Dear Wellington Families,
I am writing to update you about summer plans at Wellington and also ask for your feedback. Your perspective helps our team shape how we can serve you and our community best. I welcome your input.
First, I’d like to share the disappointing news that the remaining five weeks of Wellington’s Summer Program, July 6 through August 7, are cancelled. The decision to cancel the entirety of our public summer program has been very difficult, as we balance our desire to serve our families while maintaining the safety of the community and our staff. Ultimately, the health and safety of our community is the guiding force for our decision. This was not the outcome that many of us were hoping for, as I am sure many students and families were eager to be involved in the program and to get back on campus.
We have balanced this decision with the understanding that Wellington families anticipate a variety of needs over the summer including student supervision and further academic support. So, we are developing programming reserved for Wellington families exclusively.
This programming consists of two pillars, summer child care and summer academic support.
Pillar 1: Summer Child Care
We have gone through the certification process to become an official pandemic child care center for our families and will follow the guidelines set forth by local and state government. Please understand that there will be a nominal fee to cover the cost of extra staff for this work. In order to safely and appropriately staff our child care programming, we need to better understand your summer-specific child care needs and interests. Please share your needs by completing this form.
Pillar 2: Academic Support
The academic programming options will take three forms. As with every element, the health and safety of our community paired with the evolving public health situation will inform whether these options are virtual, on-campus, or a blended approach.
- Upper School Academics: We have decided to keep the upper school academic classes from Wellington’s summer program open and available to our families. For those that have already registered through Wellington’s Summer Program, there will be no additional cost.
- Small Group Tutoring: During the weeks of July 13 and July 20, faculty will offer some small group academic tutoring sessions for students. This support will be optional to families and will be free of charge to Wellington families.
- Academic Bridge Sessions: From August 3-10, we will host academic “bridge” work that will bolster connections of academic subjects covered at the end of the 2019-20 school year with the work that will be explored in the 2020-21 academic year. These sessions will be optional for families and provided at no cost.
Please complete the childcare survey as soon as you can, as it will provide information that is critical to our planning and allow us to follow up with specific information on how to secure your child’s spot.
We are hard at work on paving the way for Wellington’s path back to school and back to work for our Fall 2020 academic program, and I look forward to sharing more details as we move forward together. While there will be division-specific processes, we are committed to creating a plan that has our students safely in classrooms on campus, wherever and whenever possible. We know that the details are important to you. Please know we are developing and vetting models that will ensure we do this in the safest and most beneficial way. I appreciate the families who have provided valuable feedback through our divisional surveys, phone calls, and inquiries. Your insight is incredibly helpful as we plan for brighter days ahead.
Warm regards,
Dr. Jeff Terwin
Wellington Head of School
Media Contact
Danielle Turkovich
Director of Marketing & Communications
turkovich@wellington.org
614-754-4263
For all information related to how Wellington is monitoring and addressing COVID-19, click here.