We're Planning Ahead

The following letter was shared with K-12 parents, faculty, and staff at 10 p.m. Monday, March 9 regarding Spring Break travel plans and Vanderbilt University suspending classes.
Dear USN families and faculty,
 
My colleagues and I read with great interest tonight's announcement suspending all Vanderbilt University classes and non-athletic activities through at least March 30. Coming as it does on the first day back from VU's spring break and only four days before we begin our week off at USN, it prompts a reminder about travel you may have planned. 
 
Beyond our recurrent links to the CDC-designated areas of most concern, the nature of what the World Health Organization now calls "the first pandemic in history that could be controlled" provides ample reason to review any travel internationally. As of Sunday, WHO identified 100,000 cases of COVID-19 in 100 countries. And the presence of COVID-19 domestically means we should all exercise careful judgment even within the United States. Please place the well being of your family and of the USN community as a top priority, period. I'm absolutely sure that you know what I mean, and airlines are proving more than amenable to changes, given all I can gather.
 
Visit usn.org/coronavirus for up-to-date school news and public health resources on COVID-19. This webpage centralizes information and resources for the USN community. Visit the page regularly for updates, links, and FAQs. While USN does not have a current concern of exposure to coronavirus on campus, we are working proactively. We remain in daily contact with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Metro Health Department. Both have been remarkably available as a source of steady guidance. And our faculty continue making plans in the event that we need to shift our academic program online for a time. Most recently, we've been in discussion with school heads around the city about ways we can best cooperate and speak with one voice. It has also been helpful to speak with schools in cities around the country to understand experiences elsewhere.
 
Special gratitude goes to those of you keeping children home when they don't feel well. The Health Room team appreciates every proactive move you make. Please keep it up and don't ask us to serve in lieu of your pediatrician. There's nothing at all easy about working our way through these uncertain days, waiting for the next worrisome headline, but our resolve to be there in support of our students and our community is stronger than ever. It really does feel like a team effort, thanks to your willingness to walk with us step by step.
 
If there's anything at all I might do to help, any extenuating circumstance, anything that's keeping you on edge, please just reach out by return email as we wait for landline phone service to be repaired post-tornado. Really, that too.
 
Let's aim for a good week together. Am sure there will be more updates ...
 
Back to work,
Vince Durnan
Director
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.