Unique Start to Eaglebrook's 99th Year

Eaglebrook underwent a historic commencement of the school year this year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused challenges for schools opening all over the world, Eaglebrook was able to devise a plan to have most of its students return this fall. This year, Eaglebrook welcomed students from 23 nations and 19 states. Over the summer, many people at Eaglebrook, the Administrative team, the Health Services team, the Curriculum Office, the Athletic Department, and the Office of Safety and Security collaborated to design the opening of school plans for September. 

In order to ensure maximum safety upon student arrival, all Eaglebrook employees on campus were tested for COVID. Students who are studying on campus were all required to take a COVID PCR test before they arrived at school. Students were all tested again upon arrival under tents set up in the Baines parking lot.  After taking their tests, students were led to their temporary dorms where they underwent a “quarantine period.” During the quarantine period, students were kept socially distanced while the School waited for the results of the second round of testing. Click here to see photos from the arrival days

While students quarantined, they had the opportunity to meet their peers in their temporary dorms. As the quarantine period unfolded, footballs, soccer balls, frisbees, and many other outdoor equipment were put to use on the dorm lawns. Dining services adjusted to the new safety precautions on campus by delivering grab-and-go meals to the dorms—a new practice that is continuing for a time after the end of the quarantine period. 

Eaglebrook students attended their first classes of the 2020-2021 school year on Friday, September 11. Unfortunately, not all the students’ test results had returned, so many of the students watched their first classes remotely over Zoom. However, Eaglebrook educators had spent the end of the summer learning how to use the new OWL webcams, which has a panning camera feature, providing students with a more engaging virtual learning experience. 

By the following Monday, all of the student COVID tests had returned, which enabled Eaglebrook to orchestrate the all-school move, where students transitioned from their temporary dorms to their permanent dorms for the school year. While students got to spend the day hanging out with their new neighbors and dorm faculty, Eaglebrook faculty and staff worked tirelessly throughout the day to safely transfer the students’ belongings to their newly sanitized residencies. 

The next day, all students on campus were able to attend in-person classes. For many Eaglebrook students, these were their first in-person classes since last spring. The class day was followed by the much anticipated first day of fall sports. The start of fall sports incited a great deal of energy and enthusiasm throughout the student body, especially since many of them had not been able to participate in organized sports in months. 

The excitement that the opening of sports displayed was an excellent insight into the gratitude that Eaglebrook students are feeling toward the opportunity to participate in campus life in the midst of a pandemic. During the first “Sunday” Meeting of the year—which actually took place on Wednesday, the 16th—Eaglebrook students had the opportunity to reflect on both their individual and collective fortune as they looked westward beyond Memorial Field toward the rolling hills that line the Pioneer Valley. Click here to see photos from the first Sunday Meeting.
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271 Pine Nook Road   |   P. O. Box 7   |    Deerfield, MA 01342   |   413-774-7411