Lower School Curriculum; Lower School Faculty; Middle School 6-8. Main: 301-299-8500 | Fax: 301-299-9050 | Email General Information: admission@bullis.org Parent Portal (opens in new window/tab) Teacher Portal (opens in new window/tab) As we approach the holiday weekend and the start of school on Tuesday, I wanted to reach out to share some news and some thoughts. Once we receive more information about relevant cases then we will be able to provide a necessary guidance to the school in terms of next steps that they would need to take,” says Dr. Gayles. The overwhelming response was that we should move ahead with testing in order to help keep our community safe. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to one of our nurses, Monica Dayhoff or Bonnie Wasula. The school’s online calendar shows daily international student orientation sessions each day since Monday, but does not indicate if those are being conducted in person. Let’s ensure together that it is remembered not just as the year of COVID, but for lots of wonderful reasons too. This will be my 34th year in education, and I have been both excited and nervous at the outset of each one. Head of School, Christian Sullivan, provides updates on Bullis' regular COVID-19 testing, safety during the Labor Day weekend, and the Bullis Hybrid/Remote Academic Guide. “Further, we encouraged our two employees to work with the State contact tracing process which they immediately did,” the statement said. The Bullis School in Potomac confirmed with state health officials on Wednesday that two of its staff members had tested positive for the virus on Monday. The message did not say what caused the delay in reporting. about Discover Bullis Series: A Virtual Open House, about Head of School Briefing: October 2, 2020, about Bullis Students Gain Perspective on 9/11, Discover Bullis Series: A Virtual Open House, LS parent /student / teacher virtual conferences, MS parent / student / teacher virtual conferences. His order was met with backlash from some parents and Maryland Gov. In making this decision, I canvassed feedback from health professionals, the Parents Association Board, and our employees. WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Bullis Head of Schools Christian Sullivan sent an email to families saying two staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and “are both doing well.” He said the private school’s campus would be closed for two days, and that Bullis’ “contact tracing team” had identified and notified other people with whom the staff members interacted. Even the most thorough plans that conform with federal health guidance will not be effective, he has said. #BullisStrong #SchoolSafety #BullisSchool FOX 5 has learned about two staff members testing positive for COVID-19 at a Potomac, Maryland private school. Your Bullis Admission Team is pleased to present the virtual Discover Bullis Series in place of our traditional open house. Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather, This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Gayles said that when a school reports confirmed cases of COVID-19, health officials conduct a thorough contact tracing effort to determine how many people might have been exposed and “identify what further actions need to be taken.”. Gayles has repeatedly said he does not feel it is safe for schools to reopen because the rate of community spread of the virus is too high. Please wear masks and physically distance. Staff members test positive for COVID-19 at Bullis School. About. If you have difficulty with the app, please contact help_desk@bullis.org for assistance. Through our community pledge and through numerous requests, I have urged everyone to keep themselves and our entire community healthy by practicing excellent COVID safety, wearing masks, physically distancing, and avoiding unnecessary travel. Larry Hogan. In July, he issued a health directive prohibiting nonpublic schools from reopening school facilities until at least October. We have arranged COVID-19 testing every other week at school for all students and employees who will be on campus. Copyright © 2020 by WTOP. Head of School, Christian Sullivan, provides a weekly briefing on the first week of school, Covid-19 updates, FAQs, and more. Montgomery County Public Schools made the decision to go entirely virtual for their fall semester. Absolutely not.”, Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@bethesdamagazine.com, Copyright 2020 Bethesda Magazine. Larry Hogan earlier this month, after Gayles ordered all nonpublic schools in the county to remain closed until Oct. 1. Welcome; Mission & Vision; Bullis At-A-Glance; Equity, Inclusion, & Justice; Virtual Tour; History. As plans, information, and updates change, we will notify the Bullis community directly through email and on this page. Learn more and register today! The Bullis School said they immediately reached out to everyone who had been in contact with the faculty members at the school and instructed them to quarantine based on the school’s own, internally-developed health guidelines, and then reported the cases to county health officials. The Maryland health secretary then said in a memo that the state’s position was to allow individual schools to come up with plans to reopen and operate safely. Provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family and Medical Leave under The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Main: 301-299-8500  |  Fax: 301-299-9050  |  Email General Information: admission@bullis.org, about Head of School Briefing: October 2, 2020, about Head of School Briefing: September 18, 2020, about Head of School Briefing: September 11, 2020, Head of School Briefing: September 18, 2020, Head of School Briefing: September 11, 2020, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. POTOMAC, MD — Bullis School in Potomac has pushed back the first day of school by a week after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. “If there are cases reported, the expectation is an entity would contact the health department and say, ‘We have cases here,’ and work with us,” Gayles said. But Elrich said the state has not provided clear answers since then. Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here. Website by Web Publisher PRO, Police say he took cash, will be charged as an adult, October tradition about to open for the season at Calleva Farm, Schools’ namesakes have ties to slave ownership, according to report. That was originally when school was supposed to start, but Head of School Christian Sullivan bumped it up a week to maximize instructional time. Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Bullis School does not begin its semester until Sept. 1. During a virtual press conference Wednesday afternoon, Montgomery County Health Director Dr. Travis Gayles appeared to go against the School’s practices. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. He said the contact tracing effort would determine whether the school needs to do a deep cleaning or sanitize specific areas, or if the school needs to close for an extended time. We are carefully monitoring for changes in the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the region. The overwhelming response was that we should move ahead with testing in order to help keep our community safe. Yes, things will look different, there will be bumps along the road and it will not be the "normal" Bullis experience, at least at first, but we cannot wait to welcome our Bullis students - all 820 of them, both remotely (173) and in person (647). If you registered with the exclusive Bullis link, drive on through Monday - Wednesday — it's quick and easy! Still, Gayles said if a nonpublic school or child care facility has a serious outbreak of the virus, the county will act on its authority to close it down if need be. While we have the will to open school in person and remotely, this would have been impossible without the determination of so many people to make it come to pass. But reports of the positive test results circulated on social media, which is where county health officials first learned of it. We will update the document, posted on our website, as the year progresses. when the school plans to offer some in-person instruction. Looking for more information? RELATED: Montgomery County health officials stall on approving private school reopening plans, blame state of Maryland. In response to the positive tests, we followed our procedures and the staff members self-quarantined,” the school said in a statement to WTOP. “Folks who have information or concerns or hearing these things in the community — we would implore you to call our disease control line at 240-777-1755 so that we can get that information as quickly as we can and put the necessary precautionary measures in place,” Gayles said. Health officials can still close schools on a case-by-case basis under the order. The one piece of homework that we have this weekend is to download and become acquainted with the Magnus Health App so that we are all ready for school on Tuesday. Head of School, Christian Sullivan, provides organizational information pertaining to how we will increase opportunities for students to be on campus and how we will organize testing and school in the weeks immediately following the Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring vacations. Bullis typically gave teachers and administrators a 75 percent discount on their children’s tuition if accepted at the school. The first testing for students on campus will take place next Friday (September 11) for Gold students and the following Monday (September 14) for Blue students. Head of School, Christian Sullivan, provides a weekly briefing on the second round of Covid-19 testing, Magnus health app, and more. Here is a link to our Reopening Plan and more specifically, a link to our Health and Safety Protocols. Bullis School (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images). We will supervise the tests at school. Two staff members at a private school in Montgomery County, Maryland, tested positive for coronavirus, furthering the county’s frustrations with what they say is a lack of guidance from the state on how to handle these situations. RELATED: Here's what DC, Maryland and Virginia school districts have planned for the fall. They go on to say that everyone involved is currently self-quarantining. “The action I have taken this evening — communicating with you and closing campus for cleaning — is an illustration of how we will operate when school is open,” Sullivan wrote. To honor the anniversary of the event, students in Social Studies Teacher Matt Smith’s 10th grade Global Studies class and Upper School students in his U.S. Government class interviewed family members and others who remember that day. Within days, Hogan overturned Gayles’ order. Main Menu. All Rights Reserved. The Bullis School in Potomac confirmed with state health officials on Wednesday that two of its staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. “And I want to emphasize when the governor said that they didn’t want the county acting, or regulating this on our own, they said that schools needed to follow CDC guidance and the state guidance.”. First, though, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire Bullis faculty and staff for their incredible work in getting ready for the opening of school. Here we go! D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. (FOX 5 DC) - In a letter to parents from the Head of Schools, Christian Sullivan says the two staffers who tested positive were non-academic staff members. “You can’t control where your faculty and staff and anybody has been or will be during the times schools are open,” Elrich said. Please review them thoroughly. According to the health department, private and religious schools are required to immediately alert the health department of any positive COVID-19 cases in their buildings.