Compluvium & Report of Giving 2024

The spring 2024 edition of Atrium’s annual magazine, the Compluvium, is now available to read online. This year’s publication reflects on Atrium’s history and journey as a school while looking to the future of our campus, programming, and community.

The Compluvium is named for the feature of Roman architecture, an opening in the atrium roof that let in air, light, and collectible rainwater to a residence. Atrium’s magazine fulfills a similarly central purpose, providing yearly insight into the life of the school for alums and alum families, students and current families, and faculty and staff. Our 2024 issue includes an interview with veteran faculty members Merry Murray Meade, Susan Jacoby, and Jill Ferraresso; a timeline of the Middle School’s ten-year history; a preview of upcoming campus renovations; the annual Report of Giving; and much more.

Click the image below to enjoy the full edition of the 2024 Compluvium & Report of Giving.

COMPLUVIUM & Report of Giving 2023

Named for the airy opening in an ancient Roman atrium, the Compluvium & Report of Giving publication shines light on Atrium’s past year and the state of the school for alumni and current families, faculty, and friends.

The 2023 edition dives into our newly refreshed mission statement and the community process behind it. We explore social justice curriculum in action in the classroom and break down some of Atrium’s recent initiatives in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Read about Class of ‘94 alum Mina Stone’s journey to becoming a chef in Updates From Alumni, and follow a day in the life of a current Atrium student in the Report of Giving.

Click here to read the full issue of this year’s Compluvium & Report of Giving.

COMPLUVIUM & Report of Giving 2022

The 2022 edition of Atrium’s Compluvium is now available to read online! This year’s publication highlights recent advancements in our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work; innovation in our math and science curriculum; impactful alumni stories; and our community’s generous support. The Compluvium & Report of Giving provides a window into Atrium’s exceptional year for our extended community. As Head of School Marshall Carter remarks, “Our students will remember this time not for what it wasn’t, but for what it joyfully was.”

Click here to read the full issue.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

The newest edition of the Atrium Sun has hit the stands! The Atrium Sun was founded in 2013 by then-5th grader Wilder; its mission remains to provide the community with a school newspaper written and edited entirely by the students, for the students. Today, the Sun is produced by a dedicated team of middle schoolers as part of their Leadership block, a time for students to create change within and outside of our school walls. Click here to read the latest issue of the Atrium Sun.

Reflections on the Year & Planning for 2021-22

Dear Atrium Families,

Walking Atrium’s hallways and classrooms this week, I’ve missed the purposeful thrum of learning and play. The gleeful energy of children carried us through this uncommonly difficult year!  The full historical impact of 2020 and 2021 can’t be known yet, but we are all made stronger by this brief and powerful era. Ultimately, we’ll remember not what we couldn’t do, but what we did do. 

We safely opened our doors, uninterrupted, from September to June. We protected the health and safety of each member of the community, with a startlingly low number of Covid cases.

Parents came into the building for spring conferences. Each class enjoyed a year-end off-campus excursion, and Graduation was lively and poignant. How is it possible that facing such daunting conditions, Atrium thrived and grew? This community powerfully answered the call with extraordinary fundraising support to help meet unexpected Covid-related expenses. Our enrollment for 2021-22 already exceeds enrollment for the year just completed. When distrust pervaded our nation, trust at Atrium grew. Most importantly, Atrium teachers wholly reinvented teaching, while remaining utterly true to who we are, and to what our children needed this year.  How is all this possible? Let me express once again my profound gratitude to each and every family for being so resilient, so adaptable, and so willing to make this year work.

With this momentum, Atrium’s planning for 2021-22 is well underway. At school we are reflecting on which “pandemic innovations” merit preservation, and we are assessing which “sidelined by the pandemic” elements of Atrium will be restored next year. For example, an outdoor morning start for our youngest children will continue, as will more structured traffic routines. We plan a newly revitalized instrumental music program, to counter the impact of an 18-month disruption. We observed during the pandemic that smaller specialist classes were successful, and are exploring schedule improvements to further strengthen arts education at Atrium. We are not simply returning to “how things were”; rather, we become a better school from our recent experiences.

This year Atrium School engaged The Glasgow Group to conduct a community-wide climate study, and we recently received their summary report. This thorough and inclusive process yielded very affirming feedback about equity and diversity at Atrium, but also conveyed some hard truths: not all community members feel the sense of belonging here that they deserve. We will continue to make concrete and measurable strides forward in the near term, to ensure that Atrium is intentionally and consistently equitable. We must become a more diverse and inclusive school if we are to truly raise up citizens and leaders who work for justice. Guided by Director of Equity and Curriculum Simone Miles-Esteves, this summer and fall we will further center tangible steps toward these goals. Simone will write to you in August, to frame Atrium’s work ahead.

For your planning purposes, I want to preview some key decisions regarding the year to come. While certain public health measures for schools are not yet clear and conditions may still change, we have every expectation that:

• the full school week will be restored for all students Pre-K through 8th Grade, consisting of full-length on-campus days, Monday through Friday. 

• students will be able to mix across grades, allowing for the return of prized activities like Constellations and Middle School Advisory. Parents may enter the building more freely.

• a revitalized, full After School Program including enrichment components will return, Monday through Friday until 5:30 p.m. Early drop off will also be available.

Truly, 2020-21 was a remarkable expression of excellence with joy. We are planning an exciting progression of welcoming events for the fall, and it is uncommonly sweet to anticipate the emotion and pleasure of this community coming together again, in person.

Warmly,
Marshall

COMPLUVIUM & Report of Giving 2021

Winter 2021

In ancient Rome, the compluvium was a central opening in the atrium roof that let in light and air. The Atrium School COMPLUVIUM publication is for alumni and alumni parents, students, parents, faculty and staff, grandparents, and all friends of Atrium School which provides a window into the life of the school.

The fiscal year 2019-2020 was full of difficult, unexpected challenges, yet our community came together to support our students and teachers. At Atrium, teachers continued to work toward a common goal: to make learning joyful so that children are engaged, and thus, learning more. The faculty remained nimble, flexible, adaptable, and resilient. All the while the board and school remained committed to our longer-term strategic plan. This issue of the COMPLUVIUM highlights the resilience of the community and the school’s vision for young people for the years ahead.   

We are extremely grateful to the entire Atrium community for your spirit of generosity and commitment to our mission. Continued strong support for the Atrium Fund and other initiatives ensures Excellence with Joy continues in all areas of our program – academics, extra curriculars, arts.

If you would like to read the entire COMPLUVIUM & Report of Giving, click here.

Atrium Covid Testing Results: An Update

January 6

Dear Atrium Community,

I'm very pleased to share with you that the Covid-19 testing program administered through AFC to Atrium employees and students this week contained zero positive Covid-19 results. This lays a clear pathway to return to campus on Monday, January 11.

First, I want to thank you all for the careful family decisions you have made. Children are best served by full-time, in-person learning; the Atrium community's commitment to health has made our in-person success possible all year. I'm grateful for our collective dedication to our students.

Second, I urge continued vigilance and safety. The pandemic rages on, and this fresh testing baseline must not make us overconfident. We all remain diligent by:

• Continuing to "lay low" this remote week, this weekend and for the duration of the pandemic.

• Carefully watching your children and family members for the development of any symptoms. Seek testing and medical care if any family member feels sick. Atrium will resume daily health attestations on Monday January 11.

• Continuing, at Atrium and away from school, to practice good ventilation, consistent mask use, ample distancing, and personal hygiene.

Again, thank you! I continue to be so proud of how Atrium has strengthened as a community through such a trying, complex and sustained time.

Warmly,

Marshall

Atrium’s Winter Plans: The Next Stages

December 10

Dear Atrium Families, 
 
Since March I’ve written regularly to you, anticipating what’s to come and to detail Atrium’s plans moving forward. Our school community has weathered this pandemic with fortitude, flexibility and spirit. The months ahead do feel daunting: despite our strength, this is profoundly wearying.  
 
But like each successive and ultimately successful transition we’ve pulled off since March, I’m confident that the Atrium community will continue to hold steady through the winter. Keenly devoted to safely preserving our face-to-face with remote inclusion model, I write to you today about 1) the coming Winter Vacation; 2) two important decisions about our return to school in January; and 3) possible scenarios through the winter months. 
 
How You Spend Winter Vacation
I want to reiterate what I shared with you prior to Thanksgiving, and strongly discourage you from travelling, hosting guests, or having close contact outside your family over the coming Winter Vacation break. I feel it personally too: we don’t want to limit ourselves in these ways, but we must. At present, there are very few states designated as lower-risk, and Massachusetts requirements for quarantine upon return are the strictest to date.  Lapsing in care could take a profound toll on your family’s health, and our teachers’ health. Winter Vacation may include more varied family activities, and I urge you to re-familiarize yourself with guidelines like these from the CDC or these from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Recall that recent Massachusetts contact-tracing guidelines state that a student exposed to a person positive for Covid-19 requires two-week quarantine regardless of test results. Out-of-state travel must be disclosed in daily attestations when January comes. A safer return to school in January rests upon each of our individual decisions.
 
The First Week of School Back, and January 4 Covid Testing at Atrium
Given public health changes that could come in the next few weeks, at Atrium we choose to face uncertain circumstances ahead proactively, rather than reactively, and take further steps to ensure community health. To protect our shared long-term goal of continuing face-to-face learning, we are taking a purposeful “strategic pause”: all Grades PreK to 8th will be remote for the first week back, January 4-8. This decision was developed in consultation with Atrium’s leadership team and several expert parent physicians; it enjoys enthusiastic support among teachers. 

• Families are to come to campus on Monday, January 4 for curbside pick-up of learning materials for the week.

• As a supplemental safety strategy, on-campus PCR testing will be required of students and staff on January 4. Using the gentle anterior nostril swab method, this testing will be conducted by a professional, school-experienced team from AFC Urgent Care of Watertown. Laboratory results provided by the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard will be provided within 72 hours. This testing supports community health, and puts us all more at ease. Schedule details will follow as they are finalized, as well as information on how health data will be handled discreetly. This testing will be at no cost to Atrium families or staff.

• Flu shots and documentation, as you know, are required for children to return to school.

• Assuming it is safe to do so, it is our wholehearted goal to resume our face-to-face with remote inclusion model Monday, January 11, and we work diligently towards that goal.

To be clear: the January 4-8 remote week for all is not an extension of the Winter Vacation. The testing and curbside materials pick-up on January 4 are intentional choices, meaning that we are all at home that week, contributing to the safety of our Atrium students, families and teachers, and to public health in general.

Possible Scenarios This Winter
This plan will bring greater certainty, peace of mind, and safety for all; we now enter Winter Vacation all knowing what is going to happen in advance. The remote week also gives us a chance to practice a school-wide transition to remote teaching & learning under controlled circumstances, should further such transitions lie ahead. Beyond the planned remote week of January 4-8:

• We are working hard to be back, face-to-face with remote inclusion on January 11 and to sustain that model for as long as possible.

• It is possible that by January 11, public health conditions may necessitate a new kind of hybrid, or a continuation of remote learning.

• One possible scenario, now more common in some schools through the pandemic, involves the face-to-face learning for younger grades while older grades learn remotely. Through the winter, we may need to flexibly “toggle” (by class/pod or as a whole school) between face-to-face and remote.

• As with every stage of this year, we will make, and communicate, decisions at the appropriate time according to the circumstances.

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The school will send you further information in the coming weeks about January 4 materials pickup and testing. Before Friday December 18, your children’s teachers will also send information about the remote instruction week of January 4-8. I want to acknowledge that this remote week may make an impact on your family’s home and work schedules. Few schools have had as long and successful a stretch of in-person learning as Atrium has, and we’ve all become quite accustomed to kids being at school! Rest assured, that while perhaps counterintuitive, the planned remote week better ensures ongoing face-to-face schooling. 
 
In closing: recently I’ve been on numerous calls with fellow heads of school, physicians, and even attended an MGH “Grand Rounds” medical Zoom about schools in the near future. Experts with the latest information and timetables not yet publicly shared are encouraged about the rate of progress they’re seeing. With vaccines close on the horizon, even the most cautious public health experts have reason to be hopeful. 
 
And so, I can't help but also be hopeful about what’s ahead--especially with the unity, commitment and diligence of this Atrium community. Thank you, sincerely. We’re all doing a remarkable thing together, and your support for this latest planning is most appreciated.
 
Warmly, 
Marshall

Keeping Atrium Safe

November 16

Dear Atrium Families,
 
With Thanksgiving approaching, I want to wish you the very best for this brief holiday break, and update you on safety steps in our building. Let’s also take a moment to refresh community health and safety guidelines. We all have an essential role in keeping Atrium safe!
 
Last month I wrote to you, and reiterate: I strongly discourage you from travelling beyond the states deemed lower-risk by Massachusetts standards. This list of lower-risk states has narrowed sharply in recent days. Close visits with friends and relatives beyond your “bubble” now brings increased risk of COVID transmission. We all dearly miss our loved ones, but the alarming spread of COVID at small gatherings must give us pause. A few moments of lapsed care can take a profound toll on family health and our teachers’ health. We’ve had such a successful fall at Atrium; your diligence and care must continue if we are to thrive in our face-to-face model into early winter. 

If you have no choice but to travel to and from a higher-risk state, any Atrium community member must follow all updated and evolving state protocols. These include:  

• Filling out the Massachusetts state travel form.

• Upon return, each family member who travelled must be PCR-tested with a negative result before a child can return to school, or you must observe the state-required 14-day quarantine. Atrium will request documentation of the test results. Please note that demand is once again rising, and testing may not be easily available.

• Consistent with recent contact tracing guidelines: were a student to even be exposed to someone who is positive for Covid-19, the exposed student must quarantine and learn remotely for a minimum of two weeks, regardless of test results.

• Finally, and as I’m sure you understand, choosing to travel and then requesting remote instruction upon return places a powerful stress upon faculty, who have restricted their own family plans for the sake of students, as well as the entire Atrium community.

Our preparations for a safer return to school after Thanksgiving continue, though this return depends on both the actions of our Atrium community and also the wider community. We have extensively researched air quality strategies, and continue to refine our facilities management.

• Recently, our air quality assessment firm returned to retest our building interior. The short story: our air quality continues to be excellent. CO2 levels around the building were even lower than the August testing, as a result of open windows.

• Our HVAC systems and boilers have all been re-tested, and system filters have been upgraded to the industry-standard MERV-13 level.

• Fresh air flow is key, and so classroom and hallway windows will remain ajar during the day. Each room will be equipped with a small CO2 monitor. This metric gives teachers clear and easy-to-interpret info about fresh air exchange, and empowers simple and immediate adjustment steps.

• From time to time outside school hours, we will also flush the full building by opening doors and the large Atrium Space door.

 
We are also refining our teaching practices for evolving conditions, and so professional development support for our faculty continues. Kathy Hanson is working with OunceIT and others to support both digital learning and emotional well-being at school; I am working with the Massachusetts Audubon Society to develop teacher training sessions to grow our capacity for winter outdoor teaching techniques.  
 
We continue, every day, to look at more ways to help school be safer. We've been successful so far because of everyone's ingenuity, commitment to safety, resilience and spirit. If you have ideas, insights, and resources please bring them forward – I welcome your input!
 
Warmly (even with windows open),

Marshall

Preparing for the Election Ahead

Nov. 1

Dear Atrium Community,
 
We’re all well aware that Tuesday, November 3 is Election Day.  Though early voting began weeks ago, it seems unlikely that Wednesday morning will bring definitive news. We must brace ourselves for divisive uncertainty, legal challenges, and raw emotions across a wounded America. We must also brace ourselves for the very real possibility of post-election violence in America. Members of our own Atrium community are feeling acutely marginalized and vulnerable. I never thought we’d find our best ideals of equality, fair play and progress so profoundly tested from within by prejudice and misused power.  
 
Yet, here we are, in a place of complex and cross-cutting emotions, and too much is on the line. I wish I knew how to summon words to calm and to comfort. I want to believe in Abraham Lincoln’s vision from 150 years ago, that we will see “the better angels of our nature” as a nation. And I hope––but do not fully trust––that my concerns here will seem overstated in hindsight. 
 
As educators and parents, we are called together to bring children through this quagmire, and we can be very proud of what is happening at Atrium School. In all our classrooms this fall, teachers have engaged with each other, and with our students, in learning even more passionately about democracy and civil discourse, and how to effectively teach it. Across older grades, students have learned more about our Constitution and its improvements through American history. They’ve learned how to skillfully engage in and lead civil discourse, and they have articulated the issues that matter to them most. These are vital preparations for their lives ahead; our students are citizens who will advance and sustain equity, justice and democracy wherever they go. 
 
As next week unfolds, and depending how these next few months go, we will all be called upon to balance teaching our children with shielding them. This will not be easy. To support this, here are resources assembled by our faculty Anti-Bias and Equity group and Atrium’s leadership team. The school will continue to provide resources after the election.

• 17 Tips from Commonsense Media to help steer children through the election

• From PBS, five ways to talk with young students about voting

• From PBS, “Talking with Young Kids about Elections, Democracy and Justice”

• This 2016 election article from the Anti-Defamation League remains very relevant

• This HealthLine article helps prepare children for post-election reactivity and violence

• National Association of School Psychologists’ advice on parenting in times of violence

Here at school, we are guided by these and other resources, including close work we’ve done with our partner organization Facing History and Ourselves. Atrium is the kind of place children need at a time like this. We care for your childrens’ hearts and their minds, and will hold them steady and safe with you through the turbulence ahead.
 
Warmly,
Marshall
 
PS: The arts offer hope. I often revisit this 1936 poem by Langston Hughes, which reveals both hard truths and enduring hope. It is achingly beautiful, and is meant to be read aloud.  This new duet from Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile, written for the moment, inspires too. 

Atrium Looks Ahead to November and December

October 25

Dear Atrium Community,
 
As we move into late fall and winter, today I write to share Atrium’s general plans for continuing to safely teach & learn during the COVID pandemic. We’re having a joyful, healthy autumn full of learning, growing and connecting, thanks to the diligent daily efforts of everyone in this Atrium community. The work is wearying, but we’ve found silver linings in our situation, discovering new ways of teaching and connecting our students. On behalf of the faculty and staff at Atrium, we take great joy in your children's presence, compassion, and exuberance for learning.
 
And so, we look ahead to November and December! So long as it remains safe to do so, Atrium will continue with the successful on-campus model with remote inclusion that we have practiced since September. The value of this model is clear, for all aspects of children's development. They are happy, engaged, and truly learning.
 
To make this possible, we must all take great care and vigilantly safeguard everyone’s health. We are all aware of the rise in COVID regionally and nationally, and we carefully monitor daily health metrics at Atrium and in Massachusetts. Schools well-managed for COVID have shown to be very safe so far this fall.  Of course, we all recognize that conditions may change, and that other schools make different decisions based on their own circumstances. Being small and nimble, Atrium is ready to move a grade or pod quickly to remote mode at any time. We are ready to shift the entire school to remote learning should conditions dictate that decision. But we strive, and are taking action, to sustain a thriving face-to-face learning community. Upon reading this letter, please join Kathy and me for a “Looking Ahead” virtual parent coffee this week on Wednesday at 9:00 am; Thursday at 12:00 pm; or Friday at 10:00 am. Zoom info will be shared via email prior to the meetings.
 
The shift from fall to winter brings new challenges. Seasonal maladies such as colds, coughs and fevers will likely increase, and we must pay close attention to them. “Remote days” may come for individual students and their siblings as families await COVID test results out of an abundance of caution. Our three-season tents will come down in December, and we will have somewhat less outdoor time. But relative to the herculean efforts to open in September, the gradual transition ahead feels manageable, and is built upon a foundation of successful strategies already in place. We have made it this far, and together we can make it through this next stretch! 
 
The foremost steps to sustain in-person learning involve safeguarding our own health, the health of our families and the health of our faculty and staff. To that end:

• The combination of regular hand-cleaning, consistent mask usage, physical distancing, and access to fresh air are foundational to individual and public health, when practiced at school and consistently away from school.  We’ll continue with daily health attestations for students & staff, requiring daily temperature-checking at home. 

• With Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approaching, I must strongly discourage you from travelling beyond the states deemed safe by Massachusetts standards, (which may change) or close visits with friends and relatives outside your existing “bubble.” It’s heart-wrenching for me to advise this. Nonetheless: the alarming recent pattern of COVID spread at small family gatherings must give us all pause. We are all feeling “pandemic fatigue” in our various ways, but a decision you make or a maskless moment of lapsed care: these can take a profound toll on your family’s health, our teachers’ health, and impact the Atrium community.  

• If you have no choice but to travel to and from a higher-risk state, both staff and students’ families must follow all updated and evolving protocols, including filling out the Massachusetts state travel form. Upon return, each travelling family member must be PCR-tested with a negative result before a child can return to school, or you must observe the state-required 14-day quarantine. Atrium will request documentation of negative test results.

• As previously shared with middle school families: to facilitate the safe rotations of teachers and student pods, Grades 6, 7, and 8 will have a fully-remote week prior to Thanksgiving break.

 
There are additional steps you must take as well:

• The earlier you can have your child flu-vaccinated, the better. Massachusetts now requires the flu vaccine for students and staff to return to school this January. 

• As the weather gets colder and wetter, be sure your child’s attire is appropriate each day; teachers will continue to provide information to you about clothing needs. Moving forward, Atrium students will continue to regularly experience outdoor learning and play.  Layers are best, and allow easy transitions between outdoor and indoor time.

• And as noted above: make every decision with the safety of your family, and our Atrium community, close in mind. This is how we sustain and protect our opportunity to be at school.

 
Atrium School has taken further steps to ensure we are ready for this seasonal transition. The September Scenarios Task Force is now the Winter Readiness Team, and meets to discuss health and safety measures as they relate to teaching and learning. Atrium seeks weekly guidance and input from parent physicians with directly relevant expertise in public health, infectious disease and COVID management. Last week, I personally convened and facilitated a series of three meetings for New England heads of school and facilities directors, to discuss and share strategies and resources. The Atrium community benefits greatly from these collaborative efforts among peer schools and health experts.
 
We continue to refine our facilities management protocols as well.  Prior to Thanksgiving, our HVAC contractor will again survey our full system and upgrade elements as necessary. We will test our furnaces to ensure that the extra demand of keeping rooms warm while keeping windows open is met. Our air quality consultant will again assess the building and provide suitable mitigation measures as called for. There are numerous further ways in which we are making meaningful improvements to our spaces, for safety and for learning.  
 
Finally: I know that we are asking a great deal of faculty, staff and families, all to make learning in-person possible and sustainable. I too am deeply pained at the lack of contact with loved ones. But in recent months, we have already surmounted considerable obstacles together at Atrium, and have great momentum to build on. I am inspired by the early history of open-air schools around the country, which faced both tuberculosis and Spanish Flu epidemics more than a hundred years ago. With flexibility and eagerness to adapt, our progressive early counterparts then rose to the occasion and built great strength in children. Students wrapped in surplus blankets with heated rocks at their feet learned in open-windowed classrooms! I promise you we won’t reprise these scenes, but with polar fleece and warm drinks at school, so too will we rise to this coming challenge. With careful and consistent health practices, school remains one of the safest, most engaging and important places children can be right now. Your children will not just endure, but they will gain resilience, perspective and greater empathy from this time.
 
Warmly and gratefully yours,
Marshall

Inside Atrium

Get a glimpse inside Atrium, where students have returned to on site school full time!

School Opening Updates

August 28, 2020
 

Dear Atrium Community,
 
We’ve planned and prepared all summer, and I’m thrilled to begin the new year with you very soon. With so many uncertainties in our world, I am especially eager for Atrium School to once again be the joyful, unified and purposeful place for your children’s growth, and a beacon for all of us in demanding and wearying times. I can’t wait to begin the familiar ritual of greeting you all each morning at the base of the ramp. I’ll be smiling behind my mask.
 
Last week you received the Reopening Handbook (available here behind MyAtrium), which I hope you have thoroughly read. This message includes further updates about the start of the year. This week and next, you will also receive messages from your children’s teachers with details about their specific classrooms and school supplies, and from PTA Class Parents about virtual social gatherings.  
 
Dropping Off Children at Atrium 
For safety’s sake, morning drop-off will be staggered between 8:15 and 8:55 a.m. Once each child’s daily health attestation is affirmed (details below), children will exit vehicles--already masked--at the usual drop-off point at the base of the ramp. Parents may not leave their vehicles. 

• Pre-K, K and 1st Grade: arrive between 8:15-8:30 a.m. for “outdoor start” on the playground.

• 2nd Grade through 5th Grade: arrive between 8:15 to 8:55 a.m.; enter Atrium via ramp entrance.

• Middle School: arrive between 8:25 and 8:45 a.m.; enter via Cafe door. 

• The Grades 2–5 time is meant to provide flexibility for multi-child families; please contact Marshall or Kathy with any questions about sibling drop-off. 

• Carpools are strongly discouraged for safety reasons; COVID spread within a carpool brings risks to your child, and risks broad exposure across the student body. Please do not jeopardize our shared commitment to face-to-face learning.

After School and Morning Care
Because of daily building preparations and the need to safely group children in cohorts, Atrium cannot offer morning care as we begin the year. The earliest drop-off time is 8:15 a.m. A survey is being emailed shortly to PreK to 5th Grade parents to determine after school needs; please respond to that survey promptly so that we can structure the program. The After School Program will be offered daily until 4:30 p.m.
 
Parent Preview Days
Previously, we communicated that parents could visit the building the week of September 1st to 4th. To give teachers additional time to prepare classrooms, we are moving these visits to Monday and Tuesday, September 7th and 8th. Scheduling will be shared next week; parents can make appointments between noon and 6:00 p.m. on those two days.
 
Safe Campus Preparation
In August, Atrium School engaged IndoorDoctor of New Hampshire for comprehensive air quality testing and documentation throughout the building. The results were very encouraging; the fresh air flow in our building is excellent and levels of particulate matter are very low and healthy. We now also have numerous hi-grade HEPA air filtration machines placed throughout the building. To further enhance air quality, we will routinely open windows and maximize fresh air circulation with our HVAC system.  
 
We have also raised two large tents on campus, located on the Atrium Space sun deck and on the playground field. Every class or pod at Atrium will have access to tents for weekly scheduled classes. Numerous sinks in the building, which previously only ran cold water, are being modified to run hot water as well, for better handwashing practices.
 
Health

• New Flu Vaccine Requirement: As you likely saw, last week the Commonwealth of Massachusetts instituted a new flu vaccine requirement for school children. To resume school at Atrium in January, your child must receive the flu vaccine by December 31, 2020. For further information, please visit this official Massachusetts information page about these new flu vaccine requirements.

• Daily Health Attestations: Each day, parents must attest to the health and well being of their child prior to morning drop-off at school. The daily checklist will include temperature, freedom from symptoms, recent travel history and exposure. Details will come next week about the logistics of this daily health attestation.

• As school approaches, please continue to practice mask-wearing rituals with your children, and help them practice eating neatly and then cleaning their eating space. This will familiarize children with new rituals, and empower them to help everyone be safe.

 
Recap of the Start-of-School Schedule
September 7 & 8            
Parent building visits BY APPOINTMENT    
7th & 8th grade parents pick up student Chromebooks       
 
September 9-11 (Wed-Fri)                
Pre-K to 5th Grade: On campus half days
Gr 6: Half Days On campus Wed & Thurs, remote on Fri
Grade 7 & 8: Remote learning (Wed-Fri half days)
 
Beginning September 14 (Mon) 
Regular Schedule Begins for PreK through 5: 
Full Days, Mon-Thurs (3:00 p.m. dismissal)
Half-Day Friday Noon dismissal
Grade 6 & 7 On Campus (Mon -Thur); Remote (Fri)
Change: Sept 16: Gr. 8 begins on campus (Wed & Thur) 
Look for further details from Middle School team 
 
The Family Directory, Parent Handbook, and 2020-21 Calendar
These key resources will be delivered to you next week, via MyAtrium. This year, the Reopening Handbook is considered an addendum to the Parent Handbook. For the Parent Handbook, please be sure to submit the signed acknowledgement form, per usual.                
 

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In closing, I want to acknowledge that school may feel strange and otherworldly as we start this year--at Atrium we are accustomed to exuberance, spontaneity and ease. Safety rituals now require us all to be more conscientious and more careful. I encourage everyone to shine where Atrium also shines: in kindness and compassion, and in assuming positive intent on everyone’s part. The first few weeks will likely feel choppy, and it will take some time to become practiced at our new routines. Our collective adaptability is a tremendous asset, and working together we will become a well-oiled, safe and joyful community!  
 
Warmly,
Marshall

Reopening Atrium: Important Updates

 
Dear Families,
 
I write to update you on Atrium’s preparations for school in September. First, I want to thank the Atrium faculty and staff for their monumental efforts. Since March, they have been working to creatively reinvent nearly every element of life at Atrium, and they continue to do so with September near. Undoubtedly, school will be different this year, but the care, compassion and expertise of our teachers remain the cornerstones of your children’s Atrium experience. 
 
With August now here, everyone has the same question: What will school look like at Atrium this September?
 
Daily, we monitor local, regional and national conditions. Our planning responds quickly to continuous new recommendations, directives, and innovations in COVID-era teaching and learning.  We are ready for any eventuality. At this point, it remains premature to make a single decision about September. So long as public health conditions and Massachusetts state directives support such a decision, our plan and preference is to return to school, predominantly face-to-face, following Labor Day, with necessary modifications. And, we are also prepared to begin the year with distance learning, or with a hybrid model. Finally, we have the flexibility, planning and resources in place to shift between different models through the year as conditions and directives may require. I have the highest confidence–and pride– that the Atrium community can handle just about anything.
 
Even as the preferred prospect of being back on campus is exciting, there are natural concerns and endless questions. What will school look like? What precautions are being taken? Will there still be Pizza Lunch (we’re working on that one!)? How will arrival, dismissal, and weekly schedules be organized? In addition, students will inevitably experience some distance learning: as a purposeful complement to face-to-face instruction; or if a shutdown occurs again; or when a student or family member is required to quarantine. For detailed information about these and other questions, next week you will receive by email a detailed outline of the fall plan. To hear about our plans in greater detail, please join a virtual “Community Meeting” session for parents:

• For PreK-5th Grade, either Wednesday August 5 or Thursday August 6 at 7:00 p.m.

• For Middle School, Monday August 10 at 7:00 p.m.

I want to acknowledge how taxing these times are for parents and families, and share that some of our Atrium families are particularly and disproportionately impacted. For all of us, the perpetual uncertainty created by COVID-19 is deeply unsettling, and the practical implications and dilemmas inherent to family decision-making can be terribly difficult. At Atrium, we seek to alleviate worry by protecting the integrity of our curriculum, program, health and community. In the COVID-19 era, this begins with taking every step we can to ensure that school is a safe and well-prepared environment. To date, we are: 
 
Continually Preparing Our Campus and Facilities: 

• “Soft seating” and unnecessary furnishings have been removed from classrooms and learning spaces, to ensure safety and to maximize available space.

• Additional classroom and teaching spaces have been created or repurposed, using administrative offices, the Atrium Space, and Art & Music studios. Select administrative offices have been moved to the third floor.

• New and repurposed furniture is in place; group seating arrangements are replaced with individual, easily-cleaned seating. Classroom layouts comply with newly-issued Massachusetts distancing requirements for schools.

• Handwashing and hand-sanitizing resources and systems will be ubiquitous throughout the building.

• The HVAC system is updated. Windows open in every classroom, and the school will follow best advice regarding air flow and maximizing fresh air circulation.

• Floors, hallways, bathrooms, and classrooms will be regularly cleaned and safely disinfected.

• Hallway flow, locker & cubby access, and bathroom breaks will be monitored to minimize interaction. 

• Per Massachusetts requirements, a discreet space has been created for children who are ill and must go home.

 
Implementing New and Renewed Habits: 

• Students and teachers will wear masks daily, with safely managed mask breaks, until restrictions are lifted.  Families will need to provide masks for their children.

• Students and teachers will work within self-contained groupings to limit extraneous contact. 

• Each classroom will spend increased time learning outdoors.

• Parents will ensure that all immunizations are up to date prior to the start of school, and will check children’s temperature daily before school. Even more than usual, we encourage flu vaccines to support general health.

• Students will use individual sets of materials as much as possible. Any shared materials will be sanitized before students use them.  

• Handwashing and hand-sanitizing will occur regularly for students and teachers. 

• Visitors, including parents, cannot be admitted without an appointment. 

• Any scheduled visitors must wear a mask and will not be allowed to enter classrooms. Guests providing enrichment will visit classrooms only via video-conferencing.

 
Bolstering our technology resources:

• We have invested in common learning platforms, digital libraries, and applications.

• In the event that distance learning becomes necessary once again, the school will provide Chromebooks to each student in grades K-3, in addition to our existing 1-1 program in grades 4-8.

 
Our ongoing, rigorous planning in August will build upon and refine these protocols and procedures. We are now working on campus traffic flow and refining classroom schedules, and will be scheduling family visits to the building before school opens.  These will help us all become familiar and gain greater comfort with the way we will live now at school, and to practice new routines. We seek to inform, but not overwhelm you, and so communication in gradually deepening layers will be ongoing as the start of school approaches.  
 
I personally cannot wait to see each of you and your children, and I openly invite your feedback at any time; via email is best for efficient follow-up. While we have worked diligently to think of everything, I will relish hearing questions that begin, “And what about…?” Your concerns, questions and lived experiences are vitally important to us, and will make our planning and safe return to school even better. More than ever, it is my deepest wish that Atrium be a bright, consistent, and positive presence in the lives of your children and your families.  
 
Warmly,

Marshall

Update for Fall Planning

Dear Atrium Families,

I hope you are well as we all settle into a homey summer. I truly miss the warmth and connection that typically closes our school year, but I‘ll simply say this: the teamwork, spirit and resilience we all found at Atrium during these extraordinary times was remarkable. I am profoundly grateful for what we accomplished together this spring.

To be sure, we will need to continue with teamwork, spirit and resilience, as we all seek to forecast what Fall will bring. This message contains important information related to the opening of the 2020-21 school year. Later this week, look for a second message about Atrium’s ongoing commitment to justice and equity.  

Planning for the Fall

At Atrium, we are rigorously preparing for the coming school year. I wrote to you at the end of May about three possible scenarios. Late last week through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Commissioner Jeffrey Riley issued initial guidance for all Massachusetts schools affirming these scenarios. Riley writes that “school reopening this fall...prioritizes getting our students back to school in person—safely, following a comprehensive set of health and safety requirements. At the same time, DESE is requiring each district and school to also plan for remote learning and a hybrid school model, a combination of in-person and remote learning, should local conditions change this fall or winter.”  

With state guidance fresh in hand, we plan with greater precision. Our preparation is led by the September Scenarios Task Force, comprised of Atrium administrators and faculty, as well as Board members and parents with particular expertise in medicine & public health, logistics and operations, and education. In addition to Massachusetts guidelines, we consult with reliable and well-vetted resources from organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics as we determine classroom layouts and schedules, the careful flow of people in the building, and how we upgrade our cleaning routines. We leave no stone unturned; our planning touches every single aspect of school and community life. We continue to be inventive, too: with assemblies and larger school gatherings not allowed, we creatively develop safe new ways of joyfully coming together, just as we did this past spring. In prioritizing safety and health, I recognize that learning will look and feel different, and may feel more restrictive. But on behalf of the faculty and staff at Atrium, you have our pledge that we will do everything in our power to sustain our characteristic Excellence with Joy.

Through the summer, and as concretely as possible, we will communicate further with you about emerging plans for the fall. At this juncture, there are some key points to absorb, including:

• Most of all, please recognize that the “hybrid school model” readiness required by Massachusetts actually consists of multiple hybrid possibilities. Hybrid models arise when changing health conditions prompt a quick transition from in-person learning to distance learning. They can also occur when quarantine requires some individual students to stay at home. A shorter day or social distancing requirements can also present the need for a blend of in-person and distance learning. As a parent myself, it is frustrating to acknowledge that there is no sure way to know which hybrid model, if any, might be enacted next year-- conditions beyond our control will determine that.

• By early next week, you will receive a parent survey asking about your areas of greatest interest and concern, the technology resources in your home, the degree of flexibility in your work schedule, and your After School needs. Please respond fully to the survey: the more input we have, the better we can serve our community’s needs. 

• General health and immunizations are vital this year. Since March, many routine annual pediatric check-ups have been postponed. By the time school begins, be sure that your child’s routine vaccinations are fully updated and flu shots are scheduled. Up-to-date immunizations will be required for children to begin school.  

• Physical distancing and face mask usage for adults and children will surely be among the conditions for starting school this fall. Over the summer, please accustom your children to this important truth. Masks for the youngest children may be optional, in line with the best available medical guidance at the time.

• To support a healthy learning environment, parent presence in the building may be somewhat limited as we begin the school year. We are a tight-knit community, and we thrive on personal contact, but until we move into a time of greater public health, we must prioritize the core function of safe teaching and learning.  

• On behalf of Atrium, I strongly encourage you to take appropriate precautions this summer, in order to preserve everyone’s health and reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 affecting the Atrium community. 

• Right now, we all face much-narrowed summer activity choices for our children and our families. This Padlet assembled by Lara Buchanan contains a wealth of resources and opportunities to engage with.

Admittedly, it is dispiriting to write all this and deflating to read, I imagine. I’ve always believed in anticipating the hardest and most compromised circumstances we might encounter, and preparing to suit. Come this fall, we will be able to collectively say, “Yep--we saw that coming, and we are ready for it!” Learning to be optimistic and pragmatic is an important life skill; thank you for helping to frame things for your children positively and constructively. Let us know if we can help as you do this.

Again, thank you. There is a lot here to absorb, and more information will come in July and August. We will offer some video conversation sessions as well in mid-July and beyond. I am grateful for your willingness to be ready, and for your support of Atrium. We will do our best to strive to serve and support your family and your children. 

Warmly,

Marshall

Atrium From Afar

Atrium from Afar