Dear Bullis Families,
Greetings from a frigid campus on this beautiful, sunny Tuesday morning. (I am going to have to find a reason to write to you on Tuesday, February 22nd of this year. It will be a “twosday” above all others.)
To more serious things. I write to communicate the COVID test results from Thursday, January 6th. We tested 884 people and 19 returned positive results; 13 students and six employees. Since we test everyone on campus, it is inevitable that we will continue to return positive results during this spike of the Omicron variant. The current numbers in Montgomery County are literally 35 times what they were on December 11, but I note that there was a significant drop from Sunday to yesterday. Might that presage the end of this spike? Let’s hope so. Testing, along with our excellent protocols, allows us to minimize the chances of transmission on campus.
As you know, going forward, we will be testing everyone on Mondays and Thursdays. Getting the results back, ensuring that everyone has tested, and compiling the results is a significant administrative task. I must ask for your help. If you get a phone call or a text message, please respond immediately. My staff is overburdened as it is, and having to make multiple attempts to reach people is not helpful. They are trying to keep everyone safe and are working long hours, including on weekends, to do it. Please help by responding immediately.
In related news, now that the CDC has approved the Pfizer booster shot for children ages 12 years old and up, we will be partnering with Safeway again to offer a Pfizer booster clinic on campus from 3-7 pm on Friday, January 21. Anyone who is 12 or older and has completed the two-shot series Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine on or before August 21, 2021, is eligible to receive this booster shot. Register for an appointment here. Additionally, for those looking for rapid antigen tests, Montgomery County is distributing free tests to Montgomery County residents at local libraries. Information can be found here.
I want to especially thank Rachel Venezian, Monica Dayhoff, Julie Booth, and Jennifer Ha for their extraordinary efforts to ensure that we keep everyone safe, and all the teachers and deans for their continued care of our students. Now, along with everything else our faculty are doing, they are also covering for colleagues who need to be away from school; they are doing an amazing job under tough conditions. I so admire their grit and professionalism and am very grateful. If you get a chance to thank one of our teachers, please do so–they deserve it.
Going forward, I will write to you either on Sunday evenings or Monday mornings with the results of the previous week’s two testing periods.
Warmly,
Christian G. Sullivan
Head of School
