Smith’s fall plans
Today, Smith released plans for the fall 2020 school year. If you want to read over their entire COVID-19 Response Plan you can click this link which will take you to the plan. Here are a few main points that I summarized from the first three categories.
Health & Safety
Everyone has to wear a face mask
Everyone must stay at least 6ft away from eachother other
No off-campus guests/visitors are allowed on campus
Students may not travel more than 10 miles away from campus
Hand sanitizer and masks will be provided
There will be a daily symptoms checklist that each student will fill out
Houses will be disinfected 2x a day, classrooms with be disinfected 5x a week
Academic Planning
Teachers will decide if classes are in person or online
Most classes are going to offer both options
You can still take classes at any of the other five colleges as long as you do it online
All interterm classes will be online
First-years & Sophomores will be on campus from September 1-November 20, Juniors & Seniors will be on campus for the Spring Semester (unless a senior is graduating in January, they will arrive in the fall period)
You can apply to live on campus for the entire year if you have extraordinary circumstances
Student Life
All students are going to have singles
We will arrive in mid to late August
Fall sports are being put on a hold
We will order all food through an app, with a maximum of three orders a day
All meals are takeout only
Housing will come out in early August
You can not be in anyone else’s room overnight, but you can visit friends in their room as long as you are 6ft away from each other
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Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the plan. I wish we could stay the entire school year (which we may be able to do if a vaccine comes out) but I’m now excited to know that I can spend more time with my family, friends, and boyfriend. I applied for a single so I’m super thrilled to start planning for dorm decorations now that I know I got a single. I’m not too enthusiastic about the online classes. I tend to get distracted easily during remote learning but we’ll see how things go!
