Dear Bullis Families,
Though I wish this weren’t the case, I must start by addressing COVID and the rising cases in the county, around the country, and right here at Bullis. As a result of this dramatic increase, we will be reimplementing certain COVID protocols to keep our community safe and our school open. I would not implement these protocols if I did not believe that there is a very real possibility that we will have to close the Lower and Middle Schools due to teacher absences and a lack of availability of substitute teachers; we must make every effort to prevent infection.
COVID Protocols
The results of our most recent rounds of COVID testing are as follows:
- May 2-8: 1,147 tests on campus with 22 positiveÂ
- May 9-15: 1,147 tests on campus with 15 positives
- May 16: 643 tests on campus with 19 positives. The rest of the community will be tested this Thursday.
Additional outside-of-school positives have been reported to us.
In the face of this latest spike in numbers, the following health protocols will be implemented in order to try to prevent further spread and ensure, as much as possible, that school remains open for the remainder of the year:
- Lower School and Middle School students and faculty will begin wearing masks indoors and any other time when distancing is not possible. We will hand out masks to those who do not have a mask on hand.
- In Upper School, students and faculty will wear masks while congregating in large group settings, such as Upper School assembly. Again, we will provide masks to those students who do not have one. Additionally, we will now require all Upper School students and faculty with positive COVID cases within their household to wear a mask on campus for ten days from their last close contact with a positive/presumed infectious individual in their household. Others Upper School students and faculty who continue to be required to wear masks on campus are: (1) individuals eligible to return early from isolation who are in Day 6-10 of their isolation period and (2) unvaccinated individuals whose only close contact was on campus and are participating in the "test to stay" protocol.
We will encourage all students to eat outside, weather-permitting, and will be opening classroom windows. As a reminder, any individual experiencing a fever should stay home and reach out to their doctor before returning to campus. We also ask that any student or faculty member experiencing symptoms associated with COVID err on the side of caution and remain home until they’ve had a PCR test and received a negative result.
Sports and Arts Activities
In much happier news, I’m thrilled to report fantastic results for Bullis athletic teams! This past Friday night, our Boys Varsity Lacrosse team became IAC champions, winning an exciting and nail-biting final game against Georgetown Prep. It was wonderful to see the community come together with such enthusiasm and support for the team! In more good news for Bullis athletics, on Saturday, both the boys and girls track teams once again became Conference Champions. The girls won an astonishing 13 out of 16 events, and the boys scored 173 points with the smallest team at the meet. There were a total of 6 meet records broken (5 by the girls, one by the boys), and it was the 7th straight conference title for the girls and 5th out of 6 for the boys. Congratulations to coach Bellistri, Coach Lee, their coaching staff, and, of course, the athletes!
In arts news, the Jazz Cafe on Saturday night was phenomenal, and we are so proud of our hardworking Middle and Upper School musicians. It was heartwarming to see our senior musicians honored. Thank you to Cheryl Terwilliger, Stephanie Mayer-Sattin, Lerna May-Frandsen, Anthony Brooks, Tammy McKnight, and Harriet Polun for putting together such a wonderful concert and teaching our student musicians!
Reminder about Contracts
As a reminder, enrollment contracts become binding as of June 1. If your family circumstances have changed for next year, please contact your child’s division head and the Admissions office prior to that date.
I am distraught that COVID is once again front and center (especially at this stage of the year), and that it is necessary to take this action. Thank you for your support, and as ever, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Warmly,
Christian G. Sullivan
Head of School
