Upon arrival on campus, nearly all new and returning students will be fully vaccinated. By early October, the student vaccination rate will be 99+%. Among campus adults, it will be 98+%. This offers a powerful shield against the risk of community spread and serious infection.  

At this time, the State of Connecticut is requiring, until September 30, all students in all schools in the State wear masks when indoors. The State may choose to lift this requirement as of September 30 or to extend it. 

While this mandate is in effect, all Hotchkiss students and campus adults must wear masks when indoors with the following exceptions: 

• While eating or drinking
• For students, in a student’s own dorm room
• For faculty, in a teacher’s own office or in faculty housing

We hope to minimize the requirement to wear masks indoors as quickly as we can, but we must abide by State requirements. Masks remain optional outdoors.

A set of six (6) reusable masks will be provided for all new students at registration. Returning students should plan to bring their masks from last year. We will have only a small supply available for returning students.

A small number of students who were unable to receive their full course of vaccine in their home countries will receive it upon arrival at School. Affected students have received individual communication and will be provided comfortable space in which to quarantine on campus during this time. These students will also follow additional masking and testing protocols until they are fully vaccinated. In cases where these students have been assigned roommates who are vaccinated, quarantine will take place in a separate location.

Upon arrival, all students are asked to provide the results of a negative PCR or molecular test that is no more than five (5) days old and preferably three (3) days old. 

In addition, we will conduct a pooled saliva test of all students. (Students should refrain from eating, drinking, or chewing gum for 30 minutes prior to their scheduled arrival time at the MAC.) 

During the school year, unvaccinated students will be tested weekly. Unvaccinated student athletes who plan to participate in upcoming athletic contests will be tested twice per week. 

Students who have been off-campus for weekends (e.g., club sports or weekends away) will also be required to test upon their return to campus and will be required to mask indoors until their negative test is received. This masking will be required regardless of whether or not a State-mandated masking order continues to be in place.

Any student who tests positive for COVID at any time, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, will be asked to leave campus with a parent, guardian, or proxy caregiver for a period of at least 10 days from the date the test was obtained. Prior to return, the student must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and other symptoms improving. Students will be cleared by the Health Center to return to campus.  

We will conduct contact-tracing to identify any close contacts. Close contacts who are vaccinated and asymptomatic will be required to wear a mask indoors and will be tested three (3) to five (5) days after the exposure. Masking will continue at least until the test results are received and may be up to 14 days, even if masking rules have been otherwise relaxed. Close contacts who are unvaccinated will be required to quarantine off-campus for 10 days and must have a test at day eight (8) of their quarantine to be cleared to return to campus. 

All meals will be served in the Dining Hall, which will offer traditional options such as the salad bar, panini presses, and other food prep stations. (For those who were on campus last year, this means no more boxed meals and no more dining in Ford Tennis!) In order to minimize population density in the Dining Hall, students will be strongly encouraged to take advantage of outdoor seating as long as the weather is good. We have added outdoor tents to provide additional seating.  

Initially, the Snack Bar will be open for take-out only. 

Students may also order food for delivery at their own expense from any local restaurants that provide delivery service. 

All classroom spaces have been returned to their pre-COVID set-ups and no longer include socially-distanced desks. All teaching will be conducted in-person. In the event a student needs to be absent from class, that student will be supported in staying current on their schoolwork, but hybrid learning will not be offered. No classes will be conducted via Zoom. 

Ten-minutes of passing time have been established between all class periods to allow ample time for travel.

We will offer full, in-person instruction in all arts and music disciplines. Initially, students will be masked, and we will optimize space to reduce density. Conditions permitting, we will relax these safety measures in due course.

We plan to offer a full program of sports and co-curriculars, including interscholastic competition. Student athletes at schools with which we compete are either fully vaccinated or will have been cleared through testing before any competition. Until the indoor masking requirement is lifted, all athletes playing indoor sports must remain masked. 

We recognize that bringing your student(s) to School is an important part of the Hotchkiss experience, and we regret that parents/guardians will not be able to assist your student in getting moved into their dorm room. However, parents/guardians are welcome to accompany your student into the MAC for arrival and registration. Restrooms and light refreshments will be available for visiting families during registration.

Our first priority is to get School safely up and running for students, so the campus will be “closed” in the opening weeks. Beginning the weekend of September 18, we hope to relax these restrictions and return to a greater sense of normalcy. We anticipate that this will include the freedom to leave campus. Importantly, these plans are made with the best intentions but are subject to change should local conditions deteriorate. 

Families and Guests

Before September 18:

Aside from coming to campus to drop students off for Opening Days, no outside visitors will be allowed on campus.  

September 18 and after: 

It is our intention to welcome visitors to outdoor locations on campus as of this date. Families will be welcome to attend outdoor sporting events, take walks around campus, attend Family Weekend in October, etc. However, we do not anticipate being able to allow visitors into indoor spaces (Main Building, dorms, etc.) As an exception, parents/guardians will be able to enter the MAC on arrival day to register their child. 

Current Students

Before September 18:

All students must remain on campus until this date. Requests to leave campus will not be granted.

September 18 and after:

We anticipate that students will be able to request permission to leave campus for outside sporting/education commitments, trips to local towns, or weekends home, according to standard procedures. Additional testing may be required upon return to campus.

In-person Family Weekend will take place on October 14, 15 & 16! If you have not already done so, we encourage you to make plans to visit campus in person. 

Note that in-person Family Weekend attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated. Testing will not be required prior to arrival.

The Family Weekend registration form will include a declaration of COVID-19 vaccination. Family members will be welcome in all campus buildings, including the dorms! All participants must remain masked indoors. We strongly encourage students to remain masked indoors when they are off campus. Testing will be conducted upon students' return to campus.

If you have any questions about Family Weekend, please contact Lisa Brown, director of events and special projects, at (860) 435-3188.