What’s Going on With COVID-19 at Stuyvesant

March 13, 2020

Around 1100 Stuyvesant students did not show up to school today, and several students have expressed that today was their last day of attendance OR have anticipated that schools would be closed for Monday. In some classes, especially senior ones, as many as 25 students were absent. In a poll conducted in the Dear Incoming Stuyvesant Class of 2020 Facebook group, 118 students reported that they were not coming, while 42 reported that they were. In comparison, in a poll in the Dear Incoming Stuyvesant Class of 2021 Facebook group, 124 students reported that they would attend school, while 34 reported that they would not. 25 teachers also did not show up and their classes were covered by either substitute teachers or attending teachers.

Members of the community have been responding to the epidemic and its impacts on Stuyvesant. The newly appointed Big Sib Chairs are working to create a virtual tour of Stuyvesant in lieu of the canceled Open House for admitted students. A few classes, especially language classes, are going online regardless of whether or not schools are open next week. These classes will only consist of online work, in class or at home.

Here are additional events and activities that have been confirmed to be canceled or postponed:

All PSAL sports teams

Hidden Ivies Panel

Various guest speakers and field trips

Many SAT testing sites

ARISTA events

CSdojo (from 3/16 - 3/27)

AIS tutoring

Junior College Trip

International Women’s Day Run

Blood Drive

Spirit Week

Admitted Students Night

Events/activities that have not yet been canceled or postponed:

Prom/Jprom

Graduation

AP exams

March 12, 2020

As a result of the growing COVID-19 (or coronavirus) pandemic, a slew of changes were introduced to Stuyvesant and the New York City school system generally over the course of Thursday, March 12.

There will be no testing for two weeks starting next Monday, March 16, Principal Eric Contreras announced to teachers Thursday afternoon, and in an e-mail sent via Director of Family Engagement Dina Ingram, Contreras informed students that parent-teacher conferences and several after-school activities and trips, such as the March 25 musical showcase and the alumni mentoring program, have been canceled. In addition, all Public School Athletic League spring competitions have been canceled, and some spring sports teams, including boys’ track and field, have suspended their practices.

Contreras’ announcement came on the heels of a slew of new measures from lower levels of the school administration to prepare for the possibility of school being canceled. Chemistry teachers have expedited their labs so that students may complete the requirements to take the Regents examination at the end of the year should schools close. And some teachers have eased the difficulty of their classes out of respect for students’ heightened anxieties.

The school has also expanded its efforts to promote sanitation. Hand sanitizer dispensers have been proliferated throughout the school. Custodians and other school staff have been directed to regularly check up on and refill these dispensers as necessary and to ensure the bathrooms are stocked with sufficient paper towels and soap, and a message about proper handwashing procedure has been added to the daily morning announcements. School nurse Danielle Karunadasa is prepared with instructions and medical supplies should a student fall ill.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in an address late Thursday afternoon, but he also maintained, in spite of the fact that two public schools in the Bronx had been closed earlier Thursday after a student tested positive for the virus, that the schools are one of three institutions the city will “preserve at all cost,” along with public transit and public health institutions. For now, the city Department of Education has changed its guidelines on student reentry into school after illness: students must now be fever-free for 72 hours instead of 24 hours before returning to school.

This story will be updated as new information comes out.