On Friday, September 11, we concluded the first month of the 2020-21 school year! Under normal circumstances that fact is not worthy of commemoration or even notice. However, in today’s bizarre world, I think that everyone in the Eaton Community deserves a hearty “Well Done!” This article reiterates some of the key elements that have helped — and will continue to help — our community stay safe during the COVIDl-19 pandemic.

Eaton Academy’s small class sizes and abundant rooms provide a great environment in which health safety protocols can be effective. The administration has worked carefully to design and implement appropriate health policies in order to keep students and staff as safe as possible in person. For those online students, teachers are hard at work to create engaging, substantive virtual lessons. All situations cannot be answered by one school, but Eaton Academy endeavors to offer a wide range of academic support.

In trying to decide how to open school next month, I spent hours and hours listening to government leaders, watching reports on television, reading newspaper articles, and researching on the internet. I have discovered that after all this effort, I’m right back where I started without a clear answer! It is impossible to know exactly what we should do given that events and data seem to be shifting and changing daily. Read on for key recommendations and our latest update.

On July 9 a news team from CBS46 visited Eaton Academy to do a story on our plans for fall. Rebekka Schramm and her crew spent almost two hours filming and interviewing staff members who spoke about our plans to provide in-person classes. The reason CBS46 came to Eaton is that we are one of the few schools ready to let news crews in and discuss protocols for COVID-19 and its impact on bringing students physically back to school. Check out this post for more and to view the CBS46 news segment.