The beginning of the 2020-21 school year has undergone many changes—masks, tracking wristbands, and daily wellness surveys being just a few examples. This issue of The Hill News will discuss the changes that this pandemic has inflicted on campus life.

Lucas Kim ‘24, a new day student from Downingtown, Pa., described one of his biggest concerns as missing out on many of the important school traditions which have been canceled or modified in order to fit the new social distancing guidelines.

“As a new student, I’m missing out on a lot of opportunities, like sporting events and dances that, since I’m new this year, I didn’t get to already do,” Kim said. He added that one of the biggest adjustments for him was remembering to wear his tracking bracelet and fill out the daily wellness surveys.

“Going into this year my biggest concern was, you know, not being able to teach in a quality way to the remote students and develop relationships with them that were beneficial to their learning,” explained Senior Master of English Ned Ide. He said that, in addition, one of the biggest changes that has impacted him is the doubled class time, since instead of teaching four periods a day he now teaches six.

For international students, the adjustments were even more drastic. “I flew to Vancouver; I quarantined two weeks there, and then I flew to Toronto, and then I flew to Hill where I had to quarantine another two weeks,” said Elina Wen ’24 on the process she went through in order to come to Hill. Wen is from Beijing, and she said that, even after getting to school, there is still the concern that China will close its borders. “There is the possibility that they won’t let planes fly from America to China, and I wouldn’t be able to get back home.”

Ellie Rice ’21, a boarding student from Schwenksville, Pa., explained that one of the many big differences this school year is the new shepherding strategy being implemented.

         “You have to be socially distant, wearing masks, and the people you see are going to be different. You’re limited to your flocks, droves, or herds, which is all very new.” She mentioned that this has impacted life in the dorms and that boarding students are now more limited in the amount of people from their dorm with whom they can interact with.

           Dean of Students Ari Baum echoed this statement, saying that it is one of the most prominent student concerns that he has heard. He explained that, in response to this, the school has drafted plans to allow more interaction between different student groups, but they cannot be put into place until Opening Conditions are over. On Sept. 11, Headmaster Zack Lehman announced that the school hopes to move out of Opening Conditions on Sept. 16. 

         “We already have plans; we just can’t medically execute them yet. We plan to have common places during free times where people from different dorms or boarding and day students can gather … so there can be fewer boundaries,” Baum said. He is adamant about the value of social interaction, even when people must stay six feet apart from each other. He explained that while students should physically distance, they should not socially distance from each other, emphasizing that it is now more important than ever to stay connected to the people around us