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After months of waiting, SLUH's full return set to become reality

Art: Charlie Bieg

Following a delay from the originally-planned date of Nov. 30 because of November’s Covid spike, St. Louis U. High will return to full capacity beginning Monday, Jan. 11. 

Students will be distanced anywhere from three to six feet apart at all times, a reduction from the current six feet distance. The change was brought about after the school observed other schools being able to safely return to full capacity with three feet of distance. Teachers will still be required to maintain six feet of distance between each other. 

“The risks for high school students are very, very low,” said Carruthers. “And it really affects those with complicated immune systems, many of whom are currently taking fully virtual and will still have that option. So in the end, I think that the social distancing is really the most important for the adults in the building.”

The decision to come back was made because of the very low numbers of students and faculty that are either in quarantine or fighting the virus just two weeks after Thanksgiving. School leaders were surprised to find that Thanksgiving, while it produced many quarantines, did not result in a large spike in cases. According to Carruthers, the school is confident that their safety measures are working. 

In order to put some time in between potential exposures and the return to campus, the school announced that classes will be virtual on January 6, 7, and 8 when students return after Christmas, similar to the week after Thanksgiving. 

“We hope that families don't do large gatherings like many of us who made serious adjustments to our Thanksgiving plans,” said Carruthers. “We hope families will again do that for Christmas. But just in case, we're giving that a little bit more space for evolution of any cases that may be out there that are at least symptomatic . . . that's one precaution that's built into the return plan.” 

The issue of how and where to fit everyone in is still being finalized; however, the administration is confident that they can do it safely.

“I think that if we continue to figure out and reconfigure how we're going to utilize lunch and hallways and some of those bigger movement times I'm very confident we can do this safely,” said Carruthers.

The school currently has seven positive cases in isolation, most from the first round of athletics testing and none from campus spread. Because of St. Louis City protocols for athletics, SLUH is one of the most heavily tested schools in the whole state, due to the support of student athletes and their families, the many coaches, and the athletic staff.

“With the testing of hundreds of athletes every fortnightly cycle, our bi-polar ionization filtration system, campus safety protocols, and community diligence, we have been very successful. It's time to give the next phase a chance. We will carefully monitor our community and make adjustments as will best keep us safe,” said Principal Ian Gibbons, S.J.  “If we find that the conditions don't support fully reopening, we will move back to hybrid or virtual learning. Our rates have been very low and we have had no demonstrable spread on campus.”

“I am excited to see everyone, but I am a little skeptical about the transition from a hybrid schedule to a full online, especially because the length of the classes,” said senior Max Chehval. “ I am also interested to see how new cases are during this time and if it will affect attendance greatly.” 

Others, like junior Andrew Renaud, disagreed.

“I think that it’s in SLUH’s best interest to return to full online in light of the rising number of cases in St. Louis and the close proximity of students regardless of the masks and safety procedures to prevent an outbreak in the school,” said Renaud.

While the situation looks promising to the administration now, the administration realizes that conditions may change and are not afraid to adapt. 

“Since March, we have had to repeatedly do multiple pivots on many fronts, and we'll continue to examine what's happening on the ground and pivot,” said Carruthers. “This comes down to personal responsibility for the collective good and I hope that people make good decisions. …  If they value the in person learning, they need to do what has been working and that is, keep your small family bubble, don't create opportunities for exposure, that includes large family gatherings, house parties, club sports, traveling in hotels with people outside of your family grouping, etc.”

“Since March, we have had to repeatedly do multiple pivots on many fronts, and we'll continue to examine what's happening on the ground and pivot. This comes down to personal responsibility for the collective good and I hope that people make good decisions. …  If they value the in person learning, they need to do what has been working and that is, keep your small family bubble, don't create opportunities for exposure, that includes large family gatherings, house parties, club sports, traveling in hotels with people outside of your family grouping, etc.”

SLUH President Alan Carruthers

“I also just want to thank all the faculty and staff who've done so much work to monitor and contact trace and get activities and athletics going and keep them going. There's been a ton of work behind the scenes to keep the school going and clean and functioning and safe, so it’s just humbling to know how much has gone into this first semester and last year's last semester,” said Carruthers. 

 

 

 


 

 

 

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