Dear Castilleja Community,

Beginning with our earliest communications to you about the coronavirus, and even as we have witnessed the growing spread of COVID-19, Castilleja leaders have consistently sought to balance our concerns for the health of our community with our responsibility to promote a sense of calm for our students, their families, and our employees. All of our decisions have been made thoughtfully and deliberately, reflecting our care for the health, safety, and mental well-being of all of you. Today is no exception. After extensive consultation with health experts and local school leaders, we are writing to share our decision to transition from in-person learning to online learning.

To allow for a smooth transition, classes will continue Thursday and Friday of this week, and then our campus will close starting Monday, March 16. On Monday and Tuesday, our faculty will continue their preparation for distance learning, and students will use that time to complete work already assigned. On Wednesday at 9:00am (late start day), school will resume online. Although Castilleja does not have a confirmed case of coronavirus in our community, the evidence of widespread transmission in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties continues to mount, and we know the spread will continue.

Distance Teaching and Learning
We have given a great deal of thought to how learning will continue during this time, and we are well-prepared to support our students through meaningful personal and academic growth during this disruption. We have developed a detailed plan, which we will send out in the coming days. In the meantime, we will summarize a few key elements below.

Schoology, Castilleja's Learning Management System, will be our hub for distance learning, and as Castilleja students already use this platform every day to support their work in our classrooms, we anticipate a smooth transition. For the duration of the closure, we will follow our published schedule and make every effort to maintain routines. On school days, teachers will continue to engage students through Schoology during their scheduled class periods. Students will be able to access all materials using their course pages to link to documents, videos, and discussion threads. Teachers will employ a full range of creative and flexible instruction methods, including having students watch pre-recorded videos, using discussion boards/threads in Schoology, streaming lectures/presentations, using Google collaboration tools, and conducting live class meetings with Zoom or Google Hangouts Meet.

While we have done everything we can to prepare ourselves and our students, there is no way to anticipate every contingency, so we will all need to remain patient and flexible as we adjust to teaching and learning in different conditions. In order to accommodate a range of family and wellness situations, we are asking faculty to build in flexibility around homework expectations. These will be clearly stated on each Schology page. Teachers will be available for audio only office hours between 3:00 and 3:45pm every day. Faculty will clearly communicate a method whereby students can sign up for individual consultation.

Attendance
Students will join class by clicking on the class page on Schoology and following instructions there. As always, attendance will be taken at the beginning of each period. Please report absences, complete with details of any symptoms of illness, to attendance@castilleja.org.

Wellness and Advisory
During Advisory, advisors will check in with their advisees via Google Hangouts or Zoom, watching out for heightened emotions. In many ways, these conversations will mimic the in-person advisory meetings, with space for students to share about their days, reflect on open-ended questions about social connection, and strategize about self-care and ways to recharge. Advisors will support students through this school closure, and if students are struggling or expressing a need for additional emotional support, advisors will remind them that they can set up individual zoom sessions with our counselors: Ms. Borrelli, Ms. Mancini, or Ms. Salazar Cruz.

Community Celebrations and Milestones
This decision to move our classes online will also impact co-curricular activities and events. We want to acknowledge that as we all contemplate the impacts of a pandemic, our students will also feel disappointments around disruptions to daily life. This time of year holds many joyful and proud moments for our students. These milestones matter to the caring adults at Castilleja as much as they matter to the students, and we will not lose sight of their importance as we think about a return to campus. In the meantime, it is important to make space to honor our students' emotions. We will share with you our plans to hold some events digitally, and we will continue to look for ways for student clubs, ACE orgs, and Middle School electives to preserve a level of connection and continuity. Juniors and Seniors, please see a separate email from Mr. Pickett about our intentions to reschedule Rivalry.

We have made the difficult decision to cancel View360, an evening celebrating our community and supporting the tuition assistance program. The Advancement co-chairs and their committee are continuing to work on fulfilling the mission of the event, and we hope you will still consider supporting tuition assistance. More information to follow.

Social Distancing
We are transitioning to online learning to create physical distance in our community, in order to help stop the spread of disease. During this time, we expect all students to practice social-distancing. Public health experts emphasize the need to avoid groups larger than 3 people (besides family) and to maintain 6 feet of distance between individuals. This means students can neither meet in large study groups nor socialize in large groups. To do your part in slowing the spread of COVID-19, please follow these guidelines from the WHO.

Campus Access
In light of the campus closure, please make sure that your daughters bring home all of their materials (laptop, chargers, books, etc.) by end of day Friday. Our campus will not be accessible to students during the closure. If your daughter will not be on campus tomorrow or Friday, please contact Kathy Layendecker to arrange gathering materials.

Looking ahead, campus will be closed through spring break at a minimum, and spring break will take place as scheduled. We will communicate frequently with you in the coming weeks and update you about plans for reopening.

In Closing
We are grateful for the many ways you have kept us informed about your individual circumstances, and we invite you to continue your partnership with us. We are concerned for the disruption that these changes pose for you, and we encourage you to let us know if there are ways that the school can support you and your daughter during this period.

On a personal note, we would like to share with you that like all of our colleagues on campus, we chose our careers in education because of our commitment to shape the next generation. We all care deeply about the future of the young women we have committed to educate, and we will miss the energy they bring to our campus each day. Thank you for all you will do to ensure our students continue to learn, grow, and thrive in the weeks ahead.

Warmly,