COVID-19 Task Force Update

Dear Killington Mountain School Community,

Congratulations to the KMS Class of 2020! It is an honor to recognize you as alumni and we wait with great excitement to hear about the amazing things you will undoubtedly continue to achieve.

I would also like to applaud our incredibly caring and committed faculty for delivering such a meaningful graduation experience despite our distance. As promised, the Graduation Committee will continue to work with the Class of 2020 to determine how we might arrange for an in-person recognition event in the future.

Please also take a moment with me to commend our former Head of School Tao Smith for his leadership and contributions over his storied tenure at KMS. We wish him well in his new role and appreciate all he has done for our school.

COVID-19 Task Force Update (June 8):

When you combine smart and passionate people with a shared vision, an openness to change, a culture of innovation, and a spirit of collaboration, good things will happen,

-Dr. Jim Taylor

The COVID-19 Task Force has been hard at work planning for the safe continuation of academic and athletic development at KMS this summer, and into the next school year.

Phase 1 of our reopening plan will begin today with essential personnel resuming work on summer maintenance projects, and preparing our facilities for use. We will quickly shift into off-campus Phase 2 activity this Friday, beginning with our mountain biking program’s first small group training session at the Killington Bike Park. Over the next couple of weeks, KMS coaches will continue to add and notify our enrolled athletes about training opportunities here in Killington. Before engaging in any KMS summer activities, all participants and facilitators will be required to complete our COVID-19 related training with our VOSHA mandated Health and Safety Officers Meg Girardi, Peter Girardi, Lauren Reck, or Claire Kershko.

Phase 2 also covers modified summer day camp offerings and consideration for summer travel. Families should note that all commercial summer camp sessions have been cancelled for the month of June. We are aiming to communicate plans for the remainder of our summer camp sessions by June 22. All summer operating procedures will be added to the KMS COVID-19 Manual as they become available. This will be a living document published to our website and the single source of our most up-to-date COVID-19 response.

The COVID-19 Manual will also detail our initial designs for Phase 3: the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. We are considering multiple scenarios, including our regular start to the year, an early start or a delayed start. Given the ever-changing global response to this virus, the exercise of scenario planning will ensure that KMS is prepared. The next COVID-19 Task Force update will be on Monday, June 22. Meanwhile, you can share your input with us at covid19@killingtonmountainschool.org.

Thank you for your continued support of Killington Mountain School and once again, welcome to our alumni community, Class of 2020.

Be well,

Claire Kershko

Head of School