Safety Protocols

Only students and employees are allowed in the buildings—parents/guardians, prospective families, college visitors, tutors, vendors and others may not enter. We have no large indoor gatherings, such as assemblies or pep rallies. Many events are being re-imagined and/or moved online.

Students and employees are

• required to wear masks while they are on campus—inside and out.
  • Students who cannot wear a mask for health reasons must contact school nurse Casie Tomlinson; employees must contact assistant business manager Mary Bieker
  • We have disposable masks available at the entrances, in classrooms and in the nurse’s office in case people forget or have a mishap. Here is a link to the CDC’s guidance on proper face coverings.
  • Everyone should bring an extra cloth mask to school each day along with a bag to carry the extra mask. Used masks should be washed in hot water daily.
  • We have a designated location outside where students, faculty and staff can remove masks safely, far from others.
  • Lunch is organized with ample space between people to allow safe removal of masks.
• required to socially distance. 
• screened daily. Anyone with symptoms is required to leave school immediately. There is a safe and isolated waiting space if there is a delay in being picked up. Our nursing staff has increased to help with screening, logistics, etc.

One of the hallmarks of Burroughs is the trust that we give to students. We understand that students learn by failing, and we want them to make mistakes. Each year, when we present the rules to the students, we share that we prefer to talk about the “customs”—the habits that they are not required to do (thanking teachers, inviting others into their conversations, holding the door for one another) but that make the community a better place. We try not to have a rigid set of rules because it creates an "us vs. them" tone in the school and undermines the climate we hope to create.

But these are—as we have all heard repeated over and over—unprecedented times. There are some sacrifices that all of us have to make to ensure the health and safety of those around us.

• We must change our mindset about coming to school when we’re not feeling well; instead, to protect each other, we must exercise an abundance of caution and stay home.
• Students who refuse to wear a mask or need to be repeatedly reminded to comply with social distancing guidelines are asked to attend school via remote learning.
• Students and employees need to be prepared to correct one another about proper mask usage and social distancing, and to accept correction when it is given.
• Students must remain in designated areas when they are not in class to ensure social distancing and proper masking. Those spaces include the Commons, the library, outdoors in the quadrangle or meeting with a teacher.
• Because we require students to be masked when they are inside at all times, students may only consume food outside or in designated dining areas where they are distanced.

• Students enter campus at assigned points where they have their temperatures taken and verify that they have completed the daily health screening.
• Students disinfect their hands upon arrival and throughout the day.
• Student lockers are distributed throughout the school rather than sectioned off by grade so that classmates do not cluster near one another.
• Students attend assembly, which is livestreamed, in their first-period classrooms. Student desks are at least six feet apart, and students are assigned seats in their classrooms to facilitate contact tracing if needed.
• Students have more time (seven minutes) to move between classes, and they walk through one–way hallways and stairways.
• Use of restrooms is limited to two people at any given time.
• Students are supervised in communal spaces to ensure they adhere to masking and social distancing requirements.
• Lunch is outside whenever possible. On days when weather forces us indoors, students eat in designated areas that allow for social distancing.
  • Boxed lunches are available from multiple assigned pick-up points to reduce crowding, and there is a designated pick-up spot for students who need allergen-free meals.
  • Students may pick up lunch on days they are learning remotely, or they may pick it up the day before.
• Fruit (wrapped when necessary) is available throughout the day in the Snack Shack. The junior-senior snack is available at stations in the Commons and STAR building.
• Our PE/athletics program has been adjusted. 

• Student classroom desks are at least six feet apart from one another and from their teacher. Doors and windows are open whenever possible, both to bring in fresh air and to reduce the number of people who need to touch door handles.
• Some classes have been moved out of the Brauer Building to further reduce the density in the most concentrated area. Non-traditional spaces are being used as classrooms, e.g., the Makerspace, the robotics lab, conference rooms, the library, the dance studio, outdoor spaces, etc.
• All classrooms are equipped with conferencing microphones so that students who are Zooming can hear teacher and student comments and questions.
• The number of students in the library is limited, and some spaces, like the engineering computer lab, are closed because they are too small.
• To lessen the density of students and support social distancing, sofas and benches have been replaced with chairs set at least six feet apart in the Commons, library and the lobby of Haertter Hall.
• The bookstore is open for students to purchase needed materials, but capacity is limited.
• Outdoor spaces are used when possible. Wi-Fi has been boosted in the Quad and other locations so that teachers can Zoom when they choose to have class outside. We have set up tents for outdoor classroom space, and chairs are available for lunch and outside classes. All large gatherings are held outside.
• Ventilation in all common and teaching spaces meets or exceeds safe levels. The system in each building has been upgraded since 2013. All of them bring in outside air, exchange the air in all spaces, and filter any recycled air. They are modern, sophisticated systems.
• Water-bottle-filling stations are installed throughout campus.

• Every classroom is disinfected each evening, and surfaces are disinfected between class periods.
• Hand sanitizing stations are set up in every classroom, and additional stations are spaced throughout the campus. Students apply sanitizer whenever they enter a new classroom or office.
• Restrooms are cleaned and disinfected twice daily.

• The buildings open at 7:30 am. The Brauer Building and STAR building are locked at 6 pm each evening. The Commons is locked at 6:30 pm; supervision is provided until 7 pm when all students must vacate.
• School buildings are not open on weekends or in the evenings except for school-sponsored organized activities with adult supervision.