UPDATING — Coronavirus and Westchester Schools: Closures Extended Through Mid-April

For our latest news updates on COVID-19, click here.

Update 3/23:

Governor Cuomo announced today that New York schools would remain closed through at least April 15, but will still continue to provide health worker childcare and meal services through that time.


Update 3/23:

Westchester County has unveiled an extensive plan for supporting local students who had been relying on state funded free and reduced meal plans at school. The program will distribute food in 17 Westchester school districts at more than four-dozen locations throughout the county. For a full list of available times and locations, click here.

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Update 3/16:

Governor Cuomo this weekend ordered the closure of all Westchester County public schools, as well as those in NYC, Suffolk, and Nassau counties. He stressed, however, the need to do so while maintaining the infrastructure that provides vital meals to students.

County Executive George Latimer officially declared a local state of emergency as well, today. Effective Wednesday, March 18, all schools in Westchester County both public and private will close, except for certain staff and other necessary functions — including student meal programs.


Update 3/13:

Byram Hils schools will remain closed Monday and Tuesday, though buildings we be open to allow students to access to lockers. Tuesday, technology services will be deploying devices and WiFi for students who need it so that distance courses can begin Wednesday, March 18 and lasting through April 13.

Croton Harmon has reinstated its superintendent’s conference day so students can be off as teachers work remotely to develop distance learning programs.

Mount Vernon schools will have half days on Monday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 18 to prepare for possible distance learning.

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Katonah-Lewisboro schools are closed Friday. Extracurriculars are closed on site through the weekend.

Mamaroneck schools are closed Friday through March 30. Students will be using “inclement weather days” Monday and Tuesday, and remote learning courses will begin on Wednesday, March 18.

Mount Pleasant schools are closed Friday, March 13 for cleaning.

New Rochelle will close all schools through March 25.

Pleasantville has a two-hour delay Friday and is canceling most extracurriculars.

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Yonkers schools are closed Friday, March 13.

 


 

Update 3/12:

Colleges

Concordia College will only be holding online classes through at least March 27

Fordham is only holding online classes.

Mercy College is closed and will begin online classes March 16.

Monroe College will be holding online learning through at minimum March 28.

Purchase College will also be switching to predominantly distance-based learning courses for the remainder of the semester, as will all other SUNY/CUNY schools at the direction of Governor Cuomo.

Sara Lawrence is currently closed and will resume online-only classes March 23 running through April 3.

Westchester Community College is closed but will resume remote-learning from March 23 through March 30.

Primary/Secondary Schools

Bedford schools are closed through Friday, with Friday’s SATs rescheduled for March 28.

Byram Hills School District will be closed today. Tomorrow’s superintendent’s conference day will be held digitally so students can remain home.

Keio Academy in Purchase will switch to distance-based learning through the end of the term.

Lakeland schools will remain closed on Thursday and again Friday for a superintendent’s conference day.

Yorktown schools are closed Thursday; students are already off Friday for a faculty development day.

The Archdiocese of New York today announced that all its Catholic elementary schools in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Rockland, Dutchess, Sullivan, and Ulster counties would close from March 16 through at least March 20. All extracurricular activities are canceled indefinitely.

 


 

Update 3/11/20: Manhattanville College and Pace University are switching to online classes until March 29.

Lakeland School District is closed Wednesday for cleaning, as are Peekskill City School District and Southern Westchester BOCESIona Prep will be closed for cleaning on Thursday.

The Harvey School has decided to close through Friday, leading directly into spring break, as is Rippowam Cisqua private school in Bedford and Iona College.

Hudson Country Montessori School in New Rochelle will now also close through March 25, as will Thornton Donovan SchoolWestchester Day School will continue its closure through March 25 after a student tested positive for COVID-19. Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck has likewise extended its closure.


 

Update 3/10/20: Purchase College has informed students Tuesday morning that Wednesday, March 11 through Friday, March 13 will be a trial period closure in which classes will continue via conference call/webinar services, but all in-person education would be canceled. The college and offices will remain open and the administration will evaluate how best to move forward in the event that a student or faculty member tests positive.

Following Governor Cuomo’s deployment of the U.S. National Guard to the City of New Rochelle to help with relief efforts and set up a containment zone one mile around Temple Young Israel, New Rochelle Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo released a statement confirming that three schools in that radius — New Rochelle High School, Albert Leonard Middle School, and William B. Ward Elementary School — will close for the mandated two weeks for cleaning, through March 25.

Westchester Magazine has confirmed that The Ursuline School, a Catholic private school about half a mile North of Temple Young Israel, will also be closing for two week, effective tomorrow. The Hudson Country Montessori School, just outside the 1-mile containment radius, will remain open, at least through March 11. Amy Goodman, Interim Superintendent of Tuckahoe Union Free School District, announced that all after school and extracurricular activities would be canceled on March 11, and Tuckahoe Middle and Highschools, as well as William E. Cottle school, would be closed per the governor’s quarantine zone March 12 through March 25.


 

Update 3/9/20: Over the weekend, Scarsdale public schools announced that they would be closed through March 18 for cleaning after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Likewise, Somers Central School District will be closed on Monday, March 9 for preemptive sterilizing after a parent of a Primrose Elementary student tested positive, as will Mount Pleasant Cottage School.

The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry has canceled classes all week, while Westchester Torah Academy in White Plains is closed through March 16 and Westchester Day School remains closed through March 17.


 

Update 3/6/20: Port Chester‘s John F. Kennedy Elementary School was dismissed early today, after reports that a student’s family member might have come into contact with an exposed person. As a precautionary measure, students were sent home so that school buildings could be thoroughly sanitized as a precautionary measure.


 

As the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 becomes more visible in Westchester, local students are feeling the impact especially hard.

On Thursday March 5, two Westchester school districts closed for the remainder of the week as a preventative measure against potential exposure. Mount Vernon City School District closed all 16 of its schools “out of an abundance of caution” after two students from one family were quarantined for “possible exposure.” [Emphasis theirs.] The students attend Rebecca Turner School and Columbus School, but all schools in the district have been closed until at least Monday for proactive disinfection.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe there is anything to be concerned about,” says Mount Vernon Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Hamilton.

Concurrently, Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District has closed for the remainder of the week after being notified that a parent of one of its students is among those being asked to self-quarantine. All events are also canceled through Sunday, March 8 as the school sanitizes its buildings and equipment.

Unfortunately, local Westchester students are not the only ones affected by the current situation. Late Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all SUNY and CUNY students currently studying abroud in five countries affected by the virus — China, Italy, Japan, Iran, and South Korea — are being recalled and their programs suspended immediately.

Approximately 300 students from the affected countries will be brought home on a chartered flight to Stewart Airport and quarantined for 14 days in dormitory settings before being released under continued monitoring.

“Luckily here in New York we have one of the best health care systems on the globe, period,” Cuomo says, “and we are doing everything humanely possible to improve even on that.”

Our Westchester Home Builders Awards take place on April 4!

Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Forum is March 14!

Unveiled: A Boutique Bridal Brunch is February 25!

Our Best of Westchester Elimination Ballot is open through March 6!

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