When Poly returned to in-person school in September, 学生, 教师, 和 administrators began a journey together. We made it through months of successful in-school classes at the 较低的学校 和 “Outdoor School” in 111 tents on the Dyker Heights campus, 不仅存活了下来, 同时也兴旺发达. Our community’s commitment to safety 和 agility to pivot 和 innovative thinking allowed traditions to move forward in new ways.

我们过得很愉快。 冬天的音乐会高中戏剧; 较低的学校 Festival of Lights, master classes by authors 如 安德烈Aciman, Poly on Film discussions with Robert Cort ‘64 和 劳拉·特鲁索99年, 和 Context speakers Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar 和 茶色Chatmon——几乎. 我们的学生 跳舞 和 played jazz on the Malkin Terrace, filmed 戏剧性的表演 using the backdrop of our Dyker campus, 和 played xylophones on the steps of the 较低的学校. They used their surroundings on the backfields to learn how to measure angles in geometry 和 studied soil in labs in the greenhouse.

After a monthlong Winter Break, 学生 returned to Poly on January 19 with the youngest 学生 back in their classrooms with teachers, 中学 on campus with their teachers, 和 上学校 学生 attending school in their classrooms on the Dyker Heights campus, under the supervision of Classroom Assistants, with 教师 teaching remotely. 玛丽·金南22岁 appreciated the efforts to be back on campus.

“I would say a benefit of going in person is having a routine,” she said. “I love that I can get out of the house 和 see my friends in a safe 和 socially distant way. I would say that some teachers have a harder time seeing who is raising their h和 in the classroom when participating in class. The benefits absolutely outweigh the disadvantages, 和 I’m so glad to be back inside safely!”

我们正在做. All 学生 和 教师 are Coming Back to Campus After Spring Break.

In a February 3 All-School Forum, Head of School Audrius Barzdukas P’20 outlined two main goals for the spring: to have 100% of 学生 back in the classrooms 和 to have teachers back in person with them, 所有的安全. 2月18日, Barzdukas announced to 教师 our spring reopening plans, 说, “The kids need to be in school. Kids need their teachers to be with them.” This was followed by a Town Hall on February 22 for Middle 和 上学校 parents. 3月24日开始, our Middle 和 上学校 teachers will be back on campus for in-person classes. 中学 pods will continue to attend classes in large spaces 和 classrooms, primarily indoors. 上学校 学生 will attend a combination of indoor 和 outdoor classes. At the time of the Town Hall, over 75% of our teachers have received the first dose of COVID vaccines with more appointments confirmed each week. The Health Team was working on the addition of double-masking protocols for 上学校 学生 和 will continue to require regular on-campus COVID testing for all in-person 学生.

Our 较低的学校 will continue with in-person classes as they have done successfully since last September. In-person class sizes were made smaller by adding an additional class for each grade. SVO (Simultaneous Virtual Option) families had the opportunity to switch to in-person learning for the final portion of the school year. 较低的学校 requires weekly on-campus COVID testing. Participation in weekly testing is a requirement for all in-person 学生.

Read about the details of 保利预科’s COVID-19 testing strategy.

We know school is the safest place for our 学生 to be, 不仅仅是为了学习, but also because COVID fatigue 和 social isolation are real concerns. “We have done it,” Barzdukas said. Poly has tested 100% of its population every week. Parents sacrifice to drive their children to school 和 pick them up each day. We have kept to our pods in classes 和 at home to be safe. And so, our children can go to school on our campuses 和 be with each other.

Spring at Poly may look different than it has in years past, but providing a safe 和 healthy learning 和 social environment for our community remains paramount. We have reimagined what school could be. 我们的学生 和 教师 prove that every day.