At the time the Beacon goes to press, Proctor will be in the midst of its first week of offering online courses to students around the globe. Proctor is working in close partnership with AE/MS, the Town Select Board, and local emergency management services to fully support nationwide efforts to control the spread of COVID-19. Here are some of the developments to date:
Project Period was canceled. We used the week of March 23 through 28 to allow our faculty to develop an online curriculum for at least the first two weeks of the spring term. We will use Cisco’s Webex as our primary classroom platform, while continuing to leverage Google Docs and myProctor as additional resources.
Online classes started on Monday, March 30. Some courses (metal engineering, woodworking, and ceramics, for example) are impossible to replicate online, but faculty are doing everything they can to continue to deliver a personalized, experienced-based curriculum. Faculty to continue to hold extra-help sessions; Learning Specialists and Advisors will continue to meet virtually with their students.
Off-campus programs (European Art Classroom, Proctor en Segovia, Proctor en Monteverde, and Mountain Classroom) are canceled for the Spring Term. Administration is working with off-campus instructors to develop unique online offerings specific to each respective off-campus program’s intent. The experience will not be the same, not by any stretch, but it will bring some of the off-campus academics to those students.
Athletic Contests are postponed until students return to campus. Proctor’s athletic department is in constant communication with other schools, and if we return, they will continue collaborating with peer schools to schedule athletic contests. In the interim, faculty are offering a unique set of afternoon programs to students remotely, including fitness classes, cycling and running challenges, eSports leagues, yoga, and much more.
Spring Family Weekend has been canceled. Given a delayed return to campus for students and a need to maximize class days with students on campus, we are canceling Spring Family Weekend activities this year.
All non-essential school-sponsored travel for faculty and staff will be curtailed. This includes alumni gatherings, conferences, and development travel, though our Alumni and Development Office.
A date for students to return to campus is not fixed at this time: Our hope is that we will be able to resume on-campus academics and activities as soon as possible, but we will continue to monitor events and determine best practices; we hope to make a decision on the remainder of the Spring Term and Commencement by April 6.
We encourage all residents of the Town of Andover to view Proctor’s COVID-19 Resource page at ProctorAcademy.org/about/covid-19-resources if you have questions about how the school is handling the situation. The website will be updated frequently with the most up-to-date information from the school throughout the spring.