Fall Semester a success

Students return for full-time, in-person learning in 2020–2021

Widely recognized as one of the most proactive schools in its response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WMA went above and beyond to ensure the health and safety of our entire community when we returned to campus last fall to participate in a true hybrid learning model: students could attend live classes remotely from anywhere in the world.

WMA began planning for the 2020–2021 academic year in the spring and relied on basic safety measures: at least 6 feet of social distancing; required mask-wearing and hand-washing; and twice-weekly COVID-19 PCR testing for all students, faculty and staff.

Mask-free zones assisted in creating some normalcy for our students and faculty to socialize safely distanced from one another. Revamping dining schedules, procedures and space—including repurposing Alumni Memorial Chapel as a second dining hall—created more options for mealtimes.

Social distancing in all areas of campus was made possible through extensive renovations that transformed the meeting places and unused areas on campus. The opening of the Athenaeum offered much needed space, especially during inclement weather. Ventilation systems were also updated with ionizers and hospital-grade air purifiers in all buildings and dorms.

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from in person to remote and back again as individual, family and school circumstances change. Online parent/teacher conferences work extremely well, by providing a much more convenient and effective method of communication for all involved. By contrast, weekly Zoom meetings for students to meet with their faculty advisor groups, though they have been useful, are far from ideal in developing relationships with students—this goes to the core of what makes WMA so special. From each of these examples and many more like them, we have learned much and we will be a stronger school for having been pushed to adapt.

On the programmatic side, we have learned many things that will improve our management of campus life. We have discovered the power of a sunny midday concert on the Athenaeum Terrace, playing to people casually eating their lunch in Adirondack chairs, to lift the spirit of the whole town. We have learned that trying to create a sense of community electronically, when it is not possible to meet together, is just not effective—and it has caused us to find new and more creative ways to bring the school together. We have learned that while some traditional WMA ceremonies were not possible given the circumstances, others have emerged that are likely to linger— I suspect graduates will be ringing the Monson Bell as a symbol of their victory at Commencement in the years ahead.

We are still determining how much or what parts of these changes we will preserve and how they may benefit the Academy post-pandemic, but one thing is already certain if you poll any student on campus—the ability for the entire school to switch instantly to remote only for inclement weather days has put an end to the need for the occasional and iconic New England Snow Day, and the students are already petitioning hard for us to let that part go.

Of course, these physical, educational and programmatic changes represent just a selection of the widespread institutional learning WMA has experienced this year. For me, the biggest lesson of all, and one that will surprise no one who knows this school, is the extent to which WMA has risen to the challenges as an engaged, committed, resilient and adaptive community of learners who have succeeded this year when many others have not, learned much in the process, and which has proven, collectively, that we can all thrive in the face of challenge and adversity.

Respectfully,