Weather Update for Hurricane Sandy

The latest weather information for parents, faculy, staff and students

October 30, 2012 --8:00 a.m.

MESSAGE FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL: TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE

Dear Faculty, Administrators, Staff and Students,

As dawn breaks over Andover, our indomitable crews from the Office of Physical Plant are well into their clean up. Only a couple of large trees came down and the resulting damage was contained. The primary evidence of the storm is leaf and small limb debris. All paths and internal roads are clear and passable.

One dormitory—Hearsey House—lost power yesterday afternoon as did several other areas in the town of Andover. We were fortunate, however, that all of the buildings on the school’s power were unaffected. Our Hearsey House students were relocated to Double Brick and will remain with their hosts until power is restored.

For those who are away from campus and have been unable to return, please take your time and put safety first. Students, if you continue to have trouble with travel, please stay in touch with your house counselor, day student advisor and cluster dean. Administrators, faculty and staff unable to reach campus should contact their department chair or manager.

If you are an administrator, staff or faculty member who lives in non-school housing and you have lost power at your home, you are welcome to come to Paresky for meals (and to re-charge batteries) throughout the day.

The folks at Aramark have extended the time for hot breakfast until 10 AM. Paresky meal hours on Tuesday will be: breakfast — 7:00–10:00 AM; 1st floor snacks — 9:15–11:00 AM; lunch — 11:00 AM–3:00 PM (with plenty of “grab and go” options available); and dinner — 5:00–7:00 PM.

Classes will meet as described in the email from last night:

Thank you again for your cooperation during the last couple of days. Thanks, too, for reading the messages so carefully. Your responses helped us make several good adjustments.

Have a good day.

MESSAGE FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL: REVISED TUESDAY SCHEDULE

Monday, October 29--10:00 p.m.

Good evening, PA community members.

We hope that most of you have had a chance to hunker down and rest today. It was a great weekend and we want to take this opportunity to thank you all for what you did to make the parents and other family members feel so welcome on campus. There were many happy people in our midst.

Now, to address some of the concerns that arose from the last storm update:

1. Paresky will offer lunch until 3 PM on Tuesday, to accommodate everyone with 6th lunch. In addition, we will be sure there are plenty of “grab and go” sandwiches available, as some students with late lunch may wish to bring food to their 4th or 5th period class.

2. Music rehearsals will occur as regularly scheduled, at 6:20 PM on Tuesday evening.

3. The College Counseling Office has invited a visitor from Duke for a session on Tuesday evening. That meeting will begin at 6:30 PM, as originally planned.

There was a typographical error in the class schedule in the last email. Period 6 will run 2:35 to 3:20 PM. See corrected schedule below.

We recognize that there are students and faculty who had previously arranged to use conference period on Tuesday. We ask that you work together to find another mutually convenient time to meet, although we realize that that will not be possible for all of you. Thanks for everyone’s flexibility under these unusual circumstances.

Have a good night.

SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY

Period 1: 10:00 - 10:45 AM
Period 2: 10:55 - 11:40 AM
**No conference period**
Period 3: 11:50 AM -- 12:35 PM
Period 4: 12:45 -1:30 PM
Period 5: 1:40 - 2:25 PM
Period 6: 2:35 - 3:20 PM
Period 7: 3:30 - 4:15 PM
Period 9: 4:50 - 5:35 PM

MESSAGE FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL: TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE

Monday, October 29--8:00 p.m.

Dear Faculty, Administrators, Staff and Students,

Please read all of the message below as it contains critical information for each constituency.

Wind and rain have worsened as expected and faculty and student families on and off campus have reported scattered power outages. So far, everyone, including those who have lost electricity, has remained safe.

Since the majority of the non-dormitory buildings are closed as of this afternoon and boarding students will eat their evening meal in the dormitory, final sign in will be at 6:30 PM tonight. Students already in the dorm should remain there.

Day students are encouraged to remain at their homes until families decide it is safe to travel.

Forecasts for the next few hours indicate that the storm will have moved past Andover by the time tomorrow morning’s classes are to begin. However, judging from the debris across campus now, we will need to keep the campus as clear as possible of foot traffic in the early hours to allow our colleagues in OPP to begin their clean up. We have decided to delay the start of classes until 10 AM, with the following schedule:

Period 1: 10:00 – 10:45 AM
Period 2: 10:55 — 11:40 AM
**No conference period**
Period 3: 11:50 AM -- 12:35 PM
Period 4: 12:45 —1:30 PM
Period 5: 1:40 – 2:25 PM
Period 6: 2:35 – 3:20 PM
Period 7: 3:30 - 4:15 PM
Period 9: 4:50 - 5:35 PM

(Note that aside from the time changes, classes meet according the pattern for any Tuesday after a Monday without classes. For most students and instructors, such Tuesdays look like a typical Friday, with every class meeting for 45 minutes. Exceptions in Fall Term 2012 are:

• English 505AA, which meets during 6th period only,
• English 505AB which meets during 7th period only,
• Art 301/401 which meets during the first 45 minutes of 9th period, and
• Art 500 which meets during 6th period only.

Sports and Community Service are canceled for Tuesday. Coaches, please contact your athletes regarding preparation for Wednesday games. The training room and Rosenau Fitness Center will be open 4:30-6:00 PM on Tuesday. Paresky meal hours on Tuesday will follow the normal hours of operation: Breakfast – 7:00-9:15 AM; 1st floor snacks – 9:15-11:00 AM; lunch – 11:00 AM-2:00 PM; and dinner – 5:00-7:00 PM.

The Admission Office will be open as usual. Given the special schedule tomorrow, faculty interviewers and student tour guides will receive further details directly from our admission colleagues.

Teaching faculty, if you are unable to meet your classes tomorrow, please be in touch with your department chair.

House counselors, students should be either in the dorm or at home with a parent. Please let your cluster dean know of boarding students who are unable to make it back to campus as expected.

Faculty, if you lose power at your home and need a place to stay, please contact Temba Maqubela. Several colleagues have volunteered to provide shelter to others.

Given the late start to the class day, administrators and staff who are normally on campus between 8 and 10 AM and who perform non-essential duties should delay their arrival on Tuesday until 10 AM.

Thanks for your cooperation with protocols described in prior emails and thanks for reading this message thoroughly. We will not update you further tonight unless circumstances change dramatically.

Becky Sykes
On behalf of the PA Storm Team: Temba Maqubela, Paul Murphy, John Rogers, Leeann Bennett, Tom Conlon, Maureen Ferris, Larry Muench, Tracy Sweet and Dominic Veneto

MESSAGE FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL: CAMPUS PREPARATIONS

Monday, October 29--1:00 p.m.

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

Good day. The weather service indicates that the storm will gain force throughout the afternoon in the Andover area. Therefore, please heed all entreaties to stay indoors as much as you can. In order to encourage community members to stay put, we have made adjustments to the schedules of several departments and services around campus. Please note the following:

1. Paresky will serve brunch until 3:00 PM. To allow the staff at Paresky to get home safely and to discourage community members from walking around campus during a time when the winds and rain are predicted to be particularly strong, we will NOT serve dinner in Paresky tonight. The “bag dinner” station will remain open until 4:00 PM. House counselors, proctors and prefects will be able to pack a 4th Meal for your dorm at the Hearth on the 1st floor of Paresky until 4 as well.
2. Susie’s will not open today.
3. Central Services (the mail room) is not open today.
4. Oliver Wendell Holmes Library and all academic buildings will close today at 1:00 PM.
5. The gym will be closed the remainder of the day.
6. The rink will not offer ice time for PA community members today.
7. The Polk-Lillard AV Center, LLC and the PACC will not be open this afternoon or this evening.
8. Isham Health Center will be open and staffed with clinicians throughout the storm. Isham is one of the first buildings to be switched over to the back-up generator if power is lost.
9. OPP crews have been created to work through the day and overnight to respond to emergencies. Please call the OPP Help Desk at 978-749-4320 until 4:00 PM or Public Safety at 978-749-4444 after 4:00 PM, to report a problem.

We anticipate that we will have classes tomorrow. If anything changes, we will notify you as soon as possible.

If power is lost anywhere on campus, we will send update messages by email and text. In any event, we will send another update late this afternoon or early evening.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Becky Sykes
Associate Head of School

MESSAGE FROM HR: NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL TO STAY HOME MONDAY

Sunday, October, 28--9:00 p.m.

The Academy has been closely monitoring the storm and is following the direction provided by Governor Patrick. As such, Staff and Administrators performing essential functions are asked to report to work tomorrow; all others are asked to stay home. If you are unsure if your work is considered essential, please follow up with your supervisor. We will continue to monitor this storm and provide updates, if needed, via email, Campus News and the "4SNO" line 978-749-4766.

Leeann Bennett
Director of Human Resources

MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL

Sunday, October 28--5:00 p.m.

 Dear Parents,

The gods smiled upon us and allowed Parents’ Weekend to come and go with mostly great weather. Today, we find ourselves experiencing light rain and an updated forecast of the possible effects of Hurricane Sandy. We have been working on plans for the storm since the end of last week, and have just sent the message below to the on-campus community.

If you have questions specific to your child, please contact your child’s house counselor or cluster dean. If you have broader questions about the school’s response to the storm, please contact Becky Sykes at bsykes@andover.edu.

John Palfrey, Head of School
Becky Sykes, Associate Head of School

************************************************

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

We began preparation for the anticipated storm at the end of last week, even though early forecasts could not predict with certainty how much Hurricane Sandy might affect this area. We continue to monitor weather reports and it appears that Andover will experience heavy rains and strong winds as early as midday on Monday, continuing into early Tuesday. While we have made provisions for the storm, we trust everyone will remain informed and use their own good judgment to keep themselves safe. To that end, we invite your attention to the following:

1. Students who are traveling away from campus this weekend should decide with their parents when to return. Students who are unable to return by Monday at 8 PM should contact their house counselor and cluster dean.
2. Forecasts suggest that wind may down power lines in and around Andover. Please do not go near lines that are down, even if electricity has been lost.
3. The dean of students and the cluster deans have made plans for alternative housing for students in dormitories that may lose electricity and heat. Fortunately, most Academy buildings are connected to our power plant, which has a back-up energy system.
4. Faculty in homes and dormitories that lose power should call Public Safety at x4444 right away to report the outage.
5. Faculty who would be willing to host colleagues who may be without power should contact Dean of Faculty Temba Maqubela.
6. Coordinators for all school-sponsored trips planned for Sunday afternoon/evening or Monday should check in with the Duty Officer (Becky Sykes) or Dean on Duty (Frank Tipton) before leaving campus.
7. As a precaution, students will not be allowed to take day excuses on Monday.
8. In the event of an interruption to power, we will use texts to complement our email communication.
9. At this point, we expect that the Academy will operate as usual on Monday and that classes will resume as planned on Tuesday.

We are fortunate to have our dedicated staff in the Office of Physical Plant to support us in situations like this. According to Larry Muench, Director of Facilities,

We have cleared roof drains, secured loose equipment, checked and started our small generators and portable sump pumps, topped off the satellite diesel generator tanks around campus, and strategized a response with our teams.

Our power plant generator—ready to run if needed—supplies power to about 85 of our buildings, including 38 of the 42 dorms, Paresky, OWH Library, the gym, Smith Center. We have enough fuel on site to run the power plant generator for 10 to 12 days. Additionally, the Gelb generator provides sufficient power for us to use that building with some restrictions.

We have managers, grounds personnel, and facilities trades at the ready to respond as needed. We also have local contractors ready for our call to assist our campus response if needed.

We will send updates this evening and tomorrow as conditions change. Questions? Please contact Becky Sykes