Guiding Principles

Building upon our efforts in the 2020-2021 school year, The Montgomery Academy remains committed to using its resources to offer rich on-campus educational programming as we navigate what we all hope will be the final stages of this global pandemic.

The Montgomery Academy is committed to

Protecting the health and safety of students and employees
Upholding our mission and core values
Maintaining compliance with government orders
Utilizing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) while also recognizing our ability as an independent school to make decisions that are best for our students and community
Establishing effective use of spaces and places to support the school’s ability to maintain our school routines for learning
Responding with flexibility to the changing dynamics of the pandemic.

The information in this resource was last updated on August 16, 2021

First Days of School & Calendar

The Montgomery Academy will hold the first day of school on campus Tuesday, August 17, 2021.

We anticipate following the published school calendar for on-campus learning throughout the school year. While we anticipate remaining on campus throughout the school year, we are also preparing for potential interruptions and may need to adjust accordingly should the nature of the pandemic change in the months to come. As always, we will communicate proactively and provide you with more information if and when needed.

Health & Wellness

Social Distancing - We are going to strive for 3-foot distancing in classrooms and in other student gatherings on campus. We will resume having lunch in the Hobbs Dining Hall at the Lower School and at Hill Hall on the Vaughn Road campus. Should there be a significant outbreak of cases within our community, we will alter plans accordingly and resume more restrictive social distancing plans as needed.
Face Coverings/Masks - In order to best protect our students, faculty and staff and to allow us to continue to "do school" as normally as possible, the following protocols will go into effect as we begin the 2021-2022 school year:
- The Montgomery Academy will require masks indoors on campus for all students, faculty and campus guests regardless of vaccination status as we begin the 2021-2022 school year.
- Masks will be optional outdoors according to parent discretion.
- We will maintain the same mask exemptions for physical activity and eating that were in place last year.
- Mask guidelines: Students may wear solid-colored face coverings, neck gaiters or face coverings from an official MA source (uniform companies, spiritwear store, athletic department). All face coverings should be labeled with the student’s name, and monogramming is permitted. The CDC does not recommend the use of face shields for normal, everyday activities or as a substitute for cloth face coverings.
Contact Tracing - Our school nurse will utilize the latest guidance provided by the CDC and ADPH to make the best determination of quarantine needs if there is a case diagnosis on our campus. We encourage all families to consult the decision tree each day to determine if your child should be on campus. With our Face Coverings/Masks measures in place, we believe that we will be able to utilize the latest ADPH definition of close contact in order to reduce the need for quarantining asymptomatic students who may be in proximity to an infected person. As our current "Return to Campus Decision Tree" states, vaccinated students can avoid quarantine in exposure situations as long as they remain asymptomatic or do not test positive for COVID-19.
Hygiene - Students will be taught appropriate handwashing techniques and encouraged to wash their hands or sanitize their hands regularly during the school day.
Volunteers & Guests - We anticipate being able to resume our regular volunteer opportunities. We will continue to ask that all guests be registered and go through a self-screening protocol prior to coming onto campus. Guests may be restricted and/or volunteer opportunities may be limited should cases increase during the school year.
Confidentiality - The school will not divulge any confidential information about the specific diagnosis of any student or faculty member. We will no longer report the number of COVID cases in the weekly e-bulletin unless a regular number of cases indicates that we need to resume that practice.

Deciding When to Stay Home

Use the decision tree chart each day to determine whether your child should attend school. Please contact your divisional office if your child is not going to be present for a medical reason, and be sure to notify the office the day before your child intends to return to school. Parental confirmation of vaccination or previous diagnosis must be provided to the school nurse to avoid quarantine. ADPH recommends that a vaccinated person exposed to COVID-19 be tested 3-5 days after exposure. If student develops symptoms or is later diagnosed with COVID-19, then follow guidance for those scenarios.

If you have any questions about whether your child should attend for medical reasons, please contact Nurse Shontrice Boswell prior to bringing your child to campus.

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How You Can Help

Creating and maintaining a healthy campus environment is essential and is going to require everyone’s support and participation. Families can help reinforce safety protocols by:

Hygiene and Preventive Health Practices

Encourage frequent handwashing and use of hand sanitizer.
Practice coughing and sneezing into elbows.
Daily temperature checks at home before arriving at school.
Continue regular doctor visits and well-child appointments.
Encourage plenty of physical activity and time outside.

Emotional wellness

Ask how your child is feeling and give them space to share and ask questions.
Provide stability by maintaining home routine.
Reassure them that the adults in their lives are there to support their emotional and physical well-being.
Reach out to our counseling staff for additional support.

Prepared for Interruptions

Even though we anticipate that we are past the worst month of the pandemic, there may be circumstances beyond our control in the months to come. Based on concerns about possible virus variants, there could be possible outbreaks of COVID-19 which could impact on-campus programming in the future. In the event we are notified by government officials or the health department of the need to close the campus or limit the number of people on campus, school will continue remotely or in a combination of remote learning and on-campus learning. A formal plan for remote learning exists should we need it.

During any period of temporary remote learning, we remain committed to delivering on our mission, providing students with a high quality, student-centered learning experience, and communicating clearly and consistently.

Tuition and Fees

The policies and procedures outlined in this resource are subject to change as conditions evolve.

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