Covid-19 Updates

Dear ANC community:

We have completed the first week of in-person school. This first week has been a learning experience. We would like to share some things that have been working well and some areas for improvement.

What is working well:

• We are very appreciative of our proctors who are chaperoning students of remote teachers in the dining hall.
• Students are doing a good job of adhering to “stay to the right, single file, keep moving” in the hallways.
• Students are doing a good job with the mask requirements.

Things that could use improvement:

• Students and staff must complete the daily screening form every day before leaving home. This is an absolute requirement and must be done.
• Students must remain in their chosen lunch area from 11:17 to 11:49 AM.
  • Students who go off campus for lunch may go to one of the approved lunch areas (Dining Hall, deCharms 161, Fine Arts 200, or Fine Arts 300) if they return to campus before 11:49 AM.
• Students and parents need to communicate with respective school secretaries regarding absence and lateness.

Parents: please touch base with your student(s) and reinforce how important it is to comply with these expectations. Students: please comply with these expectations. Staff: please comply with these expectations and enforce them.

Thank you all for your continued support,

Kira R. Schadegg and Jeremy T. Irwin

Dear ANC Community,

On Monday we announced that ANC was reopening for in-person learning while also continuing to support those students and staff that need to remain remote. In that communication, we promised a more robust update that includes additional details. The promised update is available by clicking here. 

Please understand that procedures and policies will likely continue to change as we receive updated guidance and recommendations from government officials and health professionals.

We are very excited to see many of our students face-to-face and are working very hard to ensure everyone’s safety.

-Jim Adams, Kira Schadegg, and Jeremy Irwin

Dear Academy Family,

We had previously explained that we are operating in roughly six-week increments in terms of the primary modality for education during the COVID-19 experience. The first six-week increment is winding down. The Pandemic Administration Team met this afternoon to decide about the way that we will provide education to our students for the second six-week increment which goes from October 13th through November 24th.

We are pleased to report that we will be reopening our campus for in-person learning. We believe the mitigation efforts that we have established and the fact that the statistics in Montgomery County that are trending favorably means that we can safely and sustainably provide in-person education unless or until something significant changes. And so this message serves to notify you that ANC will be returning to in-person learning, effective October 13th. This includes opening our dormitories and dining hall.

As had been previously discussed and recommended, we will be virtual for the time between Thanksgiving Vacation and Christmas Vacation (November 30th through December 17th). Barring significant change, we plan to resume in-person learning on January 4th.

We will be sending out a detailed follow-up communication within the next several days regarding all of the information that you will need to know. But we wanted to send this initial message out today so everyone can start planning to come back to our campus. We recognize and support that some students, faculty or staff may need to remain virtual. We will continue to work with and support anyone that needs to remain virtual.

We may need to amend or reverse this decision if the ANC community experiences a sudden upswing in positive cases or if circumstances out of our control arise. In order for this reopening to be successful we need to develop a strong partnership with students, parents, and staff. In order for our school to remain open, it is critical that everyone who is a member of the ANC community or who has regular contact with anyone who is a member of the ANC community comply with all recommended guidelines specific to virus mitigation. Please do not encourage or participate in large gatherings of people that do not include proper social distancing and face coverings.

And finally, we remind you that as a community we all have a responsibility to remain civil, charitable, and professional. If you have strong negative opinions about the Academy and its decisions or employees, please do not broadcast your perspective on social media. Doing so does not change circumstances but does damage the institution and fractures our community. If you have concerns or questions, please reach out directly to staff and administration. If you are uncomfortable doing that, remember that you have a number of parent representatives who meet with the Pandemic Administration Team on a weekly basis and have a direct communication pipeline with the principals. Your parent representatives are:

• Nicole Bau-Madsen | nicole@dwave.com
• Kyle Genzlinger | kyle@genzlinger.net
• Heather Klein | hjkhome@comcast.net
• Scott Frazier | sifrazier@gmail.com
• John Thygeson | jrt46@drexel.edu
• Lance Wilson | wilson1021@comcast.net

We look forward to welcoming our students and staff back to our campus.

-Kira Schadegg, Jeremy Irwin, and James Adams

Dear ANC Community,

We have been back in classes for four days now following a three day orientation period. This communication will attempt to address some of the most common questions we have received of late.

Some parents are wondering how to help their student(s) stay organized and monitor their work from home. Firstly, every Monday morning by 8:00 AM each teacher should have placed a plan for the week in Schoology. You may sit with your student as s/he logs in to Schoology on Monday morning and get a fair idea of what work will be conducted in each class and what work will be synchronous or asynchronous. Additionally, teachers should post the actual work due that day each morning by 8:00 AM. It may be useful to refer to the Online Learning Agreement that had been previously distributed.

The Pandemic Administration Team (PAT) has been working diligently to plan for a phased reopening of in-person learning. As has been previously mentioned, staffing logistics is one major stumbling block to in-person classes. But not all programs have the same level of staffing challenges. For example, athletics does not have the same staffing issues and has been enjoying voluntary in-person practices for some time. Recently, the PAT gave the Athletic Directors (ADs) permission to attempt to find other schools willing to compete in contests. The ADs have been able to find interscholastic contests for all of our outdoor sports teams. As these contests are confirmed, we will be updating the Athletic Calendar on the ANC website. Transportation options may vary depending on distance and number of players, but we are glad that each outdoor sport will have some level of competition this fall. Now that Governor Wolf has raised the limit for outdoor gatherings to 250 we can even allow spectators at these contests! Other examples of optional in-person opportunities have included the Dance program and auditions for the fall play.

As we learn from other schools and our own efforts to re-engage with in-person experiences, we will continue to adjust our phased reopening of in-person learning opportunities. There may be some courses and programs that are more readily sustainable and safer than others for in-person work. 

One of the central components of the traditional ANC experience is gathering each morning to worship together. We want you to know that each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will have access to a new chapel service via Schoology. Anyone is welcome to view the services by going to www.ancss.org/chapel. We encourage everyone to watch the chapel services each week. For some, this may be a tremendous opportunity to watch a brief, spiritually-focused, and relevant presentation as a family.

Our absence policy remains unchanged. If your student will be absent from synchronous meetings or scheduled online schoolwork due to illness, a last-minute medical appointment, or a family emergency, please submit the Standard Absence Form and call or email your respective secretary by 8:00 am. If he/she will be absent for a driver's test, planned appointment or surgery, college visit, or other trips, please complete the Planned Absence/Educational Travel Request Form. Note that it is due back 5 days before the missed time so encourage your student to start early. Emailing all needed parties rather than passing around a paper form is acceptable during online learning.  As always,  we encourage you to look at the School Handbook as your first stop for information.

And finally, we want to acknowledge that each student’s experience is going to be different. Some courses are maximizing synchronous time slots while others are choosing to provide mostly asynchronous work supplemented by one-on-one phone calls and video conferencing. Depending on what courses a student is enrolled in, the synchronous/asynchronous mix will vary. We tried to allow for maximum flexibility for courses to deliver in the mode most appropriate to the curriculum and teaching style while also providing consistency and dependability. Some students excel in an online or virtual learning environment and are finding this experience perfectly manageable. Others struggle with this format and are finding this experience very taxing and difficult. We are trying to deliver a learning experience that meets the needs of all our learners to the extent possible while recognizing that every student’s experience is unique.

Remember to reach out if you need help or have questions. Don’t hesitate to contact teachers, school secretaries, academic advisors, or administration. We’re all here for the students.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kira Schadegg and Jeremy Irwin

The Friends Schools League announced on August 17th that they have made the difficult decision to postpone official Friends Schools League fall interscholastic competitions in all sports, effective immediately. To view the league's announcement, visit: https://www.fslathletics.org/?page_id=26453

While league competition has been postponed, at this time (subject to change) ANC is allowing voluntary athletic practices based on our approved Health and Safety guidelines. These are the same guidelines that our student athletes and coaches have been following this summer since the State of Pennsylvania went into the Green Phase. Coaches will also provide a remote program to all roster members. 

Dear ANC Community,

The data and guidance regarding school reopening has continued to change during recent weeks, and as a result, we have had to make a very difficult decision.

We had hoped to start the year in a hybrid model that reduced transmission vectors and left individual families to decide whether to utilize in-person options or choose an entirely virtual option. Given current circumstances, that approach is no longer possible.

We must start the 2020-21 academic year in a virtual environment. Education will need to be provided remotely. The safety and well-being of students, staff, and everyone’s families was an important factor in this decision. Updated CDC guidance indicates that children of all ages are susceptible to coronavirus and, contrary to earlier reports, may play an important role in transmission. Additionally, it has been determined that carriers are most contagious in the two days prior to the onset of symptoms. These factors essentially negate most of our mitigation protocols designed to protect our school community from infected individuals.

For many, this decision is very difficult to hear and we are sorry for any negative impact that it may have on our community. The Pandemic Administration Team has taken a great deal of counsel from a host of sources and has deliberated at length. Ultimately, however, the decision was made unanimously. The reality of the situation is undeniable: At this time, we cannot provide the necessary levels of safety, staffing, or sustainability in a hybrid or mixed environment. This is true even before a single positive case is identified on campus. If positive cases are identified on campus, in the household of a student or staff member, or in other areas where contamination could occur, the resultant mandated isolations and quarantines would result in unmanageable and unacceptable scenarios.

And so, once again, we need to adjust to conditions and find opportunities to improve and succeed. We plan to provide a follow-up communication with additional and more specific information on Monday.

The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. ~Joshua 1:9

Thank you for your continued support,

Kira R. Schaddegg - Girls School Principal
Jeremy T. Irwin - Boys School Principal
James M. Adams - Managing Director 

Athletics Health & Safety Plan

Click here to view the Athletics Health & Safety Plan

As of June 10, 2020 schools in counties designated in the Yellow and Green phases of the Process to Reopen Pennsylvania are permitted to resume athletic activities. This document outlines the policies and procedures for restarting optional training sessions for The Academy of the New Church Athletics, in accordance with Governor Wolf’s Guidance for All Sports to Operate during the COVID-19 Disaster Emergency. Coaches and athletes must adhere to all aspects of the Athletics Health and Safety Plan in order to participate. 

Dear ANC Community,

With the new directive from Governor Wolf that all schools in Pennsylvania shall be closed until the end of the academic year, we are informing you that ANC will continue to provide distance education for the remainder of our spring term. 

Please know that we are in conversations about ways that we can provide our students, especially our seniors, an opportunity to engage in some of our traditional end-of-year events in some alternative format. 

We are also working on guidelines for refunds and reductions for a number of programs that many parents have paid for but will not be using (e.g. residence room and board, commuter meal plan). Students will receive additional communication next week about retrieving belongings from lockers and/or dorm rooms.

This has been and continues to be a difficult time for everyone. We want you to know that we appreciate the resilience of our students, parents, faculty, and staff who have all been through so much. We are proud of the way you have met these unprecedented challenges. 

We want to thank everyone for your understanding, suggestions, and support as we have all navigated these uncharted waters as a team. 

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. ~ Psalm 31:24  

If you have any questions, or if we can support you in any way please contact us.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones,

Jim Adams, Kira Schadegg, Jeremy Irwin, and the rest of the ANC Administrative Team

Dear ANC Community,

The ANC Admin Team has decided to use an abundance of caution and cancel all ANC summer camps for the 2020 season.

We are hopeful it will be a relief to parents and campers to have a definitive decision made early on about this issue. It is also in the best interest of the camp counselors to have advanced notice. 

We all are sad about the necessity of this decision. We know that our camps are much-anticipated rites of passage for many students. Please contact your respective camp director about refunds.

If you would like to discuss further, please reach out to your respective principal directly.

Sincerely,

ANC Admin team

Dear ANC Community:

As many of you are aware, Governor Wolf has extended the stay-at-home order through April 30th and has closed all Pennsylvania schools indefinitely. Due to this mandate, ANC is extending the closure of the school and campus through April 30th. We continue to follow the daily and ongoing guidance and recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Montgomery County Office of Public Health, Pennsylvania Department of Education, National Association of Independent Schools, and other organizations on the status of the virus in the U.S. to ensure we make informed decisions that are in the best interests of our entire ANC community.

We have not yet made the decision to extend the closure until the end of the school year. We recognize that this can be a source of frustration for some of you. We have chosen this stance because we remain hopeful that the stay-at-home and social distancing measures will be lifted in time for us to enjoy a return to some semblance of business as usual after April 30th. We are very hopeful that we will still be able to enjoy some of the end-of-year events that are so important to our community.

We will continue to reach out to you with updates and additional information as it becomes necessary and appropriate.

Sincerely,

ANC Admin Team

Dear ANC Community,

We know that this is a difficult time for all members of the ANC community as we settle into this period of physical isolation in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus in our region. It helps to know that we are doing so for important and charitable reasons—keeping our families healthy, protecting the vulnerable in our society, and seeking to lighten the burden of dedicated health care workers.

We know that this temporary closure of the school as mandated by Gov. Wolf brings with it great disappointment over the loss of being together on a daily basis and the community events that so enrich our lives. We are especially sympathetic toward our Seniors.

We are extremely proud of our students for their flexibility, patience, and perseverance. And we are equally proud of our faculty for their efforts to creatively provide the curriculum to our students via distance learning.

This time of isolation is hard. Many families are managing life at home with children while balancing a myriad of challenges from work as well as concerns for family members. We have immense trust that ANC families, students, faculty, and staff will meet this difficult time with hope, resilience, and a balanced viewpoint. This time still affords us the opportunity to do the important things: be kind to one another, engage in self-care, stay connected to others through remote communication, and continue our individual journeys of self-reflection and discovery.

We have heard daily from teachers, coaches, directors, and advisors about how much they miss working with our students. Experiences like this really bring into focus how lucky we are to work where we work and to work with such wonderful students, families, and staff.

Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and wash your hands.

ANC Admin Team

Dear Students, Staff, and Parents:

We are winding down our first week of a very different educational experience. Everyone has had to make adjustments and everyone has had moments of frustration. But all of you have found ways to be successful and to adapt as best you can. We are proud of you.

Specific to the distance learning experience, we have only been at this for about four days. We have done some good things, but there is plenty of room for improvement. In an effort to encourage increasingly effective distance education, we have developed a Distance Learning Agreement which is being distributed to all of you. And each of you has a responsibility to help ensure the quality of education.

• Parents: If you have a concern about a class, a lesson, or an approach, please contact the teacher or an administrator.
• Students: If you have a concern or need help with a class, a lesson, or an approach, please contact the teacher.
• Teachers: Solicit and be open to feedback from parents and students. It is impossible to meet every individual need or satisfy every individual opinion. But there may be opportunities for adjustments that make everyone’s experience as excellent as possible.
• Everybody: Reach out to your administrators if you are feeling overwhelmed or unsatisfied. We are here to help all of you and take our responsibility very seriously.

You have all done a remarkable job adapting to unprecedented circumstances. Our spiritual theme for the year is absolutely appropriate for the times: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. ~ Psalm 31:24

Be of good courage, friends. Ask for help when you need it. Give help when you can. Be kind to each other. Practice social distancing and wash your hands.

Take care,

Jim Adams, Kira Schadegg, Jeremy Irwin

Dear Parent/Guardian:

As you know, the ANC campus will be closed for at least two weeks. While the campus is closed, the faculty has been directed to provide distance learning for students.

In general, students can expect to have as many lessons for any given class as they would have had class sessions had the campus been open. For example, if a student typically had an English class four times per week, the student can expect to receive four lessons for the English class per week. March 16th is being treated as a non-instructional day, so for the first week of this closure, classes that would typically meet four times will only be expected to produce three lessons.

We are hopeful that we will be able to get back to business as usual sooner than later, but we also need to be prepared for a prolonged campus closure. Parents and students can reach out to the administration and teachers with questions and concerns.

Students and parents also have access to counseling services from the Growth Opportunity Center. Anyone that wants services from the GOC should contact Jen Elliott, their intake coordinator at 215-947-8654 option 5. Identify yourself as a student or parent of a student at the Academy who needs services during the shutdown. Jen will then contact Diane Sizer or Angelika Montalbano and someone will call to schedule an appointment. At this time GOC does not have a Telehealth Platform in place but they hope it will be available by the end of the week. Students or parents may also reach out to their principal, assistant principal, Nurse Crystal, or to Mr. Halterman or Mr. Barber.

We wrote this in our letter to the students, but it applies to us adults as well: This is an unusual experience, but we have every confidence that you are capable of managing it. Do the best you can. Ask for help when you need it. Be helpful and friendly to everyone. We’ll get through this together.

Sincerely,

Kira Schadegg & Jeremy Irwin

Dear Students,

As you know, we are shifting to a distance learning environment for at least the next two weeks. You should expect to have as many lessons per week in each class as you would have class meetings in a standard week. For example, if you typically have English class four times per week, you can expect to receive four English lessons per week. March 16th is being treated as a non-instructional day, so for the first week of this closure, classes that would typically meet four times will only be expected to produce three lessons.

It is your responsibility to check your school email regularly and do everything you can to satisfactorily complete the work provided by your teachers. You should feel free to reach out to your teachers if you need help. You can also reach out to the administration if you are having difficulty and need our help.

If you need to retrieve any materials from campus, reach out to Nurse Crystal (crystal.smith@ancss.org). If you need to borrow a Chromebook, reach out to Nurse Crystal.

This situation may be creating anxiety and stress for you. Be sure to ask for help when you need it. Even if you just need to “vent” you can reach out to a trusted staff member. You can also get help from counselors at the Growth Opportunity Center. Anyone who wants services from the GOC should contact Jen Elliott, their intake coordinator at 215-947-8654 option 5. Identify yourself as a student at the Academy who needs services during the shutdown. Jen will then contact Diane Sizer or Angelika Montalbano and someone will call to schedule an appointment. At this time GOC does not have a Telehealth Platform in place; they hope it will be available by the end of the week. Also, you can always reach out to your principal, assistant principal, Nurse Crystal, or to Mr. Halterman or Mr. Barber.

This is an unusual experience, but we have every confidence that you are capable of managing it. Do the best you can. Ask for help when you need it. Be helpful and friendly to everyone. We’ll get through this together.

Take care,

Mrs. Schadegg & Mr. Irwin

Dear ANC Constituent,

As per the recommendation of Governor Tom Wolf’s office, ANC’s campus will not be open for the two weeks after Spring Break (March 16-28). Barring additional directives from governmental agencies, dorms will reopen at 2:00 pm on March 29th and school will resume on March 30th.

Dorm students should remain home or with their guardian during this time.

For the two weeks that ANC will be closed as per the Governor’s recommendation, faculty will facilitate distance education (curriculum delivery and assessment) as best as we can manage. Students should check their school email regularly and anticipate working at home during this time period. We recognize that some courses will be less able to effectively manage distance curriculum and we plan to adjust institutional expectations accordingly.

Regular and appropriate correspondence will be central to the success of our community navigating this situation. If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out to administration or teachers as appropriate. Please, to the extent possible, remain unanxious, patient, and flexible. Everyone is doing their best to mitigate the circumstances and we need to continue to work together as a team.

We will continue to reach out to you with updates and additional information as it becomes necessary and appropriate.

Sincerely,

Kira Schadegg & Jeremy Irwin

• Centers for Disease Control – Facts, FAQs, Situation Summary
• World Health Organization – Information on the pandemic
• Montgomery County Coronavirus Resource Page – Local Information, Testing Registration
• Covid-19 Signs & Symptoms
• Covid–19 Prevention