COVID-19 Information
Lake Forest Academy is committed to the well-being and safety of our students, faculty, and staff. In response to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) abroad and in the United States, LFA has created a central hub for our community to access the latest updates regarding the outbreak. LFA continues to monitor this global health situation.
- Notices to the Community
- AP Exams Update – May 2020
- FAQs for Students and Families
- Packing Info for Boarders
Notices to the Community
COVID-19 Update - 5.18.2020
Dear Members of the LFA Community,
We hope you and your family are healthy and well. The Parents Association recently sent our faculty and staff a video of students from across the country and world holding signs thanking the LFA adults for their hard work. It was a deeply moving gesture that reminded everyone that LFA is fundamentally about our people. Days later, the faculty replied with a video to students that included LFA adults singing rewritten lyrics to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” These gestures were terrific reminders that we are all indeed LFA. Our unity has allowed our school to continue, even under historically challenging circumstances.
We have been successful this year in numerous endeavors. We had a successful Head of School transition, an impressive college admissions process in which students found great fits at highly selective schools, and a strong enrollment of talented new students who join LFA next year. Of course, COVID-19’s arrival radically impacted the end of the year. However, through the creative collaboration of all groups in our community, we safely and successfully transitioned to a robust, remote learning model. We are very impressed with how our community has continued to learn and the feedback from our community about e-learning has been very positive.
We are also writing to share with you some of the results of LFA’s Spring Board of Trustees meeting, which included key members of the administration and featured discussions of matters important to the current and future academic year. First, we have a shared consensus that our goal is for LFA to resume its on-campus program in August. We are, of course, mindful that some changes will be necessary and we have a range of contingency plans made for a variety of alternatives. Second, recognizing the adverse financial impact of the lockdown on so many members of our community, we have decided to freeze LFA’s tuition at the current 2019-2020 level for the 2020-2021 academic year. We hope that this will be helpful as families navigate the next year financially.
To support our twin goals of opening our campus in August and exceeding CDC guidelines, the Academy has retained an epidemiologist and public health professional to help guide our COVID-19 planning. We are also strengthening our nursing staff and planning necessary changes to our infirmary space. The school will be securing medical equipment deemed necessary by our health experts. This work has already commenced and will be on-going through the summer until the first day of school. In the meantime, we are in the process of making contingency plans to address a variety of scenarios. Finally, and crucially, we will find ways to support our students who might not be able to physically join us at the start of the school year so that they can begin to learn remotely. On Monday, June 1, we will be hosting a webinar focusing on the planning for next year. Future webinars will also take place in June and July in order to keep families informed with the latest information.
Through all of this, we feel as strongly as ever about all the ways the Academy can change lives. United, LFA will get through this pandemic and become a stronger school. We are all LFA indeed, and we look forward to being reunited in person soon. As always, please be in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns.
John S. Marlatt '65
Chair, Board of Trustees
José De Jesús
Head of School
All LFA COVID-19 Updates
- April 24, 2020 - Update on COVID-19 Preparations
- April 1, 2020 - A Message to the Community
- March 26, 2020 - Supporting Our Students
- March 24, 2020 - To Our Alumni
- March 16, 2020
- March 16, 2020 - A Note to Our International Families
- March 12, 2020
- March 9, 2020
- March 6, 2020
- March 3, 2020
- Feb. 20, 2020
- Jan. 27, 2020
Resources
Q & A
What are the symptoms of the COVID-19?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:
- fever
- cough
- shortness of breath
The CDC believes at this time that symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. Source: CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html
Key Dates
- May 22 - Last Day of Classes
- May 25 - Memorial Day Weekend
- May 26 - No events or classes
- May 27 - Academic Awards Stream at 9 a.m. CDT
- May 28 - Athletic Awards Stream at 9 a.m. CDT, Talent Show Stream at 8 p.m. CDT
- May 29 - Move-Up Day Awards and Cum Laude Stream - 9 a.m. CDT
- May 30 - Class of 2020 Graduation Stream - 9 a.m. CDT
AP Exams Update – May 2020
There have been some issues with uploading AP exam responses, and the College Board announced yesterday that there is now another way for students to submit their answers if they have trouble with this week's round of tests. Unfortunately, this will not apply to trouble submitting responses for last week's exams. There is a lot to navigate with this new testing process, and we understand that our students are not testing in the most ideal situation. Please know we are here to help in any way we can.
From the College Board: Submitting Exam Responses
- Beginning Monday, May 18, and continuing through the makeup window, there will be a back-up email submission process for browser-based exams.
- This option will only be available for students who were not able to submit in the standard process - and they must then email their responses immediately following their exam.
- These students will see instructions about how to email their response on the page that says, "We Did Not Receive Your Response." The email address that appears on this page will be unique to each student.
- Any student testing between May 18 - 22 who can't successfully upload their response through the exam platform or send it to us by email, will need to request a make-up exam.
- To protect the security and validity of exams, we're unable to accept submissions from students who tested May 11 - 15. However, these students can feel confident that the email option will be in place for them during the make-up exams.
- Email submissions will not be available for the World Language exams.
Setting Up Your Students for Success
Given the wide variety of devices, browsers, and connectivity solutions students have access to, we're unable to prevent every possible local error from occurring during the exam. In advance of the administration, we created a testing guide, exam demo, and test day checklist to help students avoid potential issues. It's important that students review this information and know to:
- Locate their e-ticket, which is emailed two days before each exam.
- Use a recommended browser, update it to the latest version, and disable plugins.
- Keep an eye on the time and begin their submission at the 5-minute mark.
- Additional tips to help your students succeed are available here.
Students taking World Language and Culture exams, which begin on Monday, May 18, must:
- Download the free AP World Languages Exam App (WLEA)
- Set their device to “Do Not Disturb”
- Check to ensure they have enough storage on their device
- World Language students should also watch the exam walk-through video, and check our website for more guidance.
Please email kvonogden@lfanet.org with any questions.
The exam period is May 11 – 22, 2020. Here is the exam schedule. If students cannot test at some point during the May exam period, they can take the exam(s) during the make-up testing period from June 1 – 5, 2020. Students who do not log in for the May exam will automatically be moved to the June exam. There is nothing else they need to do to have their exam(s) moved. Students with multiple exams should pay close attention to exam times and dates as they may have conflicts during the June testing window. There are no later testing dates.
- Each exam will be approximately 45 minutes long, with an additional five minutes allotted for you to upload your work. This site provides the type of free-response question(s) for each exam. There will be no multiple-choice section on any exam.
- Exam prompts can be accessed on any device, but work must be submitted on the same device. We recommend using a computer or iPad instead of a phone so that the prompt is easier to access.
- All exams are open-book and open-note. You are even allowed to conduct Internet searches. However, students must submit their own work. Working with anyone else during the exam (ie solving problems together, having someone edit work, etc.) is NOT allowed.
- College Board has many measures in place to detect cheating, including plagiarism software. Please do not attempt to cheat before or during the exam. If they detect any academic dishonesty, they will notify all colleges that receive a student’s scores and have made it clear that "consequences will be severe.”
- If students receive official accommodations from College Board, such as extended time, this will automatically be in place when testing begins.
- College Board will provide print instructions for at-home testing and video simulations. The AP Live teachers will also walk through the testing procedures in their videos. There are no live simulations yet, but College Board hopes to provide some in the near future.
- Additional online classes with AP Live teachers are available to watch in every subject. These courses are free.
- Exams can be cancelled with no extra fees. In order to receive a refund, please email kvonogden@lfanet.org by May 1, and student accounts will be credited by the end of May.
FAQs for Students and Families
Academics
- When will the first assignment be given and what will my schedule look like?
- How will I know what will be expected of me in regards to course requirements?
- Will I get homework?
- How will I be able to contact my teachers?
- How will academic accommodations continue to be supported?
- Will class times be adjusted for time zones?
- What if I am concerned about having access to high-speed internet during the e-learning period?
- How should students approach remote learning?
When will the first assignment be given and what will my schedule look like?
The first day of classes will be Wednesday, April 1 and plans for that day will be sent out on Tuesday, March 31. The first day will be an A-Day and we will follow two full cycles of e-learning. If a course does not meet on that letter day, they will not meet for e-learning. If a course has a double period, they will meet for the double on the e-learning day.
How will I know what will be expected of me in regards to course requirements?
Will I get homework?
How will I be able to contact my teachers?
How will academic accommodations continue to be supported?
For questions about academic support, please email Mrs. Gilbertson, kgilbertson@lfanet.org, or Mrs. Norman, mnorman@lfanet.org. Both Learning Resource Specialists intend to remain in touch with the students that they currently work with and virtually meet with them, if necessary.
Will class times be adjusted for time zones?
What if I am concerned about having access to high-speed internet during the e-learning period?
Lake Forest Academy is committed to helping students access their remote learning resources. If you are concerned about your ability to connect, please send an email to Dean of Students Mr. Tennyson, ctennyson@lfanet.org.
How should students approach remote learning?
For Our Boarders
AP Exams & Standardized Testing
- What about the AP exams in May?
- What is going to happen with standardized testing in April, May, and June?
What about the AP exams in May?
- AP exams will be online and shorter this year. Students will take 45-minute online exams at home. There will be two testing dates for each AP subject. These dates will be posted by April 3 on the College Board website.
- Students may take the exams on any device (computer, smartphone, tablet, iPad). Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.
- The exams are being adjusted to include content typically covered in AP classes through the beginning of March, or about 75% of the overall content. Beginning Wednesday, March 25, you will have access to free review lessons online that will be provided by the College Board.
- If students no longer want to take an AP exam, cancellations may be done with no extra fee. The refund will appear on the May or June student account statement, depending on when the cancellation happens. Please know that cancellations are final and re-registrations cannot occur. The College Board recommends waiting until closer to the testing date to make a decision. Please email kvonogden@lfanet.org if exams will be cancelled.
- Use this link for the most up-to-date information.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Dean of Curriculum and Innovation Ms. Von Ogden, kvonogden@lfanet.org, with questions.
What is going to happen with standardized testing in April, May, and June?
We are awaiting an update from ACT and the College Board and will plan to provide an update about testing in June as soon as it becomes available. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of our College Counselors, collegecounseling@lfanet.org, with questions.
Athletics & More
- What about athletics?
- What about Study Halls, Seminar, Small Group Study sessions, Advisory, and Morning Meeting?
What about athletics?
During the e-learning period there will not be athletic practices or PE classes. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Athletic Director Mr. Madeley, dmadeley@lfanet.org, with questions. We cannot overemphasize that getting outside and remaining active is extremely important during this time.
What about Study Halls, Seminar, Small Group Study sessions, Advisory, and Morning Meeting?
During the e-learning period:
- Study Halls will not meet.
- Small Group Study sessions will not meet.
- Seminar courses will meet and have coursework.
- Advisory meetings are planned to still take place and advisors will set up these meetings and check-ins with advisees.
- Morning Meetings and All-School Meetings will not take place as regularly scheduled, but virtual meetings will be announced accordingly.
Packing Info for Boarders
Packing Information:
The Governor has authorized colleges and boarding schools to permit students/families to return to campuses to pack their belongings. If you live locally or semi-locally and need to pack your child's belongings, you may do so anytime after May 1.
To minimize the potential for contact and contamination, please email Jon Freeman at jfreeman@lfanet.org with the day and time you plan to be on campus. We will make sure that no more than one family is on each floor (Atlass, Warner, Ferry) or wing (Field) of any dorm at any one time. We will also alert Facilities and the dorm faculty so that they are aware of your presence.
You will need to call Campus Safety to be let into the dorms - ID cards have been deactivated. Please protect yourselves with masks and gloves while in the dorms and observe appropriate social distancing protocol at all times while on campus.
Boxes and tape can be found in each dorm commons or in the Student Union outside the mailroom. Please take as much as you can with you. If you need to store anything over the summer, label the boxes with your name and we will take care of storing them until you return. You should leave your room key, lockbox key, and any LFA property (uniforms, library books, etc.) in your room when you depart.
You will find these and other directions posted on your child's dorm room door. Please email Jon Freeman with any other questions.