Covid-19 Updates

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