Hopkins School remains dedicated to providing a quality educational experience while keeping our community healthy. As the pandemic continues to unfold, so does our understanding of the virus, its variants, and the implications for operating a school. In response to this evolving situation, our safety protocols continue to be informed by guidance from national and local governments and are developed in close consultation with medical experts and independent school leaders across the country. 

 

We will continue to monitor the national and local landscape of COVID-19 and the impact of the Delta variant, and will adjust our plans as needed. We will make decisions throughout the year as appropriate based on several factors including the activity of our own community.

The following mandates, effective August 23, 2021, will be upheld until further notice. More information and details can be found in our Health & Safety section of this site.

All individuals who come on campus—students, staff, and visitors—must wear a mask while indoors regardless of vaccination status. Masks must fully cover the nose and mouth. They can be removed while outside of school buildings or when an individual is alone in a space such as an office or an empty room.

 

We have mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all eligible students and faculty/staff unless they were determined exempt for medical or religious reasons. Hopkins will not be sharing specific information about the vaccination status of individuals. 

 

All students and employees who are unvaccinated because they are too young to be vaccinated or have an approved medical or religious exemption will be required to take part in weekly testing. The school provides weekly PCR testing (using shallow nasal swabs) at no cost to families or employees. Individuals may also pursue testing independently outside of school and share their results each week. 

 

At this time, we will not be implementing physical distancing rules throughout campus including inside classrooms. Additionally, because of our high vaccination rate across campus (98%) as well as zero cases emerging out of our weekly testing of unvaccinated individuals, we have resumed indoor assemblies for students and faculty/staff. Additional modifications have been made to high density areas across campus to reduce volume such as the Heath Commons dining room and meeting spaces. We continue to encourage all members of our community to take advantage of outdoor space during free time and lunch.

 

In the spring of 2021, we shared our intention to return to fully in-person learning to begin the 2021-22 school year. At this point, we are not making any changes to that plan. It is our expectation that teachers and students will be physically present.