COVID-19 FAQs

Students are expected to regularly check their emails for updates from the Academic Office regarding distance learning.

Our distance learning program will begin on March 30.

As of our March 17 update to the community, our current plan is that students will return to campus on May 4. We ask that you understand this date could change and that we will continue to communicate on a regular basis.

We will fully support students who are not able or comfortable returning to campus. Distance learning will be available for the entirety of the spring term.

Beginning March 30, all classes will be offered via an online platform. Class times will be different than our normal schedule and oriented towards North American time zones. A revised schedule will be forthcoming.

All practices and games are suspended until at least May 4. Most NEPSAC schools are making similar plans. Heads of School are actively discussing spring athletic schedules.

The school will not host the ACT on April 4. ACT has decided to reschedule the April 4, 2020 National ACT^® test date to the June 13 and July 18 test dates in response to concerns regarding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

ACT will be notifying registered students directly in the next few days, informing them of the cancellation and providing instructions for next steps.

The May 2 SAT is canceled. A decision about the June 6 date has not been made yet. The College Board will provide refunds to any students registered for the May SAT and to those students who missed the March SAT due to cancellation. The College Board will provide future additional SAT testing opportunities for students as soon as feasible in place of canceled administrations.

The ACT and College Board have postponed the April ACT and May SAT tests, respectively.  Regarding AP tests, the College Board is developing resources to help schools support student learning during extended closures.  They are also working on a solution that may allow students to test at home. Please refer to the College Board website for updates. 

International students lacking housing accommodations will be welcomed on campus on March 23. Families in need of such accommodations will be required to contact the Dean of Students Office and the Health Center. In order to protect the health of our community, students must meet all health requirements before they will be permitted to return to campus. See additional details below. 

We value our end of year ceremonies and rites-of-passage and are eager to preserve them in whatever ways we can.  We are working with senior administrators and our Senior Master, Mr. Small, to plan for our special end-of-year events. As the situation evolves, we will be in touch with further information.

If your child is experiencing any anxiety around our current situation, please reach out to dos@gunnery.org or Dr. Konik (konikb@gunnery.org). If your child sees a therapist on campus, please contact that clinician directly.

If your child takes medication, please ask the prescribing physician to call in a prescription to a pharmacy local to you. If that isn’t possible, please email healthdept@gunnery.org and we can assist with shipping medication.

If your child is scheduled to see a school-affiliated physician between March 23rd and May 4th, we will cancel those appointments. Please consult with your personal physician for any medical needs. Please note that our Medical Director is not available for consultations or tele-medicine during this time.

At this point, we ask that you do not return to campus for your belongings. All class materials for our distance learning program will be available offline for students who are not able to join lessons at the time they are offered remotely. If there is an item that you urgently need, please reach out to dos@gunnery.org for assistance.  As we firm up our plans for distance learning, we will be in touch about what academic resources (if any) you will need.  Please do not make plans to return to campus for books or other academic materials at this point. To protect the health of the community, student fobs have been deactivated for the time being.

The school store is currently closed. As a result students will not have access to the mailroom.

We ask that international students make plans to stay off-campus through May 4th. If you need to return to campus beginning March 23rd, please reach out to dos@gunnery.org for further information and to discuss your travel plans.

We will have virtual advising built into our regular schedule. Your advisor will be in touch with further information.

The Gunnery believes that our growth and health as individuals is rooted in the interconnected nature of life.  We need to attend to our mental and physical selves, just as we attend to our scholarly growth. In building a schedule for distance learning, we are creating ways for the essence of our co-curricular program to endure, whether through fitness classes or sessions with head coaches.

We would like to find ways to preserve the spring athletic season and will be working with other schools to identify our options.  How and when we can get our teams back together and competing is, in large part, a question of public health that transcends our individual needs.  We will be working actively to find those ways within our power to make the spring season happen.

Unfortunately, no. At this time our indoor athletic facilities are closed for use and the use of outdoor athletic facilities is restricted to campus residents and invited guests until further notice.

The school will not host the ACT on April 4. ACT has canceled its April 4 national test date across the U.S. in response to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). All students registered for the April 4 test date should have received an email from ACT informing them of the postponement and providing instructions for free rescheduling to June 13, July 18, or a future national test date.

Students are encouraged to register ASAP for a future test date as there will be increased demand for the ACT in light of the cancellation of the April national test date. More information can be found on the ACT website.

Students are reminded that The Gunnery does not host the June or July ACT and should register at a testing center near their homes. We are currently exploring the possibility of offering either the September or October ACT (or both) next fall to help make up for the loss of on-campus testing options.

The school will not host the SAT on May 2. In response to the rapidly evolving situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19), The College Board has canceled the May 2 SAT and SAT Subject Test administration. Students who registered for the May test will receive a refund.

The College Board will provide future additional SAT testing opportunities for students as soon as possible in place of canceled administrations. The College Board has not yet canceled the June 6 SAT and SAT Subject Test administration and will continue to assess its status, with the health and safety of students and educators as its top priority. The College Board is also exploring the possibility of adding an international SAT administration later this school year.

Students are encouraged to register ASAP for a future test date as there will be increased demand for the SAT in light of the cancellation of the May test date. More information can be found on the SAT website.

Students are reminded that The Gunnery does not host the June or August SAT and should register at a testing center near their homes. However, The Gunnery will host both the October and November SAT next fall providing additional on-campus testing options.

On March 20, The College Board announced that the 2020 AP Exams will be administered online; registered students will be invited to take the exams at home. The full exam schedule, specific free-response question types that will be on each AP Exam, and additional testing details will be available by April 3. 

Families should take some time to review the full update regarding 2020 AP Exams from The College Board on the AP Central website: AP Updates for Schools Impacted by Coronavirus. 

Students should also review the following: Information for AP Students Affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The decision was made to cancel any remaining test prep sessions. Summit will reach out to all registered participants and issue prorated refunds based on the number of remaining test prep sessions. Families who do not hear from Summit in the next week or so should contact Summit’s office directly at (800) 843-8520 for information.

From our conversations with admission offices, colleges are notifying Regular Decision candidates on schedule. If an admitted student's financial aid application is complete, they should also receive a financial aid package with their admission decision. Students should be checking their email regularly for updates on notification dates and information on how to access admission decisions through their applicant portals.

Colleges are developing virtual admitted student programs. Information about these programs will be shared in admitted student packets and/or via email invitation. We encourage students to participate in these programs and to reach out to The Gunnery’s admission representative at each institution to ask questions. Additionally, we are working with our Alumni & Development Office to connect students with our young alumni at various colleges and universities. As always, we encourage students to reach out to their college counselor to discuss their college options.

To date, many colleges and universities have decided to keep the May 1 candidate reply date. This is the date by which you have to accept one offer of admission and decline the other(s). Some colleges and universities have extended the deadline to June 1 (and it's possible that others will follow), but remember that you may only deposit at one college or university. If you deposit at one institution and then later accept a waitlist offer, you must inform the first institution that you will no longer be attending. The Gunnery will send your final transcript to only one college or university.

More information regarding changes to the candidate reply date (and other useful information) can be found here: NACAC College Admission Status Update: Coronavirus Impact

The short answer, for both juniors and seniors, is no. College and university admission offices understand that many high schools have had to transition to distance learning in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. They, too, have had to make many of the same changes The Gunnery has implemented for the sake of continuity. Through our conversations over the past few weeks, we know that colleges and universities are going to be very flexible in evaluating this term in the greater context of what is happening globally.

Yes! Just like teachers and advisors, college counselors will be available for virtual meetings during this time of distance learning. Counselors will be in touch to let students know how to schedule a one-on-one meeting.

The College Counseling Office plans to continue our College Seminar but in a virtual format. It will operate on the same platform as your academic courses. Again, counselors will be in touch about scheduling.