Campus Life

2021 Planning

Guidelines for Woodberry Campus Access

Fall of 2021
Effective 8/15/21 and Updated 8/13/21

Anyone coming to campus, regardless of vaccination status, must self-screen daily prior to entering campus (except your home) or campus buildings. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you should not enter until you are not required to isolate or quarantine based on CDC guidelines (please contact Ace Ellis or Kenny Deane with questions):

1. HaveIbeendiagnosedwithCOVID-19?
2. Have I been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19?
3. Do I have any of the following:

     a. A new fever (100.4°F or higher) or a sense of having a fever?
     b. A new cough that cannot be attributed to another health condition?
     c. New shortness of breath that cannot be attributed to another health condition?
     d. New chills that cannot be attributed to another health condition?
     e. A new sore throat that cannot be attributed to another health condition?
     f. Inability to taste or smell?
     g. New muscle aches (myalgia) or headache that cannot be attributed to another health condition or specific activity (such as physical exercise)?

Campus Residents and Employees
On August 12, 2021, the State Health Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Virginia issued an Order of Public Health Emergency requiring universal mask wearing in indoor spaces at all K-12 schools, both public and private, regardless of vaccination status. In compliance with the Order, Woodberry Forest School has adopted the following policies for campus residents and employees:

  • ●  Masks and physical distancing are required when indoors (except for private residences), unless alone in a private office/classroom. This is true regardless of vaccination status. Masks are required in private residences when students are visiting.
  • ●  Only those persons who have presented proof of vaccination to Whitney Lane, Director of Health Services, are permitted to eat in the dining hall. Everyone must wear a mask when not eating or drinking. Those who have not presented proof of vaccination must continue with take-out meals.
  • ●  Masks will not be required indoors when exercising or using exercise equipment.
    ● Masks will not be required under any of the other circumstances listed as exceptions in the Order. If you believe you qualify for such an exemption, please contact Ace Ellis, Kenny Deane, or Michelle Neal to discuss a reasonable accommodation.
 
Faculty children under 12 should be supervised indoors to ensure the masking and distancing rules are followed.

Campus Guests
Masks and physical distancing are required when indoors (except for private residences), regardless of vaccination status. Campus guests are not permitted to eat in the dining hall. Campus guests wishing to use indoor exercise equipment are expected to do so when no Woodberry students are using the same facility. Exceptions for vaccinated individuals may be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with Whitney Lane, Director of Health Services.

Details on Areas of School Life

List of 3 items.

  • Safe Travel Tips

    Flying: 
    There is mounting evidence that the risk of COVID transmission aboard an airplane is quite low due to the high quality of the ventilation systems on modern passenger aircraft, especially if all passengers are wearing masks and seating allows for social distancing. Thus, the real risks of flying lie in the periphery of the flight itself — a big crowd waiting at the gate to board the plane, airport restaurants and cafes (see Dining section below), security lines, etc. The same practices that protect you from contracting COVID-19 in any other public place apply to these situations: wear your mask, stay socially distant from others, especially large crowds in indoor spaces, wash your hands often, and avoid places where others are unmasked, like restaurants and food courts. 

    Hotels: Your hotel room should be safe, as there is little evidence of surface transmission of COVID-19. The key to this part of a trip is wearing a mask whenever you’re in the hotel hallways and lobby. You should also check out the dining suggestions below. Curbside pickup or having food delivered to your room through an app like DoorDash or Grubhub is much safer than eating inside a restaurant. 

    Driving: The starting point here is to minimize stops and to always wear a mask if you need to stop for gas or a bathroom break. Avoid, when possible, eating indoors in public places. 

    Dining: If you can travel to campus without stopping for a meal, please do so. If you do need to stop for a meal while driving, here are some suggestions:
    1. Pack a meal/snacks at home that you can eat on the road or at a rest area. 
    2. Only use drive-through or curbside pickup services. Many restaurants have rolled out new apps and ordering services to facilitate these purchases.
    3. Whatever food you purchase or pack, eat it far away from people outside your household. Sit outside at a picnic table or eat in the car. If staying the night at a hotel, eat in your room. Dining on a crowded patio or inside a restaurant is the most likely way for you or your son to be infected during his trip back to campus.




  • Wearing Masks

    We will be wearing cloth masks (sometimes called face coverings) a lot this year. More and more research shows the effectiveness of wearing masks properly as a critical tool for reducing the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Given that so many COVID-19 carriers don’t have symptoms, our commitment to wearing masks consistently is a demonstration of respect for each other and for the health of the Woodberry community.

    The Health and Safety Task Force has made two important clarifications to our mask rules recently. based on recent information from the CDC and published academic studies.
    1. Thin “neck gaiters” are not acceptable as masks. New evidence shows those very thin fabrics do not block virus particles effectively.
    2. Face shields cannot be a replacement for a mask. You are welcome to wear a mask and a face shield.

    • Indoors: Everyone must wear a mask and practice distancing. 
    • Outdoors: Everyone must wear a mask or practice distancing

    Learn more about masks here.

  • Student Quarantine Information

    Boys quarantining on campus will be in Dowd House because they’ve been exposed to a case through close contact or because they have spent a night off campus recently. Sarah Sydnor is the point of contact for boys in quarantine.



Woodberry Forest, VA 22989
Phone: 540-672-3900
Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.