have been working hard, and I am excited for all of us to see their productions. You can find all of the information on the shows, including links to watch them, below.

BANCROFT RADIO THEATER

I want to thank you for your dedication to our community — it doesn't go unnoticed. Have a great weekend.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

The sun shining these last few days has been a welcome reminder that Spring is only a few short weeks away. Spring brings many things to our community: colorful tulips; the return of leaves to our trees; and excitement about the many school events that the season holds. This also means that Spring Break is near. With that in mind, I want to share with you some updates on a few important items.

COVID-19 Testing Update

As an added layer of protection after Spring Break, we have once again partnered with OccuMed New England to administer on-campus COVID-19 PCR testing on Tuesday, March 30. The schedule for the week after Spring Break will be as follows:

Monday, March 29 — Remote learning

Tuesday, March 30 — On-campus COVID-19 testing; no classes will be held

Wednesday, March 31 — Remote learning

Thursday, April 1 — In-person learning

Friday, April 2 — In-person learning

The PCR nasal swab test will be conducted on campus in the same manner as it was after our break in January. More details, including sign-up information, will follow. We will continue to administer take-home COVID-19 test kits until Spring Break. Once we are back on campus, we do not plan to have weekly take-home COVID-19 test kits. We will continue to observe all of our other health and safety measures — wearing masks, limiting social interactions, practicing good hand hygiene, staying home if you or a family member is sick, using the MyMedBot application for daily screening, and keeping at least six feet of distance. This community has done well so far, and I trust we will continue to practice good habits. 

Important Spring Break Reminder

It is critically important that our entire community follows COVID-19 guidelines throughout the two weeks of Spring Break so that we can continue in-person learning once we return. If you plan to travel during this time, please reference the state's latest travel guidelines.

Re-Enrollment

Board of Trustees President Katy Sullivan sent out an email to families last week outlining the steps to re-enroll for next year. Your commitment, partnership, and flexibility during this challenging year has been appreciated and we are grateful and happy to have each of you as valued members of our school community. We look forward to next year and getting back to the active learning that we are accustomed to without the many constraints of the pandemic. If you have any questions concerning this process, please feel free to reach out to our Admission office. 

Ibram X. Kendi Event

There's still time for our parents, faculty, and staff to sign up for next week's virtual event with award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi. The free webinar, titled "Go Beyond an Awareness of Racism: Contribute to the Formation of a Truly Just and Equitable Society," is a great opportunity for our community to come together in this important work. I hope you will consider taking part.

For more information and to reserve a spot, please visit the link below.

REGISTER HERE

Thank you again for your commitment to our community. Have a great weekend.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

Thank you for your flexibility this week as Mother Nature continues to keep us on our toes. A few storms like the ones these past several weeks makes you think weather might have played into Tom Brady's decision to move to Tampa. Snow days are difficult to predict and the timing of these recent storms has complicated our decision making even further. Whenever we can provide reasonable notice, we will inform everyone that classes will be held remotely. We want to avoid last minute notifications like last week and while we had earlier presented this as a 24-hour notice policy, it is more likely that we will operate like we did this week with the announcement coming as early as possible the day before. We appreciate your understanding as we work through this new modality together.

With this being the final day of the school week, I wanted to provide some updates as we head into the long weekend.

COVID-19 Testing

Thank you for your cooperation as we have added weekly COVID-19 testing to our health and safety protocols. Thus far, both our on-site testing and take-home test kits have revealed no positive cases. We will continue to provide take-home test kits to students on the last day of the school week until our spring break vacation. 

Please Remember:

• A list of instructions on how to facilitate the test can be found here.
• A video tutorial can be found here and you can reference the previous note on testing from our school nurse here.
• Please complete the test the day before you return to school for the following week (For example, the test that went home with students today, it should be taken on Monday).
• Report your results on your MyMedBot application on the first day of the following week (Due to the long weekend, the results of the test that went home today should be reported Tuesday morning before school).
• All questions can be directed to our School Nurse Liza Marzilli.

Interim Admissions Director

I am pleased to announce that Jesse Fortney will be joining us the week of February 22nd as our Interim Admissions Director. Jesse has extensive experience in the independent school world as both an educator and Admissions & Financial Aid Director. He is personable, well organized, and excited to join our community to further the great work of Sean Ganas and our admission staff. I hope you will join me in welcoming Jesse. 

We are still moving forward with plans for our national search for a permanent hire in this important position. We will be working with The Baker Group, who specializes in the recruitment process of skilled admissions professionals. We have also started organizing a search committee of Bancroft community members to help recruit, evaluate, and review our candidate pool. We will provide updates as this process moves forward.

Strike For Vanessa 2021

On Sunday, February 21st, the Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation will offer their signature self-defense class virtually for free. Vanessa was a Bancroft alum from the class of 2007 who was tragically killed by an act of violence in 2016. The Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation partners with organizations that provide educational programs and mentorship opportunities to promote female empowerment and gender equality. Their fun and empowering workout is for all genders and ages. You can learn more and register here. I hope you will consider joining.

As you've seen in recent editions of our Shorelines newsletter, the challenges of this year have not stopped this community from doing great work. I hope the long weekend offers some time for rest and relaxation. Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

Although mother nature delayed our return to campus, it was great to see everyone back at school yesterday. I hope you all enjoyed a well-deserved traditional snow day on Tuesday. 

Instead of my typical weekly Friday letter, I am writing today to provide details about our at-home COVID-19 testing kits which will be distributed to students and employees on the last day of each school week until our spring break. 

Please plan to assist your student(s) with their test on Sunday morning. Having the test completed Sunday will give us the most up-to-date information at the beginning of each week. Instructions on how to administer the test can be found here or feel free to reference this step-by-step video. Each test kit also includes written instructions for your reference. If you have any questions or issues administering the test (such as an inconclusive result), our school nurse Liza Marzilli will be available Sunday via email or phone (508-854-9240) between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

Negative test results for your student's test should be reported through the MyMedBot application Monday morning; a new question will be added on Monday. Positive results should be communicated to our school nurse right away. Please remember that we are using these tests to identify the virus within asymptomatic carriers. If a student or member of your household is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please follow our existing protocols: alert your physician and our school nurse, and refrain from coming to school. 

Administering at-home COVID-19 testing provides us with another method to help limit the spread of the virus within our community. This new measure, in conjunction with all of our existing health and safety protocols and continued good behavior from our community, will allow us to remain open and provide in-person learning as safely as possible. 

Thank you for your continued cooperation and support. 

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

Below, please find more details regarding Friday's on-campus baseline PCR nasal swab test being conducted by OccuMed New England. 

• All Bancroft faculty, staff, and students are required to be tested to be able to attend school in-person
• This is surveillance testing and anyone exhibiting symptoms should NOT participate, should consult their primary care physician, and notify the school nurse

• Tests will be conducted from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
• You must sign up for a time slot to receive a test. CLICK HERE to reserve a time slot.
• Testing procedures should take approximately 30 minutes. Please arrive as close to your scheduled time slot as possible
• All tests will be conducted on campus in the Fletcher Athletic Center gymnasium (CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS)

• All participants are required to have a CONSENT FORM filled out and signed. This form must be signed by individuals 18 years of age or older or by a parent/guardian if an individual is not 18 or older.
• Parents/Guardians may accompany their children
• If a parent or guardian will not be present, they must sign the consent form for their student which must be presented at the time of the test 

• All individuals receiving a test should blow their nose at least one hour before their test is conducted. This is a low nasal swab test.
• Masks must be worn at all times except when instructed by a testing administrator
• Social distancing must be observed while waiting in line 

*ANYONE THAT HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 IN THE PAST 90 DAYS SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE. Please contact the school nurse if this applies to you.

Negative test results will be available within 48 hours via a HIPAA/FERPA compliant secure website portal run by OccuMed. All students and faculty with confirmed negative tests will return to school on February 1. Should anyone test positive, our school nurse will inform parents/guardians directly and discuss return to school expectations. The State Department of Public Health (DPH) contact tracing organization will also be in touch as all positive test results are automatically reported to the DPH. 

Following our initial PCR test on campus this week, we will be providing families with at-home rapid antigen testing kits on the last day of each week until our spring break period begins. We will provide more information regarding this testing next week.

We appreciate your cooperation as we add this additional layer to help us limit the spread of the virus within our community and continue learning on campus. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our testing protocol, please contact school nurse Liza Marzilli. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus for engaged and active learning on Monday, February 1.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I hope everyone is having a great start to the week. As mentioned in my letter on Friday, we will be implementing COVID-19 testing into our health and safety protocols for the next six weeks. We appreciate your cooperation as we add this additional layer to help us limit the spread of the virus within our community and continue learning on campus. I am writing today to provide you with information on our testing plan.

Bancroft has partnered with OccuMed New England to administer our first round of testing. We will start with a baseline PCR nasal swab test that will be conducted on campus this Friday, January 29. Tests will be administered in the Fletcher Athletic Center gymnasium building between the hours of 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. It is important to note the following about this testing:

• Testing is for Bancroft students, faculty, and staff only
• You must sign up for a time slot to receive a test. A link to sign up will be sent tomorrow.
• Testing procedures should take approximately 30 minutes
• Please arrive as close to your scheduled time slot as possible
• All faculty, staff, and students are required to be tested to be able to attend school in-person
• Parents / Guardians may accompany their children
• If a parent or guardian will not be present, they must sign a waiver for their student which must be presented at the time of the test. We will provide the waiver in our next correspondence.
• Masks must be worn at all times except when instructed by a testing administrator
• Social distancing must be observed while waiting in line 
• This is surveillance testing and anyone exhibiting symptoms should NOT participate and consult their primary care physician

*ANYONE THAT HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 IN THE PAST 90 DAYS SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE. Please contact the school nurse if this applies to you.

Negative test results will be available within 48 hours via a secure website portal run by OccuMed. All students and faculty with confirmed negative tests will return to school on February 1. Should anyone test positive, OccuMed will inform parents/guardians directly. The State Department of Public Health contact tracing organization will be in touch, and you should contact our school nurse Liza Marzilli to discuss return to school expectations.

Following our initial PCR test on campus this week, we will be providing families with at home rapid antigen testing kits on the last day of each week until our spring break period begins. We will provide more information regarding this testing next week.

The addition of testing will strengthen our ability to mitigate the spread of the virus and is only helpful if we continue to observe ALL of our other health and safety measures. Limiting social interactions, staying home if you or a family member is sick, continuing to wear masks, practicing good hand-hygiene, and keeping at least six feet of distance will be important to maintaining our in-person learning. We will continue to adhere to all protocols put in place on campus this year including the continued monitoring of air quality and maintaining our pod system across the grades and divisions. This community has done well so far, and I trust we will continue to practice these good habits. 

If you have any questions regarding our testing protocol, please contact school nurse Liza Marzilli. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus for engaged and active learning on Monday, February 1.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

This is not normal. We have not been operating in a normal routine and providing our normal programming this year. But we are learning together, caring for one another, and working hard to make the best of a difficult situation, every day. We should be proud that we have been able to operate school in this reality, because of our collective commitment, since August 31. We have adapted, sacrificed, and persevered, but it has not been easy. Our people are stressed and stretched thin by the demands of making this all work on campus. 

COVID-19 numbers continue to steadily increase in both Worcester and across Massachusetts creating capacity constraints at local hospital intensive care units and leading to increased anxiety around in-person activities, including schooling. In fact, Bancroft faculty, students, parents, and family members have tested positive during break, reminding us that the virus is close. Despite this uptick, the spread of infection among our faculty and students remains below the regional average and, so far, we have not experienced any spread on our campus. We never imagined that we would stay isolated from the virus, but it has become increasingly difficult to confidently operate in-person during this period.

As we have throughout this pandemic, we have closely consulted with the local Department of Public Health to help advise our decision making. Yesterday, I was able to speak directly with Dr. Michael Hirsh, the City of Worcester's medical director who has helped to lead the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the recent surge in cases, he has advised all schools in our area to move to remote learning until February. While we recognize the importance and benefit of our in-person learning platform and have greatly appreciated the good behavior around our health and safety protocols while on campus, moving to remote learning is in the best interest of our entire community and we have made the decision to move to this platform right away. 

In order to allow our faculty and staff the appropriate time to adjust their curriculum to remote learning and with Monday being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are allotting Tuesday of next week as a professional development day. No classes will be held. Remote learning will begin on Wednesday, January 20th. We plan on a return to in-person learning on Monday, February 1st. We will continue to update you as readily as we are able should this move to remote learning extend beyond February 1st. 

Upon our return, we will begin implementing a weekly COVID-19 testing protocol for all students and staff until our spring break period begins on March 13th. We are working through the logistics of this now and will provide an update as soon as we are able. This provides an additional layer to help us identify positive cases within our community quickly and will help limit the spread of the virus. 

Phase 2 of the statewide vaccine rollout is expected to begin in February. All school employees are eligible to receive the vaccine during this phase. While the details of vaccine distribution are still being organized and the vaccine will not allow us to remove our existing safety measures right away, we are excited to have this added layer of protection soon available. We will continue to keep you posted as the logistics of the vaccine rollout are communicated to us.

I recognize the challenges that this decision creates for many families and I appreciate your flexibility as we navigate through the next few months of this ongoing pandemic. In the meantime, I know our community will continue to be flexible and supportive while active learning continues online. Division specific questions can be directed to Beth Beckmann (Lower / Middle School Head) or Rebecca Gratz (Upper School Head). 

Thank you for your continued partnership and understanding.

Sincerely,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

UPDATED SCHEDULE

Dear Bancroft Community,

I hope you had an enjoyable and restful winter break. Watching students and faculty arrive back on campus Thursday morning was a welcome sight, and I am looking forward to seeing many moments of active learning in the coming weeks. 

Like many of you, I was deeply disturbed by the events that unfolded in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The horrible scenes of the desecration of the Capitol, the home of our democracy, are troubling and difficult to comprehend. We must take this moment to engage in important dialogue and reinforce our values as a community. Our mission statement calls on us to "learn to embrace confidently and responsibly the moral and ethical challenges of being lifelong learners, teachers of others, and citizens of an increasingly complex global community." The critical work of our school centers on strengthening our resolve in these challenging moments and providing a place for students to "thrive in our diverse, safe, and supportive community." 

On Wednesday, our administrators and faculty members shared information and resources as each division prepared developmentally-appropriate opportunities for our students to digest the complexities and significance of the day's events. Yesterday and today, students and faculty across the school continued that important dialogue and reflection. They asked and discussed important questions, listened carefully, and showed concern for each other. I am proud of our faculty for once again rising to meet the needs of our students in the face of disturbing public events. I am also proud of our students for using their voices while being open and honest. 

As we grapple with the events of this week and the continuing reality of racial injustice and inequality across our nation, we are also forced to navigate the ongoing threat of the global pandemic. Our Health Services Team continues to monitor all of the latest information available from the CDC, and we remain in regular communication with the local Department of Public Health. This includes information about vaccine distribution, which we expect to have additional clarification on in the coming weeks to share with our community. With infection rates rising in Worcester and in Massachusetts, we recognize the growing anxiety around our in-person learning program. It is important to make sure we are all doing our part to adhere to our health and safety protocols including the consistent use of the MyMedBot application, mask-wearing, distancing, and regular hand hygiene. While we remain confident in our ability to keep our community safe here on campus, should we be advised at any time that a move to a remote learning platform is in the best interest of our community's safety, we will do our best to provide adequate notice. 

The world we all are living in will undoubtedly continue to throw challenges our way as 2021 moves forward. I continue to believe in the collective strength of our community to meet those challenges head-on as caring leaders and innovative thinkers.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

You successfully completed the first half of the school year. You adjusted. You adapted. You reimagined. You practiced acts of kindness and community service. You produced school plays and were a part of athletic teams. You played instruments and created artwork. You worked and studied hard. You kept yourself and those around you safe. You were there for one another. You stepped up, showed up, and you owned your learning. While it was at times challenging for all of us, this community once again proved just what we are capable of. To our amazing faculty, staff, families, and students, THANK YOU. 

We are expecting to return to campus on January 7, 2021. We urge you to continue to be diligent around health and safety guidelines over the break to ensure you and your family stay safe so we are able to continue in-person learning in January. We will continue our risk mitigation behaviors on campus with mask wearing, physical distancing, hand washing, and air filtration as key elements. We will also maintain our pod groupings to help limit interactions among students and faculty. Please remember that we will continue to rely on your participation with the MyMedBot application upon our return; this has helped us to keep illness away from our campus and is a critical part of our protective layering strategy.  

The recent approvals of vaccines and the beginning of distribution at the State and local levels is an important step in combating the spread of COVID-19. While details are still being worked out by the Governor's office and Department of Public Health, we understand that school employees will be included in the early stages of vaccination. We will continue to track this information and ensure that our employees are prepared for vaccination when the time comes. In the meantime, I want to remind you that flu season is also upon us and that according to Massachusetts State regulations, school-aged children are required to be vaccinated.  

As we turn the page on 2020 and head into a much-deserved two week break, I want to provide you with some updates and new information for the new year. 

COVID-19 Protocol Update

We continue to track the frequent updates to COVID-19 protocols from the state of Massachusetts. As of December 7th, 2020, the rules surrounding quarantine after possible exposure or a positive test have changed. Please be sure to understand the latest quarantine length guidelines and rules for when an individual is in quarantine. This includes staying home if you or any member of your household has symptoms or is awaiting test results. If you have any questions related to quarantine rules, please contact healthservices@bancroftschool.org. 

New Hires

We are pleased to announce several new members of our Faculty & Staff will be joining us on Shore Drive when we return from our break. 

Liza Marzilli - Director of Health Services

Liza currently serves as one of our outstanding part-time nurses at Bancroft and we are thrilled to have her join us as a permanent member of our staff. Liza is also a Bancroft parent; her son Matteo is a member of our 3rd grade. We hope you will join me in welcoming Liza to our team. 

Melissa Herliczek - Middle School Science Teacher

Earlier this week, Middle School Head Beth Beckmann announced that Melissa Herliczek will be joining us to teach middle school science. Melissa has taught middle school science for the past 10 years, most recently at Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter School. We are excited to have Melissa join us. 

Winter Break

I know we are all looking forward to down time with family as 2020 comes to a close. All campus offices will be shut down until January 4th with on-campus activities beginning January 7th. This will give faculty and staff a well-deserved full two week break. I hope you have an enjoyable, safe, and happy holiday season. See you in 2021.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Winter Schedule

A reminder that we have made several adjustments to the winter schedule outlined below: 

Winter Break: December 19th - January 6th (full campus closure)

Monday, January 4th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Tuesday, January 5th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Wednesday, January 6th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Friday, January 29th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Monday, March 1st: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Other major dates during winter:

Monday, January 18th: Martin Luther King Junior Day (NO CLASSES)

Friday, February 12th: Mid Winter Break (NO CLASSES)

Monday, February 15th: President's Day (NO CLASSES)

You can find the complete updated major dates calendar here.

Dear Bancroft Community,

With two full weeks since our Thanksgiving break now behind us and just one week remaining until we head home for winter break, I can't help but be incredibly grateful — for the cooperation, sacrifice, and commitment you all have made to allow our in-person learning to happen. When we established our priorities this summer and determined we would come back to Shore Drive, it was with the understanding that it would take a huge effort from our entire community to be successful. Since then, our facilities staff has optimized our buildings to be able to accommodate new safety standards including a campus-wide upgrade to our HVAC system. We have followed a brand new set of health and safety protocols. Our faculty have adjusted classrooms, schedules, and curriculum while maintaining a commitment to innovative teaching and active learning. Students have found creative ways to maintain community including continuing to participate in clubs and athletics. And parents and guardians have played important roles in adjusting to new rules around drop-off and health reporting. We have ALL stepped out of our comfort zone and up to the plate. It is this incredible effort and diligence that has allowed us to keep our doors open since our reopening in September. Thank you for doing your part. 

New Massachusetts State Guidelines

As you may have seen, Governor Baker has recently announced that due to a rise in state COVID-19 cases, Massachusetts is rolling back to phase 3 step 1 effective this coming Sunday, December 13th. While these guidelines do not impact our current plans and program, they should serve as a reminder that we all need to continue to be diligent. It is important that we do our part to combat the spread of the virus by being vigilant and abiding by health and safety best practices both on campus and at home. Adherence and attentiveness to these guidelines will ensure we are able to stay on campus for one more week and safely return to action on campus in January.

Covid Testing Locations

I know some in our community have had to be tested for COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic. The Commonwealth is supporting free testing sites in regions across Massachusetts to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Many of these sites offer drive-up, self administered testing that offers an expedited experience and results. These sites are free for all Massachusetts residents. An interactive map of all COVID-19 test locations can be found here.

Director of Health Services (School Nurse) Update

We are in the final stages of interviewing applicants for our School Nurse position. We feel confident we will be able to have someone in place by the time we return back from winter break. In the meantime, we have a great health services team with our nurses Jim Kamosky RN, Janice Kapaon RN, Liza Marzilli RN, and Sharon Fitzpatrick RN, as well as our Upper School Health Care provider and Athletic Trainer Wayne Penniman PT, DPT, ATC. This group will continue to provide care for our community. If you have any health related needs or concerns, please email healthservices@bancroftschool.org going forward. 

BluePrint 125

Thank you to those who have attended our recent webinar events where we discussed our strategic plan BluePrint125. It was exciting to see the number of community members that have been invested in the process as we bring the plan to life. If you were unable to attend, I encourage you to visit our strategic planning page on the website to watch video recordings of the three webinars to learn more. 

Now that the plan has been formally unveiled, it is time to get to work. The next step requires the formation of committees who will help to bring the priorities into focus. You can be involved in this process by filling out the form at the bottom of the webpage detailing your area(s) of interest. We are looking for members of the community to be active participants in this process. Progress updates will be shared as things move along. 

Upper School Drama

The Upper School Drama production Help Desk provided some outstanding comic relief at the end of a busy time and was an impressive accomplishment. For those of you that were able to attend the show,, thank you for supporting our hard working cast and crew. This is just one of many examples of how our faculty and students are continuing to be creative with honoring and rethinking school traditions. 

Moving Forward

Thank you all again for your partnership through the first half of this school year. For many, it has likely felt like much longer than that, but I expect the winter break will provide some much needed time of rest and relaxation for everyone that will allow the batteries to be recharged. We should all take great pride in what we have accomplished together so far and I look forward to seeing the great work we do in 2021.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Winter Schedule

A reminder that we have made several adjustments to the winter schedule outlined below: 

Monday, January 4th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Tuesday, January 5th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Wednesday, January 6th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Friday, January 29th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Monday, March 1st: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Other major dates during winter:

Monday, January 18th: Martin Luther King Junior Day (NO CLASSES)

Friday, February 12th: Mid Winter Break (NO CLASSES)

Monday, February 15th: President's Day (NO CLASSES)

Winter Break: December 19th - January 6th (full campus closure)

You can find the complete updated major dates calendar here.

Dear Bancroft Community,

With just two school days until our Thanksgiving break begins, I wanted to share a few announcements and reminders in this week's update. We have some COVID-related news and information as well as a few updates, schedule adjustments, reminders, and events to tell you about.

Janice Morello

It is bittersweet to inform you that after 23 years as the Director of Health Services, Janice Morello RN has announced her retirement. She has been instrumental in her leadership while demonstrating top-notch student and family care throughout her time at Bancroft and we are tremendously grateful for her service. Retirement will offer quality time with family including her grandchildren (one of which is brand new) that I know she is looking forward to and is much deserved. I hope you will join me in congratulating Janice on her wonderful tenure and thanking her for the many years of helping to keep our community healthy and safe. Her last day will be Thursday, December 10th. Please continue to communicate your health-related needs with Janice until that time. 

We are fortunate to have a great Health Services team to guide us through the interim period as we begin the immediate search for a new Director. This includes our evening nurse Jim Kamosky RN, our per diem nurses Janice Kapaon RN, Liza Marzilli RN, and Sharon Fitzpatrick RN, as well as our Upper School Health Care provider and Athletic Trainer Wayne Penniman PT, DPT, ATC. This team has been hugely helpful in guiding us through the early stages of the school year and they will continue to be available as we make this transition. 

MyMedBot

It is critical that students, families, and faculty/staff continue to accurately and honestly fill out the MyMedBot application during school days whether home or remote. This information gives valuable insight to our health team to be able to effectively communicate and provide adequate guidance and care. As you have seen, we have recently added an additional question related to the health of other members of the household. It is important that if ANY member of the household is symptomatic and awaiting test results, that students stay home until a negative result is reported. Questions related to MyMedBot can be directed here. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

Athletics 

We are pleased to announce that after carefully reviewing the recently released new state guidelines from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) we are moving forward with plans for winter sports programming for both Middle and Upper School. Director of Athletics Tracy Jones is working closely with coaches and will share information and specifics with student-athletes and families in the coming days. The winter season will run from December 14th, 2020 to February 26th, 2021. This is a later start date than we had initially anticipated based on the latest state recommendations and conversations with local schools in our area and league. If your student has not yet signed up for winter sports and is interested in joining a team, please contact Tracy as soon as possible.

Thanksgiving Break

With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide and the upcoming travel-heavy holiday season upon us, it is important to remember the travel and gatherings restrictions that the state of Massachusetts has put into effect. We also know many college students will soon be returning home from all over the country. Keep in mind that they too should follow these regulations and protocols. We also ask that you keep a close eye on the health of your students before our on-campus return on December 3rd. 

As a reminder, our schedule for the next two weeks is as follows:

Winter Schedule Adjustments

Looking ahead to our winter schedule, we have made some strategic decisions to allow for both critical professional development time for faculty as well as remote learning days to mitigate any potential virus spread in our return from winter break. You can find the complete updated major dates calendar here. The adjustments are listed below:

Monday, January 4th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Tuesday, January 5th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Wednesday, January 6th: Remote Learning (ALL GRADES)

Friday, January 29th: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

Monday, March 1st: Professional Development Day (NO CLASSES)

A reminder of other major dates during winter:

Monday, January 18th: Martin Luther King Junior Day (NO CLASSES)

Friday, February 12th: Mid Winter Break (NO CLASSES)

Monday, February 15th: President's Day (NO CLASSES)

Giving Day

Bancroft relies heavily on the generosity of our community of parents, alumni, and friends to be able to provide the best quality of education and care that we possibly can. This year we have been faced with a myriad of unexpected financial challenges to be able to safely reopen our campus. Our annual Day of Giving is coming up on Tuesday, December 1st, so save the date. You will be hearing more from our Advancement Team in the coming days and a gift of any size would truly be appreciated. 

BluePrint 125

Thank you to those of you that have attended our first two strategic planning Zoom events over the past several weeks. It has been exciting to share the school's vision for our future and to see the engagement from our alumni, faculty, parents, students, and friends. Our final event in the three-part series is on Thursday, December 3rd where we will discuss Innovative Teaching for Active Learning. We hope you will consider joining us.

Upper School Drama Production

While we wish we could invite a big crowd into Harrington Theater, we are thrilled that our talented students taking part in the annual Upper School drama production will still be able to perform for our community via a Zoom stream in early December. Don't miss Help Desk by Don Zolidis Presented by Bancroft School December 4th & 5th at 7:30 p.m. This is a lighthearted, family friendly, and fun show that will put a smile on your face. Tickets are on sale now!

Thank You

As we near Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this community. This school year has tested us all beyond what could have been expected, but we continue to collectively push forward. I hope the weeks ahead, while different, will provide everyone with some rest and quality time with your close family. Be safe and enjoy the break.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

The recent increase in COVID-19 cases in and around Worcester is concerning and we are, as always, paying careful attention to what that means for our ability to maintain Bancroft as a safe place to hold school in-person. Yesterday, we outlined the updated Massachusetts State restrictions and reminded everyone to limit social interactions in our community letter. I am writing today to share our current planning and to outline our schedule as we move closer to the holiday season. 

Thanksgiving Schedule

We have adjusted our schedule for the week following the Thanksgiving break as a precaution, given the expected travel and gatherings during the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be providing faculty with an additional Professional Development Day on Monday, November 30th to gear up for the critical stretch between Thanksgiving and the winter break. The Tuesday and Wednesday of that week will be remote learning days for the entire school as we collectively monitor our health post-Thanksgiving.  Again, please be mindful of the latest state guidelines in regard to travel and gatherings over the holiday. We also ask that you keep a close eye on the health of your students before our on-campus return on December 3rd.

Winter Athletics

The Fall season of athletics in the Middle and Upper Schools wrapped up this week on a high note with spectacular weather. Our Upper School student-athletes engaged in valuable training and team-building with their teammates this fall, culminating in some fun intra-squad competitions this week. Our Middle School students participated in a variety of fun, engaging sport activities with their classmates throughout the season. A big thank you to our coaches and student-athletes for their flexibility, cooperation and good work. 

The Athletic Directors and Heads of School from the Eastern Independent League (EIL) met to discuss the upcoming winter athletics season, and after robust conversation, agreed unanimously that there will be no official EIL schedule or championships for the Winter 2020-21 season. Individual institutions do, however, have the discretion to organize practices and to consider alternate competitions, dependent on state and local health guidelines.

While we expect to provide a winter program of activities for MS and US students similar to what we offered this fall, we are currently awaiting updated recommendations for winter sports from the State of Massachusetts. We expect to receive more information over the course of next week and will update you once we've reviewed the recommendations and determined our options. For your planning purposes, the earliest date that winter season athletic activities could begin is December 3rd.

Snow Days

New England weather gave us a preview of what's to come last Friday, just as we have finalized our plan for snow days this winter. 

• In the event that the school is forced to close due to weather emergencies with less than 24 hours notice, it will be a typical snow day with no classes held on-campus or remotely.
• In the event we are able to predict campus closure due to weather with more than 24 hours notice and alert our community, we will hold classes remotely. 

This approach will allow us to maintain some semblance of the school calendar regardless of a snow-heavy New England winter. All messaging regarding school delays and cancellations will be made through our emergency alert system. A remote snow day will be communicated via email in advance. Please contact us if you have any issues receiving our emergency notifications or general email communication. 

As always, we will do our best to keep our staff, our students, and school families safe as we remain true to our mission during these challenging times. The administrative leadership team will be meeting during the weeks ahead to consider the school calendar and daily schedules as we look to continue in-person learning in 2021.  

We are grateful for the demonstrated success of our risk mitigation to date and the essential benefit of in-person learning. The recent increase in COVID-19 cases and arrival of colder temperatures will require greater vigilance from all of us. Thank you all for your patience and teamwork. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we continue to respond and adapt to changing circumstances. I hope you all have a great and relaxing weekend.   

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I wanted to provide you with an update on our response to the weekend gatherings with Upper School students. Our top priorities are the health and safety of the students who attended these gatherings on Saturday and protecting the health and safety of all members of our community.   
 
None of these students set out to put our community at risk and planned their gatherings with health and safety in mind. However, while steps were taken by students and the hosts to protect attendees, there were behaviors during the gatherings that could have potentially caused exposure for those in attendance. Although there were no known positive COVID-19 cases present at these gatherings and we are not aware of any symptoms among attendees since then, these social gatherings pose an elevated risk of potential spread when social distancing and mask wearing are not consistently observed. Our partners at Fusion Cell characterized this as an "unknown exposure."  
 
We reviewed the protocols for an "unknown exposure" and determined the following steps to help ensure that attendees of these gatherings are healthy before they return to school:

• Students will submit a negative PCR test OR
• Students will remain home and quarantine for 14 days from exposure (October 31)

We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of both the students involved and our greater community. We also recognize the desire to have a clear understanding of the school's policies regarding activity and gatherings outside of school. Going forward, our expectations are that the Bancroft community will follow the recently revised state guidelines from Governor Baker in regards to the new stay at home advisory, gatherings order, and face coverings order as well as continuing to abide by the state's travel order. All information regarding these new orders and advisories can be found here. 

We have been in the midst of this challenging and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic since March. The incredible disruptions of this crisis as well as the social and emotional toll it has had on all of us has been, and will continue to be significant. We understand the desire for some degree of normalcy and an opportunity to socialize with friends and family as part of that normal lifestyle we are missing. We hope providing some clarity around the school and state guidelines will help us all move forward together. 
 
As always, we appreciate your understanding and partnership. 
 
Thank you, 
Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I am writing today to provide you with some additional important updates and ask for your continued support. We have been on campus for six weeks and have not yet experienced any positive cases of COVID-19. Throughout this time, we have been monitoring the local community spread of the virus and following advisories from the State. This week, we were advised to stay the course and continue practicing our health and safety protocols. We must remain diligent and attentive to our protocols, especially as we approach the holiday season. We expect to remain open for in-person learning on campus and to follow our published school calendar for upcoming vacations and holidays.  

Playing Your Part

It is critically important that we double down on our effort to keep one another safe and Bancroft open for as long as possible. New signage with reminders about social distancing, good hand hygiene, and mask wearing have been put up all over campus. Our faculty, staff, and students have stayed committed to our current cohort model to limit exposure and have held one another accountable. We ask that you continue to encourage this responsible behavior at home. Do your best to avoid large gatherings, wear masks wherever possible, and practice good hygiene and social distancing. 

A Critical Stretch

As your family finalizes plans for upcoming holidays and gatherings, please follow social distancing guidelines and protocols and abide by the State's travel regulations. Particularly now with elevated COVID-19 numbers around us, large family events looming, and college students returning home, our individual diligence will play a large role in our ability to remain open once we return. Let's all stay attentive to this disciplined behavior so we can continue our school year together in person. If you and your family have participated in any of these activities and believe you may have risked exposure over the holidays, you should be prepared to isolate yourself and help limit transmission of the virus into school upon your return from vacation.  

Massachusetts Average Daily Case Rate Update

The state of Massachusetts and city of Worcester continue to see an increasing positive case rate per 100,000 people for COVID-19. Earlier this morning on a call with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, we were informed that some of these increases can be traced to large group gatherings, long-term care facilities, and several youth hockey leagues. This has prompted tighter lock down measures at long-term care facilities and a suspension and closure of youth hockey leagues and ice rinks for the next several weeks. The State has also sent additional resources into areas where the virus is spreading quickly. These steps to isolate and combat the virus on a local level should pay dividends, and we all need to do our part to protect ourselves and those around us in all of our activities.  

Bancroft School COVID-19 Response Plan 

Despite all of our efforts, it is entirely possible that we will encounter a positive case on our campus at some point. It is important to remember that our  COVID-19 response plan on campus is ready should we need it. Here is a reminder of the steps we would take in the event of a positive case being reported:

COVID-19 Response Plan 

a. If a Student Displays Symptoms at School 

If a student shows signs of illness while at school, the school nurse will place the student in the medical isolation room and notify the parent/guardian. The parent/guardian will be expected to pick the student up as soon as possible to limit further exposure. If more than one student is in the same waiting room at a time, they will be seated at least six feet apart. Students will wear a surgical mask provided by the nurse while in the medical isolation room. Students dismissed with symptoms must contact their physician and follow the physician's recommendations for testing and quarantine/isolation. Students that are healthy enough may continue to take classes from home via remote learning.

b. Notification and Contact Tracing

If any student, faculty, or staff member receives a positive COVID-19 test, the School Nurse must be notified. Close contacts will be required to quarantine for 14 days. Close contacts are defined as those who have been within six feet of the individual for at least 15 minutes within 24 hours, while the person was infectious. The infectious period begins two days prior to symptom onset. If someone is asymptomatic, the infectious period is considered to begin two days prior to the collection of their positive test. Students, faculty, and staff are expected to cooperate with public health contact tracing efforts. Students, faculty, and staff not defined as close contacts may still come to school as long as they are symptom free. 

c. Return to School 

In order for a student, faculty, or staff member to return to school after testing positive or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they must follow one of these protocols:

• After a positive COVID-19 test: If a student, faculty, or staff member tests positive, they must stay home for a minimum of 14 days and may return when symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication. 
• After a negative COVID-19 test: If a student, faculty, or staff member has COVID-19-like symptoms, they may return to school after they have tested negative for COVID-19, have improvement in symptoms, and have been without a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. 
• Close contacts: Quarantine for 14 days and return if no symptoms appear or provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test. 
• Symptomatic, but not tested: Quarantine for a minimum of 10 days and return after symptoms have improved and there has been no fever for at least 24 hours without medication. 
• With an alternative diagnosis: If a provider makes an alternative diagnosis for the COVID-19-like symptoms, the individual may return to school based on the recommendations for that alternative diagnosis (e.g. influenza, strep throat).

As a reminder, the entirety of our health and safety protocols and procedures can be found in our reopening guide on our website. Questions regarding our COVID-19 response plan and updates about your family health can be directed to our School Nurse Janice Morello. 

I continue to be so impressed with our school community's resilience and ability to adapt quickly to our circumstances. We have made many adjustments and realize that it doesn't feel "normal" for most people these days. The arrival of gift bags for faculty and staff today, the preparations for Halloween activities next Friday, and the joyful routines of the day provide each of us with a sense of optimism and gratitude. As this unorthodox year continues, I know we will collectively continue to do everything we can to safely keep our doors open. Thank you for making it possible for all of us to be together. 

Best,

Trey

P.S. - Please remember that we will not be in school on November 3 (Professional Development Day for Faculty and Staff) or November 6 (Parent-Teacher Conferences). 

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I am writing today to provide you with several important updates pertaining to recent health and safety information, the school calendar, and a few reminders about upcoming breaks. 

Massachusetts Average Daily Case Rate Update

The state of Massachusetts weekly COVID-19 report released Wednesday showed an increase in the number of daily positive cases in the city of Worcester. While this is the first time in three weeks the case rate has risen, the rate of cases per 100,000 people has now reached 10.0 and marks the fourth consecutive week of Worcester being over 8.0 or in the 'Red Zone' according to the State.

We have reached out to our contacts at the Department of Public Health to help inform our decision making. In a meeting with schools and colleges this morning, they were able to identify several specific 'clusters' of positive cases resulting from large family gatherings, outbreaks in long-term care facilities, and cases from a few specific gatherings involving local firefighters and a youth travel sports team. Their data shows that children have NOT been a vector of the virus to this point and that PreK to grade 12 schools are not driving the rise in positive cases. At this stage, they are not recommending that schools in our area shut down. They did, however, note that "COVID fatigue" can lead to a reduction of social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing. It is critically important that we continue to do our part at Bancroft to monitor our own health and be diligent with our safety precautions. The Department has agreed to keep us updated as new information becomes available and will notify us should they see the need for us to change course. We will continue to keep you informed.

Flu Vaccine 

Massachusetts Department of Public Health has added a new influenza vaccine requirement for all students in all grades Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. Students will be expected to have received an influenza vaccine for the current influenza season by December 31 of 2020 unless they have a medical or religious exemption.

The updated table of school requirements for the upcoming school year is posted online.

Frequently asked question documents are also available about the new flu requirement here.

Any questions about this requirement should be directed to Janice Morello. 

Calendar Updates & Reminders

October 9th

Throughout the day today, all Bancroft Faculty and Staff are engaging in a full day of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training and activities. This critically important work will be led by Jenna Chandler-Ward. Jenna is a founder and co-director of the Multicultural Teaching Institute, which produces workshops and conferences for educators on issues of equity and inclusion. We are looking forward to a day of learning and growth for all of our employees.

November 3rd

On Tuesday, November 3rd, Bancroft will be holding a professional day. No classes will be held as we provide our faculty and staff with appropriate time and space to prepare for the end of quarter one and look ahead to the next. We also want to make sure that we allow our entire community the opportunity to vote in the elections being held that day. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility around this decision as we work to support our community. 

November 6th

Our parent teacher meetings for all grades will be held on Friday, November 6th via Zoom. No classes will be held that day. We will be utilizing SignUpGenius, a web-based tool which will allow you to sign up for a preferred meeting time. The sign-up link will be live starting Tuesday, October 13th at 6:00 PM. Lower School parents/guardians should sign up for a meeting time with their student's respective classroom teacher. Middle and Upper School parents/guardians should sign up for a meeting time with their student's respective advisor. We hope this dialogue provides you with useful and meaningful feedback on your student's educational experience. We will send a reminder note on Tuesday with the link.

Thinking Differently About Seasonal Holiday Gatherings

My family and I always look forward to this long October weekend, Halloween, and Thanksgiving break in November as opportunities to be amongst loved ones. This year, we are approaching things differently by limiting our in-person interactions and not gathering with large groups. As you make your family plans for these upcoming holidays, please be sure to stay aware of social distancing guidelines and protocols and abide by the state's travel regulations. Our community has been incredibly diligent around these procedures over the first weeks of school which has allowed us to continue to engage with one another in person. Let's all stay attentive to this disciplined behavior so we can continue our school year together on Shore Drive. 

I hope everyone enjoys the crisp fall air this weekend. Thank you for your continued support.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

As we get set to begin our third week back on campus for Lower and Middle School, and welcome our Upper School next Friday, our lived experience has provided us with a great chance to work together through this reopening. I am incredibly proud of our whole community for their perseverance. Our faculty have been resilient and have worked extremely hard to make sure students are engaged in a safe and caring environment. Parents have been diligent with daily health screenings and have adjusted quickly to our drop-off and pick-up procedures. And our students have been getting into a rhythm with their new academic schedule with a positive attitude. Thank you all for your energy and effort in making this work.

Having had opportunities to see our reopening plan come to life has also afforded us the chance to make necessary adjustments and prepare for things that are to come. We are committed to ensuring adjustments are made to the plan as the disease profile changes in our community. Many members of our community have provided us with helpful feedback and posed great questions that we have worked to address. Below, you will find addendums for our reopening plan focused on additional health and safety details and protocols, as well as our formal policies for our Aftercare and Fall Athletics programs. We hope these documents provide some clarity around lingering questions regarding those topics.

Health and Safety Addendum

Aftercare and Athletics Addendum

I also wanted to address the recent change in status to the average daily incidence rate in the City of Worcester. In the most recent weekly report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) published on Wednesday, Worcester's average daily incidence rate per 100,000 had risen to 9.5 cases. This falls in the State's red category on their two week incidence rate scale. The incidence rate in Worcester County is trending lower at 4.4 cases per 100,000.  This information prompted us to consult with the city Government, MDPH, and the Chief Public Health Nurse for the City of Worcester. These officials have provided clarification on what the best course of action is for our school. The response we received, per the MDPH, was that no decision to close schools would be based upon one week at this elevated rate. It would be based upon 4 weeks of data and a sustained rate of over 8 per 100,000. We will continue to closely monitor these reports and make decisions in the best interest of our community's safety. Our school, and others in Worcester, were asked to continue to comply with mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing to minimize risk. Additionally, we were advised to continue daily screening of our faculty, staff, and students per our reopening plan. Anyone not feeling well will stay home and consult with their health care provider to get tested for COVID.  

Thank you again for your flexibility and teamwork. Thank you for trusting us to continue to provide the safest possible experience for your children. I hope you have an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Dear Bancroft Families, 

Thank you for your patience as we worked to finalize the details for our new lunch program. As with many elements of this school year, we've had to reimagine what lunch looks like while ensuring we follow our COVID-19 safety protocols. We are committed to offering balanced, nutritious lunch options to our community and are excited to announce that we have partnered with the Farmacy Lunch Box program, a monthly subscription lunch option. 

The Farmacy Lunch Box offers convenience, flexibility and choice for daily lunch. With this new program, students will have a nutritious boxed meal and water bottle delivered right to their classroom each day. The rotating menu of delicious, balanced meals will feature lunch box classics and healthy alternatives that will appeal to adventurous and picky eaters alike. The Farmacy team is deeply committed to abiding by all safety and health protocols, and eager to work with our community to create a menu we love.  

This is a monthly subscription lunch program available for all students PreK to Grade 12. Families will be billed $110/month on your monthly statement. Once you enroll in the Farmacy Lunch Box program you will stay enrolled throughout the school year unless you choose to opt out.

After you enroll, you will receive a bi-weekly email showcasing the menu for the following 2 weeks. You will have a 4-day period to make your menu selections. Menus will be emailed every other Thursday, and your selection is needed by that following Tuesday. Each day School is open, your child will have a handcrafted boxed lunch delivered to their classroom. Each lunch is served with a 16 ounce bottle of water. 

SAMPLE MENU

SIGN UP HERE

FARMACY FAQ

You must opt in by Sunday, September 20th to be enrolled for the launch date of September 28th. The initial menu selections will be sent to enrolled families on September 21st. We greatly appreciate everyone's collective spirit of resilience and good citizenship as we navigate our new lunch program.

Questions?

Email diningservices@bancroftschool.org

Dear Bancroft Families, 

Thank you for your patience as we worked to finalize the details for our new lunch program. As with many elements of this school year, we've had to reimagine what lunch looks like while ensuring we follow our COVID-19 safety protocols. We are committed to offering balanced, nutritious lunch options to our community and are excited to announce that we have partnered with the Farmacy Lunch Box program, a monthly subscription lunch option. 

The Farmacy Lunch Box offers convenience, flexibility and choice for daily lunch. With this new program, students will have a nutritious boxed meal and water bottle delivered right to their classroom each day. The rotating menu of delicious, balanced meals will feature lunch box classics and healthy alternatives that will appeal to adventurous and picky eaters alike. The Farmacy team is deeply committed to abiding by all safety and health protocols, and eager to work with our community to create a menu we love.  

This is a monthly subscription lunch program available for all students PreK to Grade 12. Families will be billed $110/month on your monthly statement. Once you enroll in the Farmacy Lunch Box program you will stay enrolled throughout the school year unless you choose to opt out.

After you enroll, you will receive a bi-weekly email showcasing the menu for the following 2 weeks. You will have a 4-day period to make your menu selections. Menus will be emailed every other Thursday, and your selection is needed by that following Tuesday. Each day School is open, your child will have a handcrafted boxed lunch delivered to their classroom. Each lunch is served with a 16 ounce bottle of water. 

SAMPLE MENU

SIGN UP HERE

FARMACY FAQ

You must opt in by Sunday, September 20th to be enrolled for the launch date of September 28th. The first selections of menu items will be sent to enrolled families on September 21st.

Bancroft School will provide a free complimentary lunch for each Lower School and Middle School student this Friday, September 18th and next Friday, September 25th.

Friday, September 18th 

Farmacy Lunch Box will provide a sampler boxed lunch including:

Cheese quesadilla on whole wheat tortilla, (2) turkey meatballs with a roasted red pepper dressing and a  southwest black bean & corn salad on the side. 
Contains: dairy, gluten, poultry

If your child has a dietary restriction to any component of this meal, please email diningservices@bancroftschool.org to request an alternative lunch selection. 

Friday, September 25th 

Menu and selection options will be sent next week.

We greatly appreciate everyone's collective spirit of resilience and good citizenship as we navigate our new lunch program.

Questions?

Email diningservices@bancroftschool.org

Dear Bancroft Families, 

I want to take a moment to thank you for what has been a great start to our orientation week. It has been a joy to see so much activity on campus. I also have greatly appreciated everyone's cooperation in adhering to our health and safety protocols and procedures. 

Remember to:

• Keep your distance
• Wear your mask
• Wash your hands
• Stay home when you are sick

I am attaching the recordings of last week's Parent Q&A meetings with our advisors from Fusion Cell, the consulting company we've been working with on our reopening plan.

Lower School Link

Middle School Link

Upper School Link

With school officially underway next week, our weekly reopening updates will be replaced by division-specific correspondence and direct communication from teachers. If you have any questions at any point, please feel free to reach out to Beth Beckmann, Head of Lower and Middle School, or Rebecca Gratz, Head of Upper School. School nurse Janice Morello is available to answer your health-related questions. Classroom teachers and advisors will be checking in during the opening weeks and can also help you solve a problem or find an answer to a question. We also hope you will stay up-to-date with the great things happening on campus via social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy, Head of School

Dear Bancroft Families,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. While there is just a week to go before our orientation begins and we welcome students back to campus, the school year started Monday for our incredible faculty and staff who are beginning a week of professional development activities. It is always exciting to see the creativity, excitement, and passion on display during this week and I know our entire community will benefit from this collaborative effort. 

As we mentioned in our previous letter, today we are sharing our Reopening Guide for your reference which includes the policies and protocols we have been sending you over the course of the summer. We hope you find this to be a helpful resource. You will also have opportunities to ask questions at this week's parent meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. Information for these meetings is below. We will send out a formal Zoom link the morning of the meeting.

Lower School Meeting - Wednesday, August 26 5:30-6:15 p.m.

Middle School Meeting - Thursday, August 27 7:00-7:45 p.m.

Upper School Meeting - Wednesday, August 26 6:30-7:15p.m. 

Despite the unique circumstances and challenges we are collectively faced with, I continue to be confident that our community can overcome them together. I look forward to seeing many of you this week over Zoom and welcoming our students back to campus soon.

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Dear Bancroft Families,

We have reached the last few weeks of summer, and I hope you and your family are getting excited about being back amongst fellow Bulldogs. In this weekly update, we will provide some additional details and clarification around the first several weeks of school, our health and safety standards, and our cohort model. We will also ask that any families that are opting to have students attend classes remotely please fill out our information form so we can make appropriate arrangements. 

Orientation Schedule

We look forward to welcoming Bancroft students back to campus over the course of the first several weeks of school. We will use this opportunity to make personal connections and adjust to being together after six long months away. While you have heard directly from Division Heads on the plans for when specific grades will have their orientation activities, we wanted to provide you with the master schedule for reference. 

Health & Safety

Ventilation: We have upgraded our HVAC system school-wide to provide an increased supply of outside air in accordance with ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers) Standard 62.1-2019, to dilute indoor contaminants as a first line of defense against aerosol transmission of COVID-19. This upgrade also included the addition of MERV-13 rated filters. In addition, we have added 60 HEPA filtration units--one for each classroom. 

Sanitation/Cleaning/Disinfecting: We understand the critical importance of maintaining clean facilities and are implementing the following measures:

• Classrooms and other facilities cleaned and disinfected daily by a professional cleaning service
• Bathrooms cleaned and disinfected multiple times each day by Bancroft facilities staff
• High touch points (door handles, railings) disinfected multiple times each day
• Installation of 75 new hands-free faucets in classrooms and restrooms
• Removal of water bubblers and installation of hands-free water bottle filling stations
• In-room supplies for cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and classroom materials when needed

Health Screening: We have set up two separate health centers (one in the Fletcher Athletic Center and one in the McDonough Building) to care for students or faculty that show signs of illness or symptoms of COVID-19 while on campus. We are also asking for your assistance in conducting temperature checks and health screenings daily BEFORE students leave for school. We will be utilizing a mobile application called MyMedBot to help families, faculty, and staff self screen for COVID-19 every morning and have the results go directly to our health team. The product enables our school nurses to easily screen for COVID-19 symptoms, communicate their latest protocol and have the data to make informed decisions. You will receive a registration email from us early next week, which will include an invitation code and links to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Click on the link that works with your phone to download the app for free. 

If you do not have access to a smart device, please let us know and we will provide you with appropriate accommodations to be able to self report another way. This will be a required health and safety measure that will add another layer of mitigating the risks of COVID-19 and we appreciate your cooperation.

If you have any questions regarding MyMedBot, please contact school nurse Janice Morello.  

Physical Distancing: Six feet of distance between individuals will be the expected norm throughout campus. Our class sizes will be based on this standard in every building, and we have arranged seating in classrooms to enforce this expectation. We have repurposed many large gathering locations into classrooms to accommodate the space needed to maintain this standard. We will also make use of our spacious campus, including our field house, which has been taken offline to the public. Outdoor space will also be utilized whenever possible. Our spacing meets the American Industrial Hygienist Association recommendations for reopening schools.  

Masks: Students, faculty, and staff will be required to wear face masks upon arrival at school and when inside school buildings, including hallways and bathrooms. Masks will also be required outdoors when six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained. Everyone is expected to have at least one extra mask available during the school day. Masks should:

• Be made of washable cotton or surgical fabric of at least double thickness; masks with clear windows are acceptable if they fit properly
• Fit snugly to the face, covering both nose and mouth at all times
• Allow for breathing without restriction
• Be a basic color/pattern that will not pose a distraction to the community
• Worn properly at all times so as to protect yourself and others
• Not be neck gaiters and scarves as these face coverings do not meet the Bancroft standard and may compromise health and safety

Hand Hygiene: Hand sanitizing and hand washing are important parts of mitigating risk of transmission of COVID-19. Bancroft is adding the following measures in regards to hand hygiene:

• Hand sanitizing stations at all points of entry to campus
• Hand sanitizing and/or hand-washing in all classrooms 
• Posted signage and reminders at entrances, in classrooms, and in other strategic places providing instruction on proper hand hygiene

Cohort Model

Each division will operate independently in our cohort/pod model with its own teachers, spaces, and schedules to minimize contact between them. Students will be taught in small cohorts and will be limited in any exposure or close contact with other students or adults. In Lower School, a cohort would be considered an entire grade. In Middle and Upper School, cohorts would be considered advisories. These are the 6-8 students that your children would have the most regular interaction with within the school day. The pod is the slightly larger unit that students could have limited interaction with throughout the course of the day either in transit or from having the same set of teachers. By eliminating all cross divisional interaction and limiting our classroom capacity, we put ourselves in a better position to mitigate chances of any significant transmission.

Opting In to Remote Learning

We understand that some families would prefer to have their students at home in a remote learning environment. We have equipped classrooms with the necessary equipment where students learning from home can virtually attend in-person classes being held on campus. In order to best prepare for these accommodations, we will need to have a sense of which students in each division will be opting for remote learning. If your family would like to move forward with this option, please fill out this form by Tuesday, August 25.

Next Steps

Early next week, we will be sending a comprehensive document that will contain all pertinent information for families regarding reopening policies and procedures. We will also be sending an invitation for you to attend one of several online meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to talk through final preparations for the start of school and answer any additional questions. Thank you for your continued support and partnership throughout this process. 

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Upper School Students and Families,

I continue to be so grateful to be part of this amazing Bancroft community.  Your warmth, kindness, and support are appreciated!

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for the meeting last night. I hope you found it to be informative and helpful as we navigate the opening of the 2020 - 2021 school year together. 

We continue to plan and remain hopeful for an in-person orientation the week of August 31. However, we are monitoring the health conditions in our area and will be flexible as necessary. We have worked hard over the summer to put safety protocols and upgrades in place and you can learn more about that from the PowerPoint and Zoom meeting recording linked below.

Collective responsibility:

As a community, we share the responsibility for the health and safety of all of our members. Parents will be asked to monitor their children's health outside of school, students will be asked to wear masks, stay physically distant, and maintain healthy practices during the school day. We will be sharing additions to the Upper School Code of Conduct which will include expectations of student behavior in a physically-distanced in person learning environment. We ask for your cooperation and support as we work together to keep our campus healthy.

Calendar for Opening of School:

Monday, August 24th - New Parent Information Night - online

Please mark your calendars. More detailed information will be sent to you next week. 

August 31 - September 3 Grade level orientations will be held from 8:00 - 2:30 on campus. 

Grade 9 - Monday, August 31

Grade 12 - Tuesday, September 1

Grade 11 - Wednesday, September 2

Grade 10 - Thursday, September 3 

Snacks will be provided, and we will have extra water on hand. Your child will need to bring a bag lunch with them, and we will not have access to microwaves. If you cannot provide lunch for orientation, please let me know and we will ensure there is lunch for your child. No transportation will be provided for orientation. 

A Big Buddies event will be held on the evening of August 31. More information to follow!

September 8 - September 18 Remote learning for Upper School

The daily schedule will run daily from 8:00 - 3:30 just as it will in person. 

Orientation activities will continue in classrooms and advisories. 

Daily Schedule:

In order to limit the direct contact between and among students and faculty in the Upper School, while ensuring that we provide the structure for deep, meaningful, and robust learning, we have adopted a new schedule for the 2020-2021 school year. 

Each student will take three (some will take four) courses along with advisory each quarter. Periods will last 90 minutes - 60 minutes for direct instruction and 30 minutes for extended/flexible learning time. This schedule will provide opportunities for students to explore topics in depth, get individual support they need, and own their learning.  There will also be breaks built in for students and faculty to get outside and remove masks, while remaining physically distant. Teachers will be encouraged to use outdoor spaces for teaching throughout the school day. Students will have advisory each day and will eat lunch together in that small group to ensure our students have social-emotional connections and support through the advisory program after such a long absence from campus, and while coping with the local and global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For greater detail about the schedule as well as the rationale behind it, please review the PowerPoint presentation and the recording of the Zoom meeting from Tuesday evening.

Reminders:

Please ensure that you have filled out all the forms that were sent home in July. Also, if you have physical forms from your child's doctor, please send those directly to Director of Health Services, Janice Morello at jmorello@bancroftschool.org. 

View PowerPoint

Watch Zoom meeting

Please continue to reach out to me with questions or just to say hello.

All the best,

Rebecca Gratz

Head of Upper School

Dear Middle School Families,

Thanks to those of you who were able to attend the Zoom meeting on Wednesday evening. I know it was not possible for all of you to attend so I have included the link to the recording as well as the slide presentation with this note. This summer, the teachers and I have been working to prepare for the opening of school and I want to provide you with some additional details in this letter.

Pods

When we are on campus, we will be operating in grade level pods. Each grade level will have a designated area and rooms in the Middle School as well as teachers who will only teach in that grade level. Some classes where teachers must teach in more than one grade level (math, arts, PE and languages) will be taught remotely (meaning teachers will facilitate the classes via Zoom to the classroom where their students are) to maintain the integrity of the pod system. We have developed a predictable, non rotating (the same class at the same time of day) schedule. You can see the schedule grid in the slideshow.

Orientation

We look forward welcoming the students back to campus the week of August 31 from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. with this orientation schedule:

Monday (8/31) - all new students only

Tuesday (9/1) - Grade 6

Wednesday (9/2) - Grade 7

Thursday (9/3) - Grade 8 

*Just the grades listed will come to campus on their designated days.

The following week, September 8-11, all students will return for a full day (8:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.) of  classes.

Thank you

You will be hearing from me again next week with more details on the opening of school. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me with any questions or concerns.

View PowerPoint

Watch Meeting

Sincerely,

Beth P. Beckmann

Head of Lower and Middle Schools

Dear Lower School Families,

Thanks to those of you who were able to attend the Zoom meeting last evening. I know it was not possible for all of you to attend so I have included the link to the recording as well as the slide presentation with this note. This summer, the teachers and I have been working to prepare for the opening of school and I want to provide you with some additional details in this letter.

Pods

To make sure we limit the number of contact points for each student and teacher, we have decided to break the Lower School into a pod system. Students and teachers will only come into contact with their given pod throughout a school day. The pods are as follows:

PreK, K, Grade 1

Grade 2, Grade 3

Grade 4, Grade 5

There will be a classroom teacher and a specials teacher in each grade and the school day will be from 8:00 am to 2:45 pm. The class day for PK and K will be from 8 am to 2 pm with pick up available at 2:00 or 2:45 pm. Details of aftercare are still being worked out. Each grade will have two specials classes daily. The children will eat lunch by grade level either in their classroom or (on nice days) outside.

Orientation

We look forward to welcoming the children back on campus beginning September 1 from 8:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. with this orientation schedule:  

Tuesday 9/1 - grades 4 and 5

Wednesday 9/2 - grades 2 and 3

Thursday 9/3 - grades PK/K/1

*Just the grades listed will come to campus on their designated days.

The following week, September 8 - 11, grades PK, K, 1 and 2 will come in each morning from 8:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. and Grades 3, 4 and 5 will come in for the full day from 8:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

The purpose of these first two weeks is to build community and stamina for the children and to begin to establish the classroom routines.

Thank you

You will be hearing from me again next week with more details on the opening of school. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me with any questions or concerns.

Watch PowerPoint

Watch Meeting

Sincerely,

Beth P. Beckmann

Head of Lower and Middle Schools

Dear Bancroft Community,

I want to thank those of you who attended the Zoom meetings this week where we shared information regarding our reopening plan. It was great to see you and answer your thoughtful questions. For those who were not able to join us, the Division Heads shared summaries and answered additional questions that were raised. Some questions require additional work on our part, and we expect to address them in next week's update. We also plan to release a more comprehensive document describing our reopening plan in its entirety very soon. 

As we continue to prepare for the start of the school year, it is important to remember that keeping everyone safe is a shared responsibility. With just a few weeks until our phased on-campus orientation days, the health of our community is entirely dependent upon responsible personal behavior by ALL of us. We all will need to do our part to mitigate the risks to our students, staff, and families. 

At Bancroft, we are implementing a multi-faceted risk mitigation strategy, and we will continue to keep you informed of additional measures as they are finalized. Some require participation and adherence from everyone to be successful. This includes use of masks when indoors, maintaining appropriate physical distancing, thorough hand-washing, and staying home when you feel sick. We also want to clarify that we are asking families to conduct temperature and health checks on students BEFORE leaving for school each day. If a fever or illness is suspected, please keep that student home and contact our school nurse Janice Morello and your primary care physician. We are asking our entire community to err on the side of caution with any flu-like symptoms and stay home until medical professionals deem it safe to return. When a quarantine is necessary, your child can continue classes via remote learning.

Travel is another factor to consider, particularly in the two weeks before staff, students, and families arrive on campus. While it is not within our purview to dictate travel limitations to families or staff, we ask you to heed travel warnings and restrictions imposed by local, state, or federal authorities and the CDC. If you are considering travel, please check for the most up to date information. As a school, we cannot be the enforcers of best practices off-campus. We do, however, expect that if you want your student to learn on-campus, you will consistently observe the best practices recommended by the CDC. 

Prioritizing the health and safety of our community requires collective effort. Our students and our staff thrive when they are safe, secure, known, and cared for. During this challenging time, I am confident that we will be united in our dedication to the practices aimed at keeping all of our community healthy and safe. If you have any specific questions or concerns relating to your family's situation, please feel free to reach out to our Division Heads Beth Beckmann (Lower & Middle School) and Rebecca Gratz (Upper School). We will provide another update for you next week. In the meantime, I hope that you all have a great weekend.  

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying time with family. I recognize that we are all anxious about the start of school later this month and hope that these weekly updates will help you and your family prepare. In this week's letter, I want to share information regarding the start of school, update you about fall athletics, and invite you to participate in an upcoming online meeting. 

Back to School

Given the changing landscape around COVID-19, we continue to prepare for the possibility of an on-campus or a remote learning environment for the fall of 2020. In either case, we have a plan in place for the next month that is focused around four items: 

1. Collective Responsibility for Health & Safety: As a community, we must take shared and collective responsibility for the health and safety of all members, which begins before we open our doors. As outlined in our previous letter, we continue to monitor infection rates and local government advisories in our area to inform our decision making. We will continue this important preparation and ask for your cooperation as the start of the school year approaches. When we return to campus, health and safety protocols will be in place to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 infection and spread. Protecting both yourself and those around you this month will allow us all to be active participants as we start this school year. Wear a mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands regularly. Stay home when you are sick. If you must travel out of state, please be aware that Massachusetts has implemented a new statewide travel order that will require individuals to quarantine for 14 days if you visit certain areas of the country. You can expect that we will abide by these same rules when we are on campus.
2. Faculty Preparing for Engaged Learning: For the two week period prior to our opening on August 31, our teachers will be working together to exchange and share ideas, fine-tune their lesson plans and curriculum, and connect with one another in thoughtful conversation. In order to minimize contact, their collaborative work will largely be done remotely. Our faculty have also participated in many additional professional development opportunities this summer. The most popular summer programs were related to anti-racism training and improving the on-line learning experience for students. They are preparing for a robust year of learning and will be ready to support and care for your children when school begins.  
3. Empowering Personal Relationships Through Orientation Activities: Based on the current health data coupled with our health and safety protocols, we are optimistic that our school year can begin the week of August 31 with on-campus orientation activities for all students. The first two weeks of the school year are both 4-day weeks (on both Friday, September 4 and Monday, September 7 school will be closed for Labor Day weekend). We will utilize these short weeks to make personal connections and adjust to being together (albeit socially distant) after six months away from campus. Given the truly unprecedented spring semester our students and teachers persevered through, it will be critically important for everyone to have time to readjust and reconnect through these grade-level activities primarily centered around building community.
4. Ensuring Stability With A Consistent Daily Schedule: The daily school schedule for each division will provide meaningful learning and engagement five days each week and will follow the same structure regardless of where we are learning. This stability of schedule and consistency of the school-day experience is an important element of our planning, allowing us to shift between learning environments with relative ease. Unlike larger school systems, the combination of our creative schedule, small school size, and abundant facilities will allow us to all be on campus while limiting contact and exposure. The schedules are being finalized this week and will be shared by our division heads Beth Beckmann (Lower & Middle School Head) and Rebecca Gratz (Upper School Head) next week.  

Athletics

Bancroft student-athletes compete in the Eastern Independent League (EIL) and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). Both of these governing organizations recently cancelled competitions and championships for the fall season. As a result of these announcements, Bancroft will not participate in interscholastic competition with other schools at either the Upper or Middle School levels for the fall season. Tracy Jones, Director of Athletics, is working with the fall coaches to develop plans for team training and activities, whether we are learning on campus or remotely. 

Parent / Guardian Online Meeting

As with our recent survey, hearing from you throughout this process is essential, and I realize you likely have questions as they relate to reopening. Please sign up for a division-specific Zoom meeting and submit questions on the registration form to help us get a sense of what topics might be helpful to cover. 

Upper School (grades 9-12): 

Tuesday, August 11 - 6:00 to 6:45 PM

Middle School (grades 6-8):

Wednesday, August 12 - 6:00 to 6:45 PM

Lower School (grades PreK-5):

Thursday, August 13 - 6:00 to 6:45 PM

SIGN UP HERE

An Evolving Dynamic

As you can see, there are many variables involved in the reopening of school. I understand that this has been a time of uncertainty and change for everyone. I am also sensitive to the impact on family plans that can occur as the evolving dynamic of the pandemic forces the school to adapt. Bancroft school leaders and I are doing all that we can to minimize this disruption, while mitigating health risks and preparing to provide a meaningful educational experience. Success requires everyone to be vigilant to the needs of protecting our community. We also must be flexible in adjusting to changing circumstances as the pandemic evolves and new information becomes available. 

We will continue to provide weekly updates to keep you informed. In the face of this great challenge, I am confident in the dedication of everyone in the Bancroft community to work together to make this a successful and productive year. 

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

PS. If you need to access any of our previous correspondence around reopening or our COVID-19 response, please visit our webpage. 

Dear Bancroft Community,

First, I want to thank you all for your thoughtful responses in our recent reopening survey. The results have been incredibly helpful in informing our planning and I am grateful for your candor and willingness to participate. Two points of emphasis that became clear are that:

1. Creating a safe and healthy environment for our entire community is paramount.
2. Our community is looking forward to the powerful and robust education, socialization, community, and developmental growth that the new school year will bring.  

In addition to this important feedback, we have continued to stay updated on the latest developments and guidelines from state and local government, regional educational organizations, and public health advisories. Risk Reduction Strategies for Reopening Schools, a document recently created by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is guiding our plan for creating a safe and healthy environment. 

Based on current research coupled with our health and safety protocols, we believe that we can responsibly reopen in-person learning on campus this fall. Other Bancroft-specific factors including our small population size, spacious campus layout, and abundant outdoor spaces provide us with confidence to be able to offer an in-person experience. However, with local health trends fluctuating in recent days, and increasing anxiety across the country about reopening schools, it is premature for us to make any final decisions at this time. Regardless of when we ultimately reopen campus, we plan to begin school activities on August 31. 

For the next month, we will provide weekly updates about our reopening plans to help you stay connected and informed. Today's letter is designed to explain our health and safety measures related to our buildings, classrooms, and policies. More details about our school calendar and schedule, and school activities will be provided in our next update.

Fall 2020: Health & Safety Protocols for Healthy Buildings, Classrooms, and Policies  

In order to lower the risk of viral transmission on campus whenever we return, we will implement a layered approach to our protocols, with each step reinforcing the others. A disciplined adherence to these expectations from everyone will help us once back on campus and allow us to be ready to quickly respond should changes and/or adjustment be necessary.  

Limit Contact & Exposure: Each division will operate independently with its own teachers, spaces, and schedules to minimize contact between them. Students will be taught in small cohorts and will be limited in any exposure or close contact with other students or adults. This will be implemented slightly differently depending on division, and more specific information will be provided in the weeks ahead. In order to reinforce the bubble around all of us, we will not host any gatherings or events, or conduct field trips.  Campus visitors, including parents, will be strictly limited.  

Physical Distancing: 6 feet of distance between individuals will be the expected norm throughout campus. Our class sizes will be based on this standard in every building and we have arranged seating in classrooms to enforce this expectation. We have repurposed many large gathering locations into classrooms to accommodate the space needed to maintain this standard. The renovations of the Upper School building will provide larger classrooms to accommodate Upper School classes. We will also make use of our spacious campus, including our field house, which has been taken offline to the public. Outdoor space will also be utilized whenever we can. Lunch service will be adjusted, as our dining hall layout does not allow for appropriate physical distancing when the division eats together. 

Masks: Students, faculty, and staff will be required to wear face masks when inside school buildings, including hallways and bathrooms. We will build in frequent times throughout the day where students and staff can go outside and remove their masks with physical distancing in place. Mask breaks and opportunities for movement will be important elements of our healthy environment for learning and social connection.  

Clean/Optimal Campus: We understand the critical importance of maintaining clean facilities and are implementing the following measures:

• Classrooms and facilities cleaned and disinfected daily
• Bathrooms cleaned and disinfected multiple times each day
• New HVAC units for optimal ventilation in all renovated classrooms
• Upgrades to all HVAC units for optimal ventilation in all current classrooms (utilizing a higher percentage of fresh outside air and high grade MERV 13 filters)
• Hand sanitizing stations at all points of entry to campus
• Hand sanitizing and/or hand-washing in all classrooms with visible reminders for consistent use throughout campus
• Installation of 75 new hands-free faucets in classrooms and restrooms
• Removal of water bubblers and installation of hands free water bottle filling stations

COVID-19: Despite the measures we take, COVID-19 could find its way into the Bancroft community at some point. If any member of our community shows signs or symptoms while not on campus, we will require that they stay home. If anyone shows signs or symptoms that cause concern while on campus, they will be isolated until they can be safely taken home and to a doctor for followup. If a positive case is confirmed with anyone who has spent time on campus, it may be necessary to shift to remote learning in a given cohort or division. Our goal with our plan is to limit exposure so that in the event of a positive case, we won't necessarily need to move the entire school to remote learning. 

Given the constantly changing nature of the pandemic, it is important that we allow ourselves the flexibility to adjust our plans accordingly. Your patience, cooperation, and understanding throughout this process has been critical. We must continue to rely on each other and our collective ability to handle the adversity and challenges that lie ahead. As we continue to adapt, evolve, and fine-tune our reopening plan, we will keep in close contact with you and provide more updated and specific information in our weekly updates. 

Best,

Trey

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

With an unprecedented spring semester behind us and a summer unlike any other well underway, our administrative team is working hard on planning for the new challenge awaiting our community in September. I am writing today to provide an update on our thought process and priorities as we continue to plan for the Fall 2020 semester, as well as to outline the possible scenarios that we will likely encounter. While we most definitely will be collectively challenged as a community, I know that if we continue to work together and keep the care and education of our amazing students as our priority, we will have a great school year.

Bancroft is built on the ability of our talented faculty to create a journey to mastery and independence for each student. We certainly know that our campus makes this type of learning easier and we sincerely hope that our students will be able to return this fall. We also quickly learned this spring that we can provide a robust experience remotely. While circumstances beyond our control may dictate how and when we return to school, we can and must be prepared for whatever those circumstances demand. In the coming days, we will be asking you to complete a short survey that will help inform our planning. This survey will provide critical information as we work to craft more specifics within our reopening plan.

No matter when we eventually return to campus, we will certainly need to institute new health and safety protocols. We may also need to filter groups onto campus in stages over time, and we will likely need to adjust schedules accordingly. These logistical shifts won't be simple to navigate, but I am glad to have a thoughtful and committed team to help us navigate these uncharted waters as we move forward with planning over the next two months. While the 2020-21 school year will not be "normal," we are committed to providing Bancroft students and families with the personal care, robust education, and engaging community to which you are accustomed. 

Our Priorities:

Here are the broad points of emphasis that will guide our reopening. 

1. Provide a physically and emotionally safe and equitable learning environment for all students, faculty, and staff
2. Provide the high standard of innovative teaching and active learning that Bancroft is known for.
3. Foster an energized and engaged community for all students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni.

Reopening Scenarios / Models:

Here are the three scenarios or models for which we are planning.

1. In-person learning with new safety requirements: In this model, students would return to in-person learning at Bancroft. The campus and the schedule would be appropriately modified to accommodate the new health and safety requirements that will likely include the use of masks, social distancing, regular hand washing and sanitizing, small group cohorts, re-configured classrooms with capacity limits, and elimination of large group gatherings and events. Protocols will also be put in place for students or faculty / staff who show signs of flu-like symptoms either at home or at school.
2. Hybrid learning: A hybrid model means that students would alternate between in-person and remote learning. For instance, students could switch between in-person and remote learning on alternating weeks or days of the week. The standard new safety requirements outlined in Model 1 would also apply to this model when on campus. This model could also be utilized if a spike of COVID-19 cases in our area forces our school to temporarily shut down or limits building capacity numbers.
3. Alternative learning: This model is designed for operating a remote learning program where students and faculty hold classes completely virtually. This model must be available for all students in the event of future classroom or school closure due to COVID-19. Our experience in the spring has provided us with a framework moving forward should circumstances dictate a return to an all-remote model. Our teachers and staff would use this experience to fine-tune the approach to ensure an effective and engaging remote learning plan for all students.

I realize there are still many unanswered questions and much more work ahead. As we continue to plan for the future, we expect to receive additional information and guidance from the Governor's office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Your continued partnership, patience, and flexibility will be essential for our successful return to school. We will continue to keep an open dialogue throughout the summer. You will receive a division specific email shortly from either Beth Beckmann (Lower and Middle School Head) or Rebecca Gratz (Upper School Head) with additional information pertaining to your student(s). This will be followed by our survey sometime next week. In the meantime, we hope you are finding time to relax and enjoy your summer with family. 

Best,

Trey 

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community, 

As our time in alternative learning has progressed, our faculty, students, and families have continued to find creative ways to engage in active learning, give back to those around us in need, and celebrate each other. While the impact of COVID-19 has prevented our return to campus, it has also provided us with a unique opportunity to double down on our values and showcase why there is no better place to work or go to school than right here at Bancroft. 

Our administrative team has carefully designed a calendar and schedule to provide flexibility and stability for students, teachers, and families. As I noted in my last letter, classes will continue to be held from Monday through Thursday, with Fridays reserved for valuable professional development for our faculty. Our campus will remain closed until at least June 5. Administrative staff and teaching faculty will continue to work remotely during this timeframe, and we expect to provide further guidance on how long campus will remain closed later this month. 

While we will continue to do all we can to fulfill our mission and support our community members, Bancroft has not been immune to the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19. It appears likely that the health and economic consequences of the pandemic will continue through next year. Therefore, we are taking a cautious financial approach to best position the school for the challenges ahead.

The School's budget uncertainty for the coming academic year flows from COVID-19-related challenges, which may dampen enrollment as our community's need for tuition assistance grows. We also expect to incur additional costs to safely re-open the campus, plan for and support social distancing within the School, and ensure even more robust remote learning should additional physical closures be required. Our business office team is working hard to manage expenditures for the remainder of the current fiscal year and plan appropriately for next fiscal year, so we can fulfill our commitments to students and employees for the long term.

Thank you to the many families who participated in our recent survey in partnership with ISM. The results speak to your experience, as 82% of respondents gave us an 'A' and 13% gave us a 'B' for our overall response to COVID-19. While we are grateful for your endorsement of our efforts, we are also committed to doing even more to stay engaged with you.

I would like to provide some updates and answers to questions you may have as the academic year winds down.

FINANCIAL RELIEF FOR FAMILIES IN NEED

This unprecedented situation has profoundly impacted our economy and caused unforeseen financial burdens for many families in Massachusetts and across the country. Closed businesses, reduced income, and job loss have been far too common, and the Bancroft community is no exception. Our goal is to do everything within our power to support our families through these tough times and ensure they are able to remain part of our School community. To ease the burden on families who are suffering financial hardship, the Board of Trustees has authorized changes in our usual business practices to:

Suspend late fee charges for all current accounts through the end of June

• Suspend late fee charges for all current accounts through the end of June
• Defer first payment toward next year's tuition until July
• Alter the pace of payment plans to allow more time to pay next year's tuition
• Offer a process for immediate financial assistance requests arising out of COVID-19

For additional information on the application process for emergency financial relief, please contact Director of Admission and Financial Aid Sean Ganas by May 22nd. 

As we prepare to return pre-paid fees to families for lunch and aftercare programming for March, April, and May, you will be presented with options as to how those funds can be distributed. The following choices will be made available to you in a communication from the business office:

• Credit your account for this year or next year
• Have a refund check sent directly to your home
• Donate the money to the OneBancroft Fund (see below)

STRONGER TOGETHER

Just as many in our community are struggling, others are reaching out and asking, "How can I help?" To support our community, our families, and our School through this difficult time, we are establishing the OneBancroft Fund. Donations to the Fund will assist Bancroft families in need by allowing increased financial aid. Several generous friends of the School have already stepped forward with gifts, and we hope, if you are able, that you will join them. 

BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY

Prospective families continue to demonstrate a strong interest in Bancroft. They are recognizing the value of Bancroft's strong community and individualized approach to teaching and learning, particularly in these unprecedented times. We need your continued help welcoming these families into our community and in spreading the word to others in your neighborhoods who could thrive here. May 12 we will host a virtual open house. Please help us get the word out as we host an outstanding experience for these families. 

CARING FOR EMPLOYEES

Bancroft faculty and staff are the backbone of our school and have been tremendous in their perseverance through these uniquely challenging circumstances. We have invested a lot to hire, develop, and retain a very talented and dedicated faculty and staff, who create a special community. We are committed to compensating our employees, including our hourly staff, throughout this year and into the next school year. Bancroft School employs over 120 people who have continued to provide much-needed services throughout this pandemic. In order to support our employees, we applied for and were approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government. This program provides low-cost loan funds to be used by businesses like ours to continue to pay employees during the COVID-19 impact.

CAMPUS ENHANCEMENT

Last year we refinanced the school's bond debt. This helped to reduce our annual payments, consolidated loans, and made additional capital money available exclusively for much-needed campus enhancement projects. A substantial campus-wide safety and security upgrade is being completed — new cameras, doors, fire alarm system, and door lock system are coming online shortly. In addition, we have been upgrading classrooms and public spaces in the Upper School and expect to continue this work over the summer. 

Our attention is focused on those upgrades that will enhance our ability to provide social distancing and appropriate resources for all of our students and faculty when they return to campus. It feels a little odd to be spending money now, but the truth is we need to consider how best to prepare for a return to campus with social distancing in place, update our campus technology infrastructure, and position our school to move into the future with strength. 

THANK YOU

As things have become increasingly disrupted in the world around us, I am reminded daily of how fortunate my family and I are to be a part of this school. The entire Bancroft community continues to be there for each other and step up to challenges for the betterment of our amazing students. As we all buckle down and finish the semester strong, our administrative team and I will continue to communicate updates as we have them. Your partnership means everything to us. Let's continue our extraordinary teamwork. 

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

The past month has challenged us all in many different ways. Between social distancing, adapting to our alternative learning platform, and balancing professional lives with caring for ourselves and loved ones at home, there is no downplaying the strain that COVID-19 has put on all of us. One of the more challenging parts about all of this has been the uncertainty of not knowing what the full extent of this pandemic will be or when it will come to an end. While I cannot answer all of the big questions, I hope this letter will provide more clarity about the remainder of this school year.

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING EXTENDED

As you likely have heard, Governor Charlie Baker announced today that schools in Massachusetts are to remain closed through the end of the school year. Bancroft will continue with our current alternative learning platform through the end of the academic year. We will continue to offer academic programming four days each week, with Fridays reserved for faculty professional development as they manage learning in this new environment. While we would all prefer that circumstances allow a return to in-person school, we know it is in the best interest of our community's health and safety to do our part in slowing the spread and effect of COVID-19. 

CEREMONIES AND CELEBRATIONS

Even though we cannot assemble as usual, we still want to honor the good work of our students and faculty and celebrate their many accomplishments. To this end, we have begun to reimagine in-person events and year-end activities—all our major spring community events and award presentations—with the goal of making them as special and meaningful as we can. Although we continue to develop the details, be assured that we are committed to hosting virtual closing ceremonies for Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools during the week of June 1-5. Detailed information on these ceremonies will be provided in the weeks ahead.

CLASS OF 2020

While our extended time away from campus certainly will have an impact on our entire community, our talented and deserving class of 2020 will undoubtedly be feeling the loss uniquely. Unfortunately, they will miss out on many of the traditional once-in-a-lifetime rites of passage that culminate a high school career. Our seniors have worked tirelessly during their time in our Upper School accomplishing personal milestones in the classroom, on stage, on playing fields, and in the community. While nothing can take the place of spending the final semester with friends on Shore Drive, we are committed to working side by side with these students to create memorable moments as best we can. Upper School Head Lisa Baker and Dean of Students Robin Silverman will be working directly with faculty, staff, and students to ensure our seniors get the recognition and praise they deserve. In addition to something on June 5, we are already considering the idea of a postponed, in-person graduation ceremony for our seniors, but it is too early to commit to a specific date right now.

LOOKING AHEAD: INVESTED COMMUNITY

Our faculty and staff will continue to work collectively and collaboratively to provide the highest quality academic programs via our new learning platform. Our teachers have been tremendous in their adaptation to using technology and designing engaging learning environments for all students. They have utilized professional development days on Fridays to collaborate and hone their lessons and will continue this practice through the end of the school year. 

We are grateful to our families for all of the input they have provided as the new learning platform has rolled out. Working together, we will continue to grow even stronger. Please keep communicating with us, and know that in addition to communicating through email and the portal, teachers are readily available to speak to students, parents, or guardians. 

We also recognize the financial implications of this pandemic for many families. If the COVID-19 crisis has caused changes in your family financial situation, we are here to work with you. Director of Admission and Financial Aid Sean Ganas is available to speak with families about their financial aid needs. Sean can be reached at admission@bancroftschool.org.

While we continue to trend towards a healthy enrollment for the 2020/21 school year, Bancroft is not immune to the economic downturn brought about by this disruption. We are planning as carefully as we can, and we have been especially grateful to those of you who have reached out to assist the Bancroft Fund in this challenging economic time.

I am working closely with our business office and Board of Trustees to conduct a thorough financial analysis of our budget for the rest of this year and next year. In the midst of planning for next year, we have already taken the following actions with respect to the remainder of this year and the summer.

• We have already begun providing fee refunds for school lunches, transportation, and aftercare. 
• We are committed to paying our employees throughout this school year, including supporting our hourly employees whose work schedules have changed due to the campus closure. 
• We are also planning for summer programming, creating several alternative scenarios for summer learning, summer camp activities, and the Worcester Partnership program. We will make further decisions and announcements about these programs in the next several weeks.

THANK YOU

In true Bancroft fashion and in the spirit of resiliency and hope, our community has made the most of this trying time. Teachers have rededicated themselves to provide a substantive learning experience filled with innovation, active learning, and creativity. Students have persevered to own their learning from home. Parents and guardians have partnered with us to ensure the success of our new learning environment while also managing their own personal and professional changes. We have all shown what it means to be a Bulldog. For that, I thank you.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

As we wrap up our second week of alternative learning, I am impressed with--but not surprised by--our school's ability to adjust. Everyone has faced our new reality head-on and with a positive, can-do spirit. While we have identified areas for improvement, I have seen many more success stories of our expanded learning laboratory and meaningful work all across our virtual campus. I am writing today to provide a review of the last several weeks and some clarity to other important areas as we move forward. 

Designing the Learning Environment
Faculty have been working incredibly hard to pivot to a new teaching platform while still providing a meaningful and engaging academic experience. As a school, we made a conscious decision to shorten classes to create a healthy mix of independent and collaborative work and not overwhelm students with "screen time." Teachers are balancing the synchronous and asynchronous workload so students can manage these expectations alongside the other realities of their home and personal lives. They continue to collaborate with each other to troubleshoot technology, discuss best practices, and share ideas around their experiences. We have also made ourselves readily available to students and parents and will continue to be flexible and sensitive to individual household and student needs. It is imperative that both our students and faculty be able to detach from school life at certain points of the day and be particularly mindful of our physical, mental, and emotional well-being during this unprecedented time. Remember that we are all in this together and here to support one another.

Launching the Health and Wellness Portal
I am very excited to share that, thanks to the good work of our Physical Education and Athletic Department, school counselor, and school nurses, we are launching our Health & Wellness portal. This team is here to help provide us all with resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle as we are restricted to our homes. Everything from family exercise activities to healthy eating are covered. Our faculty have been encouraged to integrate these initiatives into their active learning where possible and I encourage each family to utilize the great work of our Health & Wellness team. It is available to everyone within the Bancroft portal. You can expect to hear from a member of this team in the coming weeks as I have asked them to check up on every family to see how you are doing.

Supporting Social and Emotional Development
Students have picked up right where they left off before spring break, taking ownership of their community and developing new and creative ways to engage. Teachers have commented on their resilience in their new classroom environment. Students have been staying in Zoom meetings after classes to communicate and interact with each other. They also continue to think of others during this challenging time, and many student-driven initiatives to serve others around Worcester are being developed. It is comforting to know that our students have not forgotten what is truly important and maintained their commitment to our school's values. Keep an eye out for updates on the student kindness initiatives, including one emerging now from our Lower School.

Fostering Family Connections
Our parents and guardians have also shown their resilience, both in their flexibility around our new learning and communication platform and in their support of one another. This includes the fantastic work of our PFA leadership with their individual family outreach and partnership with our division heads to organize meetups and other gatherings. These meetings will continue as a place for updates, questions, and interactions. I invite Bancroft parents and guardians to join our newly established private Bancroft Parent / Guardian Facebook group to share ideas on quarantine related activities, recipes, books, or any other topics of interest. We've already seen some great dialogue and activity, and I hope you will take advantage of this important network.

Taking Action
Our community has not been immune to the impact of this pandemic. Many of us have connections to health care professionals on the front lines or know individuals who have contracted the virus. Others have been impacted financially as businesses have been idled. It is important that we support one another when possible. Whether it is finding a way to support local nonprofits like the Worcester County Food Bank or our friends at Nativity School, or continuing to practice social distancing and hygiene to protect our loved ones and health care workers, we hope you will do your part in taking care of each other where you are able.

Looking Ahead
There are still many uncertainties as we look ahead to the coming days, weeks, and months. Our administrative team continues to meet regularly to plan and make informed decisions as circumstances develop and unfold. We are also taking into consideration financial implications for families and our employees, rethinking spring school events, and our own timeline for admissions activities and school calendar. My commitment to you is that we will not shy away from these conversations and decisions. Instead, we will continue to be transparent, collaborative, and work in the best interest of our students and school. 

As things currently stand, we are scheduled to be back on campus on May 4. We are, however, internally preparing for the possibility for a more prolonged time away from campus should it become a reality. In either case, our academic school year will formally end on Friday, June 5. 

Thank You
Thank you again for your resolve and partnership in this dynamic and uncertain time. The last several weeks have shown the strength of our community. I look forward to seeing even more examples of great work and perseverance from the engaged citizens of Bancroft.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Upper School Families,  

We hope this finds you all safe and well. As we begin our remote learning journey together, we acknowledge that  this is new and uncharted territory. We continue to use "what is best for students?" as our guiding question in everything that we do.  We know that children thrive when they feel supported and when they have clear expectations for protocols and behavior. With this in mind, we wanted to provide some clarifying points about procedures in the coming days.  It is critical that students check their emails and their Portals throughout the day. They should start this evening if they have not already. 

How will synchronous meetings be held and scheduled?

• Classes, advisory, and other meetings on campus (e.g. class meetings), will be scheduled using Zoom and Google Meet.  Students will find information and links to these meetings on their student Portals. 
• There is no need to sign up for any sort of account to access any of our virtual spaces. Clicking on the links to the meetings is all that is necessary.  
• We suggest that students start the process of logging into their classes/meetings a few minutes ahead of the start times so that they are able to work out any technological issues, if necessary. 
• Students should also be prepared with any supplies needed for each class so that teachers and advisors can make the most of the synchronous time that they have with the students.   
• If students have any questions about how or when to access a class, they should reach out directly to their teachers or advisor.

When will advisories meet?

• Our Advisors remain the primary sources of support for the students.  As such, we have scheduled three synchronous advisory meetings during this first full 7-day rotation: Wednesday, 4/1 at 8:30 am, Tuesday, 4/7 at 11:45 am, and Thursday, 4/9 at 8:30 am. 
• Advisors will be in touch with their advisory groups with the links to those meetings.  
• In addition, advisors will be available remotely from 8:30-9:00 a.m on all of the other mornings during this week and next. 

What about free periods or study halls?

• During our period of remote learning, we will be cancelling all study halls. 
• If a student has a free period/study hall scheduled during any one of the four class periods in a given letter day, they do not need to check in with anyone; if that free period is the first block of any day, they do not need to "sign-in" with the Upper School office (by emailing usattendance@bancroftschool.org) as they would if we were on campus.  
• Students are only responsible to be present online for classes and/or scheduled meetings. 
• If students had a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher, please reach out to that teacher to verify a time for the meeting.  

What are the ground rules for remote learning?

• While our Upper School Code of Conduct, including the Acceptable Use Policy,  will apply in our virtual learning environment, we have written additional ground rules to help students and teachers create and maintain productive learning.  Please review these guidelines carefully and feel free to reach out with any questions.
• Please contact usattendance@bancroftschool.org if a student cannot participate on any given day. 

We remain committed to supporting our students and families to the best of our abilities and are confident in the strength of this community to rise to meet this new challenge.  Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, thoughts, or concerns. 

All the best,

Lisa Baker

Upper School Head

Robin Silverman

Dean of Students

Lisa Baker would like to invite you to a parent Q&A about the remote learning process.

Please join her on Tuesday 3/31 from 5:00-5:45pm, or Thursday 4/2 from 9:30-10:00am, using the below Zoom link.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2055674533?pwd=emFzRUVWMmZGUlBpR3o4NmxlekVUQT09

Meeting ID: 205 567 4533
Password: Spike

Dear Upper School Community,

I hope this message finds you well. The last two weeks have been a bit surreal for all of us. I greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the ongoing process of shifting to a remote learning environment that retains our Bancroft signature. Trey's message yesterday outlined our schedule for April in terms of days of school as well as our larger educational goals. It also provided an FAQ page with helpful information as we make this transition. This message is intended to provide you with more detail about how we are going to roll out our Upper School program.  

Synchronous & Asynchronous Learning

We are committed to Bancroft's mission and to our students' growth and progress. We also acknowledge that remote learning is a different structure than our usual approach to school and may need some explanation. There will be times that we will meet with students in a "synchronous" environment which will require students to access a "classroom space" through Zoom or Google Meet at a specific time. Other learning and work will be done "asynchronously" or in other words, in the student's own time and space. This may mean that students are engaging in discussion boards, reading text on their own, working with peers, accessing screencasts and videos, etc. 

We expect that synchronous classes will meet for between 15 and 45 minutes in a given letter day depending on the goal for that day. Asynchronous work will occur between meeting dates and will be approximately 30-60 minutes depending on the workload required during the synchronous meeting time. Remote learning does not distinguish between "classwork" and "homework;" rather, the focus is on learning time overall. In a given rotation, students can expect to have approximately five hours of total work for each four-block class.   

Specific directions and expectations will be shared by individual teachers through the Portal or Google Classroom. Weekly assignments will continue to be posted in the Portal in advance. Student learning will continue to be assessed.

Daily Schedule

Teachers will be available for one-on-one conferences/help sessions depending on students' needs. Teachers may hold these sessions later in the day.

AP Exams 

College Board has made significant changes in expectations for classes as well as testing methods. Here is a link to the most recent information. Actual testing dates have yet to be determined; however, there are shifts in terms of content requirements as well as tests being administered at home through personal computers.  

Class of 2020

Class of 2020, I am so sorry this is happening to you in your senior spring. I wish we could return you to a more normal experience. What I can tell you is that this move to remote learning will not change your graduation status. Please do not worry about "credits"—just keep learning and leading. We are going to do all we can to hold on to end of year events that celebrate you and your accomplishments.  

We had expected our senior class to launch their co-op projects starting April 27. Mark Taylor has reached out to all of our co-op partners. They have been highly complementary of Bancroft students and are interested in helping us to find ways to maintain our seniors' connection with our community. However, it is not realistic to be able to provide the same experience as we have had in past years. Additionally, we are not yet ready to let our senior class go. We need to have the seniors back with us in May. Although the AP exam schedule could affect our timing slightly, I expect seniors will continue in their regular class schedule until May 15. We would use the last two weeks of May to create several different choices for students to engage with our community and to participate in transitional activities as they move on to their college lives.  

Attendance and Communication
We will continue to take "attendance" in classes. If your student is unable to attend classes, please send a message to US Attendance (usattendance@bancroftschool.org) as usual. 

Advisors will be reaching out to their students by Tuesday to do a quick check-in. We understand that there are new stressors and responsibilities at home that may not always line up with our school schedule. This is normal and to be expected. You are not alone. We will get through this together and our students will stay at the center of all of our work.

We need to keep lines of communication open now more than ever. Please do not hesitate to reach out by email or phone. We can all retrieve voicemails remotely. Robin Silverman and I will be setting up the first of a series of  "Coffee Talks" on Tuesday, March 31. I hope to see you there!

All the best,

Lisa

Lisa Baker

Upper School Head

Dear Middle School Families,

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. As at the end of any long school break, the teachers and I are eager to connect back with you and your children. We have all been working throughout break to educate ourselves about distance learning, to plan what learning will look like for the students, and to find ways to support you in this process. I hope you have been able to read the letter that Trey sent last night, especially the FAQ. 

We are not expecting you to homeschool your children. Under any circumstances, parenting pre-adolescents is a big job. Supporting their social and emotional needs at this time adds to your responsibilities. While you may have to do some supervision, especially around attention to the schedule, our teachers will handle the classwork with them. If your child cannot participate on a given day we do ask that you email attendance (msattendance@bancroftschool.org) as you would ordinarily do.

We are keeping the same daily schedule with some slight modifications. Our morning activity/clubs time will be a break and all classes will be an hour long.  All classes, with exception of physical education, will meet during the normal time slots on our seven day rotation. Classes will include around 20-30 minutes of direct instruction by the teacher using a video platform, or other direct teaching model, allowing the rest of the time to be spent on the assignment. Teachers will be available during the entire class time and we are expecting that students will complete their work during the scheduled class time and will not have additional homework. Our physical education staff and School Nurse Janice Morello are working on an all-school health and wellness plan. 

Families with children in our Hope Graham Program will also be hearing from Matt Ganas early next week regarding specific scheduling and programming details. 

It is important that we work to maintain a sense of community during this time of remote learning. Advisors will continue to be the primary contacts for your children and will be checking in with them daily during half time. We will also be looking at ways we can connect as a middle school community. 

The teachers will be working Monday and Tuesday to work through more details. They will continue to use Google Classroom to conduct lessons, which students are familiar with. We will be sending out information soon about any additional platforms we might use.

Thank you for your support and continued partnership as we navigate this different learning path for your children. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have as we go forward.

Beth

Beth Beckmann

Lower / Middle School Head

Dear Lower School Families,

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. As at the end of any long school break, the teachers and I are eager to connect back with you and your children. We have all been working throughout break to educate ourselves about distance learning, to plan what learning will look like for the children, and to find ways to support you in this process. I hope you have been able to read the letter that Trey sent last night, especially the FAQ. 

As your household is adjusting to handling your own responsibilities along with your children, we recognize that your primary job is helping them with their own social and emotional growth. I was chatting (via FaceTime) with my second grade granddaughter last night and she asked me if I was scared about the virus. She then admitted she was a little scared which we talked through. I suspect you are having similar conversations with your children. These conversations are helpful for everyone.

We are not expecting you to homeschool your children. You will undoubtedly have to supervise a bit, but if there are questions or frustrations about the work, please get in contact with your child's teacher. If your child cannot participate on a given day we do ask that you email lsattendance@bancroftschool.org and the classroom teacher as you would ordinarily do.

While we will be finalizing more details on Monday and Tuesday, what we envision is a morning of work for your children. Some will be done directly with the teacher via a video platform and some will be independent. As you know, the teachers sent home packets with two weeks of work to get started. You will be hearing from your classroom teacher on Tuesday with more detail including class schedule and expectations. The children will also have their "specials" as part of their regular classroom learning. 

Families with children in our Hope Graham Program will also be hearing from Matt Ganas early next week regarding specific scheduling and programming details. 

It is important that we work to maintain a sense of community during this time of remote learning. There will be special spirit days, perhaps times when the classes eat lunch together with the teachers, and even a version of Friday Share. We want you and your children to feel connected to us and each other.

More details will be coming next week including how to access the video platforms. Thank you for your support and continued partnership as we navigate this different learning path for your children. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have as we go forward.

Beth

Beth Beckmann

Lower / Middle School Head

Dear Bancroft Community,

I hope this email finds you and your family safe and well. As we wind down our spring break, we are faced with the reality of our move to an alternative learning platform. I am writing today to provide a bit more information about this transition and to update you on the great work that our faculty and staff have been doing behind the scenes to ensure we continue to engage our students in meaningful ways. 

Our faculty, staff, and administrators choose to work at Bancroft because we believe in a mission to serve, mentor, and educate dedicated and passionate students. We also believe in our students' ability to take ownership of their learning as citizens in a complex global community. While COVID-19 will temporarily take away our opportunity to be with one another physically, we will not allow it to break our spirit or change our focus on what matters most.

This situation will require flexibility and patience from all of us. Bancroft has never been a place where we shy away from a difficult situation or a challenge. What has always defined our school is a caring community that picks each other up in times of need. We will all do our best to move forward together.

LEARNING GOALS

• A Focus on Active Learning
• Building Skills for Progress
• Honoring Student Voice & Choice
• Encouraging Inquiry & Creativity 
• Preparing Students for The Future

Our academic leaders have been working over the past two weeks to design an environment for student learning and engagement in the midst of this public health emergency. Division Heads Beth Beckmann and Lisa Baker, Director of Community Engagement Mark Taylor, Hope Graham and Learning Support Director Matt Ganas, and Auxiliary Programs Director Carrie Whitney have aligned these goals with our school's mission to inspire the work of our faculty. 

Our platform has been tailored to meet the needs of each division, and each student will have a developmentally appropriate educational experience. Our teachers will be utilizing e-mail, the student portal, Google tools (Hangout and Classroom) and Zoom to interact and facilitate lessons. These are tools that students will be familiar with as they have been part of the curriculum already. During the first few days of classes we will be practicing and training students  about how to access these resources and optimize their access during this time. Parents looking for advice on supporting students during this time can find helpful information here.   

SCHEDULE

Classes will begin on Wednesday, April 1 which we have designated as an A Day in our rotational schedule, and continue until Thursday, April 9. We will hold professional development days for faculty on Fridays to provide time for curriculum development and reflection on lessons learned. The full schedule is provided below. Please note that Patriots' Day (Monday, April 20) is a holiday and no classes will be held. 

Division specific schedules with times for classes and other activities will be sent from Lisa Baker and Beth Beckmann to families in preparation for the start of school on Wednesday, April 1.

We have consciously created divisional schedules that will allow time for the things that are critically important and unique to our school. Advisories, health & wellness activities, Hope Graham tutoring, and time throughout the day to work with other students or directly with faculty are all built in and will supplement class time.

We understand the unique situation many parents now find themselves in working from home and we will work with families on the need for flexibility. Whenever possible, classes and lessons will be recorded and made available for students that aren't able to attend. Please know, students will not be staring at their computers all day. We are adjusting classes to create a balance of screen time and periods away to do impactful work in other ways. 

Two full days of professional development on Monday and Tuesday of next week are currently being planned for faculty that will include technical training from our IT partner Ounce IT as well as time for curriculum planning. Division heads have already had preliminary meetings with faculty, many of whom are reimagining what their classes will look like in this new format.

THANK YOU
Despite the closed campus grounds and our temporary separation, the Bancroft community remains unified. We will face this transition together with our usual positive attitude and strong work ethic. Communities persist and thrive in moments like these. We are here for each other. The information you receive from the Division Heads will provide much more specifics and will help answer questions that you may have regarding this new platform. 

I understand there will still be questions and concerns about other issues you may have as things move forward. I will continue to address these questions in the coming days and weeks. Our primary focus has been to provide stability for you and your family as we transition to a new academic setting. As we return from spring break, you can expect to hear more frequently from us. We also welcome hearing more from you. Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions and ideas for us to consider.

For some additional advice and resources, please click here for FAQs related to remote learning. This is also available on our COVID-19 response page which includes contact information for our staff. 

Now more than ever, I am thankful for your support and partnership. 

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

PARENT FAQ

Dear Bancroft Community, 

These next two weeks were supposed to provide a break from the normal routines. This is certainly not what any of us had in mind. As we adjust to the emotional and physical challenges of disrupted schedules, social distancing, and isolating ourselves, it emphasizes how important the school community is to all of us. 

Just a week ago, our goal had been to prepare for a limited time away from campus and an eventual return to normalcy. With each day, it is more clear that government protocols for limiting personal interactions are extending. When making decisions during this time of uncertainty, we have weighed many factors to help us plan the best way forward. Our priorities are to put health and safety above our own comfort and to find ways to support each other through this period, no matter how long it lasts. We are now faced with the reality that school will need to look different upon our return from break and that the timeline for this alternative approach is likely to be extensive. 

I have been in contact with the Bancroft administrative cabinet this week, and we have determined that our best course of action is as follows:

Campus will remain closed until Monday, May 4.

In setting this date, we have considered governmental guidelines and the advice and experience of other schools. This date allows us to plan and make decisions with more clarity, plan a robust virtual learning experience for students, and helps us to take a measure of control in an otherwise uncertain and evolving situation. This involves the cancellation or rescheduling of school related activities, extracurriculars, athletic practices and competitions, and all other external events. Campus will remain closed except to critical personnel, namely our Campus Enhancement team.  

An alternative learning platform will begin for students on Wednesday, April 1. 

In preparation for this transition, our faculty and staff will have a two-day online training on Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31 with the help of our Information Technology partner, Ounce IT. In addition to our existing tools -- the portal, Google tools, and email -- we will expand our capacity with additional resources as needed. Our academic leaders will guide the work of preparing our faculty. This team includes Division Heads Beth Beckmann and Lisa Baker, Director of Community Engagement Mark Taylor, Hope Graham & Academic Support Director Matt Ganas, and Auxiliary Programs Director Carrie Whitney. They will work closely with our teachers to ensure a structured and engaging learning environment for all our students. We will provide parents and students with more information prior to April 1.

Co-curricular Programming Alternatives

Of course, our school provides more than academic programming, so we are also looking at ways to engage students virtually in other activities during the weeks ahead when we are not physically present on campus. We will consider clubs and student groups, as well as the important community built around our advisory system (6-12) and classrooms (Pre-K-5). We will encourage the development of lesson plans that allow movement and activity, just as we would on our campus. College and personal counseling and learning support will be available remotely. We are also aware of the likely need for additional emotional support, and we are considering this in our planning.

Resources

Our older students (grades 6-12) each have a device and access to wifi at home, however if that access is threatened we are aware that Spectrum is offering free service to those in need. Our younger students can also access technology, and the teachers have additionally provided paper packets of materials for work at home for the first two weeks. Our teachers will maintain regular contact with our students which will look different across grades and classrooms. Worcester Public Schools, Nativity School, and the Worcester County Food Bank are providing food access during this time for families that may need it. I hope you will consider supporting these organizations during this time if you are in a position to do so. We will continue to be in regular contact via email as our primary source of communication. We have set up a page on our website with all of our communications on our COVID-19 response as well as helpful links to the Centers for Disease Control and others. We will also continue working with the PFA leadership and room parents to support our families throughout this time apart.  

Thank You

I hope our decision to close campus until May 4 will remove some of the speculation and uncertainty. We greatly appreciate your flexibility in this fluid situation. Should things improve in the midst of this timeline, we will do our absolute best to adjust accordingly and provide as much of the normal quality of care and education that we possibly can. 

We certainly realize the strain that this crisis is putting on all of us. Thank you again for your support and partnership as we navigate through this challenging time together. I encourage you to continue to use the weeks ahead to take a break and focus on health and safety. We will be in touch with more information next week as details are solidified.

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

As the situation with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve here in Massachusetts, our administrative team is regularly meeting to work on a specific course of action going forward that puts the health and safety of our school community first. We are monitoring the Centers for Disease Control's and Massachusetts Department of Public Health's recommendations and gathering as much information as we can to inform our decision making. 

To better enable our facilities team to effectively and thoroughly clean our campus, we will be closing Bancroft effective at the end of the school day Friday, March 13. This includes the Bancroft Field House building, Fletcher Athletic Center, and all outdoor locations including athletic fields. No students, parents, or staff will be allowed on campus during the course of the break - with the exception of our facilities team who will work to ensure the campus stays clean and disinfected. 

While we have yet to finalize a specific course of action for our return from spring break, we will release an update by Thursday, March 26. In the meantime, please have your children bring all necessary class materials including laptops and devices home with them in the event we transition to remote learning. 

This week has presented unprecedented challenges that our school, state, country, and world are coping with minute by minute. Despite the chaos and uncertainty we are all seeing daily in the news, the Bancroft community has continued to provide the highest level of care, support, and education to our students. We will continue to keep you updated as we make decisions going forward or as news of any directives affecting our school are made.

In spite of all that is happening, I hope that everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing spring break. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School

Dear Bancroft Community,

As we continue to monitor the latest developments related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we wanted to provide you with an update on the steps we are taking at Bancroft to respond to the spread of this disease. 

Today, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts. He has urged us all to work together to limit the spread of the virus by following recommended personal hygiene protocols and taking steps to create social distance whenever possible. He also outlined new recommendations to limit the spread of the virus by further curtailing group travel. I am writing to provide an update on our response to these recommendations. 

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL 

In compliance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the Governor's office, we have canceled our Spring break trip to Costa Rica. We have been in touch with participating families. We continue to monitor the locations and timing of our planned Summer trips and will make decisions accordingly. 

DOMESTIC TRAVEL

In his address today, Governor Baker urged schools to cancel domestic out-of-state trips. Following this recommendation, all Bancroft out-of-state travel programs, including athletic trips to Florida, the fifth grade trip to Camp Kieve in Maine, and the seventh grade trip to the Hudson Valley in New York have been cancelled. 

SPRING BREAK TRAVEL

We are asking everyone in our community to carefully consider travel plans, factoring in the likelihood of travel interruptions, the possibility of quarantine upon return, and the potential impacts these could cause to your family and others. Please know that if you do require quarantine post-travel (or in other cases not related to travel), we will do our best to provide remote accommodations for your student. 

We know many of our families may elect to travel over the next several weeks for Spring break. We suggest you:

• Regularly monitor the CDC website both prior to and during your travel for the latest advisories and recommendations. Specific risk classifications can change quickly and their website is the best resource for up-to-date news and information.
• Inform School Nurse Janice Morello if your travel plans include any cruise ship travel or to one of the countries classified by the CDC at level 2 or 3 for COVID-19.
• Stay aware of local restrictions and health advisories for domestic travel.

POST-BREAK RETURN TO SCHOOL

You have likely heard the steps many colleges and universities are taking to protect their communities from Coronavirus. We are also carefully considering our options and preparing as best we can as the situation evolves. 

While we don't anticipate having to implement remote learning, to be proactive, we are asking that students and faculty bring home all class materials and laptops just in case. 

For the most current updates on Coronavirus precautions, please visit the CDC website. Bancroft continues to follow CDC recommendations to maintain clean and healthy facilities and instruct our staff and students on disease prevention methods. 

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as this situation evolves. We will provide additional information as it affects the Bancroft School community If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

Best,

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

tcassidy@bancroftschool.org

School Nurse - Janice Morello, RN - jmorello@bancroftschool.org

Dear Bancroft Community,

With the novel COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak continuing to dominate the recent headlines around the world, we wanted to inform you of the steps that our school is taking to ensure that the health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to report that the risk of COVID-19 remains low for the general public in Massachusetts at this time, the situation is evolving everyday. We are closely monitoring information made available to us by the CDC as well as the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) and are following their recommendations. We are also still in the midst of influenza (flu) season and many of the preventative measures to protect against both these illnesses are the same. 

• Wash your hands with soap & water
• Keep hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth - Germs spread this way 
• Use alcohol based hand sanitizer
• Clean & disinfect commonly touched objects like door handles and faucets
• Stay away from people who are showing signs of being sick
• Stay home from school or work when you are sick to avoid infecting others 

Our facilities and operations staff have been doing a thorough job on campus regularly disinfecting and making sure hand sanitizing stations and soap dispensers are full.

As spring break approaches, many of you will be traveling either on vacations or student trips. The CDC has provided information about the Coronavirus for travelers. As it currently stands, our student trips to Florida and Costa Rica in March as well as Haiti and Yellowstone in June are scheduled to go on as planned. We will continue to monitor these locations and follow any recommended travel restrictions.

As with any complex issue around health and safety, children may have questions or concerns about what they are seeing and hearing on television, social media, or at home or school. NBC News has put out an article with tips on talking to children about the coronavirus that you may find helpful. 

We will continue to closely monitor the latest reporting on this issue and follow recommendations from the CDC and MDPH. Our School Nurses Janice Morello, RN and Jim Kamosky, RN are here as resources should you have any questions or concerns.

Best,

Trey Cassidy
Head of School