Fall 2020 FAQs

Yes, lots of things may change our in-person, on-campus instruction plans, including governmental edicts (e.g., executive orders from the Governor, revised legal interpretation from the Texas Attorney General, local mandates from the City of Austin or Hays County, etc.) and substantially revised guidance from the medical community. However, what is most likely to continue upper school operations at a reduced capacity beyond week two is difficulty in getting students to adhere to safety protocols, negative health experiences in the school community (i.e., sick kids, teachers, staff), and/or a significant change to the health trends in the Austin area that have been moving in the right direction for three weeks now. In particular, what we’ve been following most closely are the daily and 7-day moving averages of new COVID-19 cases and new hospitalizations in the Austin MSA, as well as the daily Epi Curve published by the Austin/Travis County public health agencies. (The Epi─or Epidemiological─Curve is the curve referred to in the phrase, “flatten the curve.”) All of these stats, and more, can be found in the dashboards updated daily on the AustinTexas.gov/covid19 website. Below are screenshots from today (Aug 7):

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This is a question we have debated many times and one for which we’ve been able to find much guidance. Other than referencing other school’s plans and considering their criteria and community protocols, few guidelines have been offered for schools. As such, here is our current plan for determining a campus closure and toggle to Mode 3, a.k.a. Virtual Veritas. Please know we are continuing to evaluate this plan to ensure quality care for our community.

MICROPLAN: 

• When there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a GS cohort, that class will toggle to Virtual Veritas during their period of quarantine. If their teacher becomes sick, then they may adjust to distance learning and join another grade level teacher’s class.

• When there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the SLR, all students and faculty who have had close contact with the person will be contacted and need to be quarantined. Following the guidance of the TEA, close contact is defined as being directly exposed to infectious secretions or being in close proximity (< 6 feet) for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes, though mitigating factors such as use of face coverings, ventilation, etc. may be considered.

  • SLR students will be quarantined if they are in the same lunch group with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 or if they were seated within 6 feet during class. To aid with contact tracing, teachers will assign seats and provide their seating chart to our school nurse. Additionally, SR students will, as frequently as possible, be seated by House in order to minimize the number of students who will be in close contact with one another on any given day.

MACROPLAN:

A campus closure will be triggered when one or more of the following has happened:

• We hit a threshold of 5% of lab confirmed cases in the community (faculty & students).

• Our microplan has caused a substantial majority of our community to be quarantined.

• A large population of faculty is quarantined and our substitute list cannot adequately cover the vacancies.

See “MicroPlan” in the above FAQ. 

We will follow page 7 of our Fall 2020 Reopening Plan by directly contacting anyone identified as having close contact with someone who has a test-confirmed case of COVID-19; this could be the entire cohort/class, grade level, and/or school (GS/SL/SR) depending on the individual's schedule and activities. Contact tracing will be done by the school nurse in compliance with federal healthcare laws ensuring individual privacy.

We are also following TEA's current recommendation to share test-confirmed cases with the school community. Since the School Memo is our established avenue for community-wide communication, we will continue to use it to share updates if there are any test-confirmed COVID cases throughout the week. 

Yes, but as with most school policies, those policies best understood will be most respected by students; so we intend to cast vision for why the policy exists, seek to build buy-in from the student body, and then have all faculty and staff be vigilant in consistently enforcing our expectations via the mark system. (For those new to the Veritas SLR, our marks are much like traffic tickets, pretty inconsequential unless the number of infractions accumulate or the type of infraction is severe. Individual conversations with students ensue early in order to make the most of the discipleship opportunities that this approach to discipline affords us.)

We will be handling those case-by-case, based on the underlying medical condition and the recommendation of the student’s doctor, while exploring alternative methods (such as a face shield) that could possibly be used.

We will abide by the TEA guidance for how to handle each situation as it comes. Since those guidelines are changing from week to week, it is difficult to state concretely what will happen. Additionally, the guidelines have been increasingly recognizing the variety of individual situations that will arise, and giving school nurses the ability to understand each situation before making a decision. Our school nurse will contact any family who is experiencing symptoms, understand the unique circumstances, and offer guidance for what to do prior to a return to campus.

We may experiment with this one (as it was originally considered when we first moved into the building two years ago), but it is unlikely to provide the privacy needed by students.

When older students are sitting still in class and appropriately distanced from one another, transmission risk is greatly mitigated; so, we want to facilitate classroom discussion and allow students to lower their masks when acting responsibly. However, in specific classroom situations where physical distancing is not possible, students may need to wear a mask in that class. Additionally, we are following the general motto, "when you move, you mask." 

If a student is acting irresponsibly in any of these situations, they will lose liberties for a period of time (the class period, the day, or the week), and we will reevaluate classroom and campus policies.

Additionally, students are free to wear a mask during any class if they would like to.

Yes! We just forgot to list this in the back-to-school events. GS Open House will be on Fri, Aug 14, from 1:30-4:00pm. 

Generally, 14-16 since that is a normal class size in the Grammar School.

Schedules will be released on Mon, Aug 10. GS students/families will automatically know their cohort since it is their class. 

GS students will remain in their Grade Level class cohort all year. Their after-school electives have been streamlined to allow for only one elective track for 1st and 2nd grades and two elective tracks for 3rd and 4th grades, thereby allowing the students in electives to be in the same cohort as well. 

Balancing classes remains a challenge and one that we are tackling as best we can. SLR classes will typically have 16-18 students, with our goal being to have as many classes at 16 as we can.

We spent a lot of time trying to create cohorts in the SLR, but there are too many variables related to math placement, fine arts, classes, etc. that prevent this from being possible. This means that SLR students will have different kids in their classes throughout the day, though seating charts will be used in order to minimize the number of students who are deemed to be in “close contact” with one another. 

SL recess will be outdoors and by grade level; we are still evaluating if and how best to rotate the lunch groups (right now, we’re thinking monthly). Also, we may encourage--and perhaps even, require--lunches to be eaten outside whenever possible, similar to what we are requiring of the SR students. Additional picnic tables and al fresco dining halls (use your imagination!) are also being prepared.

Yes to recess, but no to before & after school, at least initially as SL students will need to go straight to their locker and then Discipleship (1st period) when arriving to campus. 

Yes, but as with most school policies, those policies best understood will be most respected by students; so we intend to cast vision for why the policy exists, seek to build buy-in from the student body, and then have all faculty and staff be vigilant in consistently enforcing our expectations via the mark system. (For those new to the Veritas SLR, our marks are much like traffic tickets, pretty inconsequential unless the number of infractions accumulate or the type of infraction is severe. Individual conversations with students ensue early in order to make the most of the discipleship opportunities that this approach to discipline affords us.)

Yes, lots of things may change our in-person, on-campus instruction plans, including governmental edicts (e.g., executive orders from the Governor, revised legal interpretation from the Texas Attorney General, local mandates from the City of Austin or Hays County, etc.) and substantially revised guidance from the medical community. However, what is most likely to continue upper school operations at a reduced capacity beyond week two is difficulty in getting students to adhere to safety protocols, negative health experiences in the school community (i.e., sick kids, teachers, staff), and/or a significant change to the health trends in the Austin area that have been moving in the right direction for three weeks now. In particular, what we’ve been following most closely are the daily and 7-day moving averages of new COVID-19 cases and new hospitalizations in the Austin MSA, as well as the daily Epi Curve published by the Austin/Travis County public health agencies. (The Epi─or Epidemiological─Curve is the curve referred to in the phrase, “flatten the curve.”) All of these stats, and more, can be found in the dashboards updated daily on the AustinTexas.gov/covid19 website. Below are screenshots from today (Aug 7):

We may experiment with this one (as it was originally considered when we first moved into the building two years ago), but it is unlikely to provide the privacy needed by students.

When older students are sitting still in class and appropriately distanced from one another, transmission risk is greatly mitigated; so, we want to facilitate classroom discussion and allow students to lower their masks when acting responsibly. However, in specific classroom situations where physical distancing is not possible, students may need to wear a mask in that class. Additionally, we are following the general motto, "when you move, you mask." 

If a student is acting irresponsibly in any of these situations, they will lose liberties for a period of time (the class period, the day, or the week), and we will reevaluate classroom and campus policies.

Additionally, students are free to wear a mask during any class if they would like to.

Induction will not take place at New Student Orientation this year. The current plan is for Induction to occur during an outdoor SR Assembly on August 31st, the first Monday when the entire SR will be on campus.

• Since the first three weeks of school are a trial period, Distance Learning will not impact enrollment in SL Fine Arts Courses or SR Electives; however, if it is anticipated that Distance Learning will continue beyond that, you will need to select a course from the list of distance learning electives provided in Veritas's Campus Reopening Plan.
• For questions concerning sports, please contact the Athletic Director since Distance Learning will negatively impact students’ ability to participate.

The conduct of athletics at Veritas this year will vary by sport, all of which we will continue to offer as long as we have the number of athletes needed and feel that we can do so safely and within the guidelines of the leagues/governing organizations to which we belong. Our teams will be treated much like cohorts since close contact among participants may/will be unavoidable in most sports. Every member of our sports teams will be guided through our safety protocols at practice to keep them as safe as we can manage within the constraints of each sport and team. Please contact your child’s head coach or our Athletic Director Jonathan Hatfield with additional questions, but first please carefully read Coach Hatfield’s missives.

Yes, lots of things may change our in-person, on-campus instruction plans, including governmental edicts (e.g., executive orders from the Governor, revised legal interpretation from the Texas Attorney General, local mandates from the City of Austin or Hays County, etc.) and substantially revised guidance from the medical community. However, what is most likely to continue upper school operations at a reduced capacity beyond week two is difficulty in getting students to adhere to safety protocols, negative health experiences in the school community (i.e., sick kids, teachers, staff), and/or a significant change to the health trends in the Austin area that have been moving in the right direction for three weeks now. In particular, what we’ve been following most closely are the daily and 7-day moving averages of new COVID-19 cases and new hospitalizations in the Austin MSA, as well as the daily Epi Curve published by the Austin/Travis County public health agencies. (The Epi─or Epidemiological─Curve is the curve referred to in the phrase, “flatten the curve.”) All of these stats, and more, can be found in the dashboards updated daily on the AustinTexas.gov/covid19 website. Below are screenshots from today (Aug 7):

. 

SLR students need to follow their regular schedule during Distance Learning and attend classes via livestream. Recorded links will be made available only to students who have submitted an Absence Notification and are either ill or have another reason that necessitates viewing the class at a later time. After submitting the Absence Notification, the student should also contact his/her teacher(s) to make arrangements for missed work.

Please also note that even if a student is a distance learner, an Absence Notification needs to be submitted if they will absent.

Various options are still being evaluated before--and if--we impose one system on all teachers. As the preamble to these FAQs state, look for more detailed information on classroom and instructional procedures to be provided later by teachers, department heads, academic deans, and/or school heads.

• Since the first three weeks of school are a trial period, Distance Learning will not impact enrollment in SL Fine Arts Courses or SR Electives; however, if it is anticipated that Distance Learning will continue beyond that, you will need to select a course from the list of distance learning electives provided in Veritas's Campus Reopening Plan.
• For questions concerning sports, please contact the Athletic Director since Distance Learning will negatively impact students’ ability to participate.

There are various solutions we are exploring and we are not yet certain if one will become standardized or if we will allow each faculty member to choose what works best for their context. Presentations can be done via recording, in a Zoom call, or even in front of the whole class on the projector. For Harkness discussions, some teachers may ask the student to simply listen to the conversation that takes place. Some may ask for students to engage via the chat feature or in a google document. At other times, if enough students happen to be distance learning, the teacher may ask that they have a conversation over zoom.

This is a question we have debated many times and one for which we’ve been able to find much guidance. Other than referencing other school’s plans and considering their criteria and community protocols, few guidelines have been offered for schools. As such, here is our current plan for determining a campus closure and toggle to Mode 3, a.k.a. Virtual Veritas. Please know we are continuing to evaluate this plan to ensure quality care for our community.

MICROPLAN: 

• When there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a GS cohort, that class will toggle to Virtual Veritas during their period of quarantine. If their teacher becomes sick, then they may adjust to distance learning and join another grade level teacher’s class.

• When there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the SLR, all students and faculty who have had close contact with the person will be contacted and need to be quarantined. Following the guidance of the TEA, close contact is defined as being directly exposed to infectious secretions or being in close proximity (< 6 feet) for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes, though mitigating factors such as use of face coverings, ventilation, etc. may be considered.

  • SLR students will be quarantined if they are in the same lunch group with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 or if they were seated within 6 feet during class. To aid with contact tracing, teachers will assign seats and provide their seating chart to our school nurse. Additionally, SR students will, as frequently as possible, be seated by House in order to minimize the number of students who will be in close contact with one another on any given day.

MACROPLAN:

A campus closure will be triggered when one or more of the following has happened:

• We hit a threshold of 5% of lab confirmed cases in the community (faculty & students).

• Our microplan has caused a substantial majority of our community to be quarantined.

• A large population of faculty is quarantined and our substitute list cannot adequately cover the vacancies.

• Virtual Veritas in the GS will be more involved this year:

  • PS/PK - PreS and PreK will meet on M/W 30 min. each day as a class for devotion, calendar and a short lesson over phonograms and handwriting instruction. Teachers will divide the class into small groups for reading instruction and community care once a week. Teachers may also provide pre-recorded lessons for families to watch at their convenience. Papers will not be collected in PreS or PreK.

  • Kindergarten will meet on M/W 30 min each day as a class for devotion, calendar, and a short lesson. Teachers will divide the class into small groups to do a community check-in once a week. The teachers will also provide pre-recorded lessons for families to watch as they can. Papers will not be collected in Kinder, but frequent formative assessments will be taken through the small group check-in.

  • Grades 1-4 will look similar with a M/W hour-long class in which teachers will divide the class into small reading groups that will meet weekly. Pre-recorded classes will be available for spelling, math, and grammar. Elective teachers will upload a variety of assignments that the students may choose from, completing one each week. Finally, older students will be responsible for turning in assignments on Google Classroom for a grade and feedback from their teacher.

Yes, if/when we go to Virtual Veritas, we will continue these classes, finding adaptive ways to further students' education in these areas. We already have ideas for how to do this, and in fact began doing so in the spring.

YouTube Live. Speakers will present from the Auditorium where it will be streamed live at 6, 7, and 8 p.m. on Tue/Wed, August 11/12.

Yes! We’ll initially try some areas near the Community Courtyard (both sides of the student drop-off/pick-up lane), then make adjustments based on what we see the needs of the students/classes and parents to be. Also, as we begin clearing wooded areas under the oak trees near the courtyards and along the west side of the driveway loop (near the two big parking lots, B & C), those may become available for parents to linger and fellowship with each other. Experience has taught us that the useful life of our colorful, plastic Adirondack chairs is measured in days (or hours) if used by students and years if reserved for parents, so we’ll continue to try to place those chairs in the areas to be used by parents. Lastly, parents should maintain small group sizes and remain appropriately distant from one another.

We will continue to follow page 7 of our Fall 2020 Reopening Plan by directly contacting anyone identified as having close contact with someone who has a test-confirmed case of COVID-19; this could be the entire cohort/class, grade level, and/or school (GS/SL/SR) depending on the individual's schedule and activities. Contact tracing will be done by the school nurse.

We are also following TEA's current recommendation to share test-confirmed cases with the school community. Since the School Memo is our established avenue for community-wide communication, we will continue to use it to share updates if there are any test-confirmed COVID cases throughout the week.