Pinecrest Academy’s high school students switched to remote learning for the week starting on Monday, Nov. 2, as the private school saw a small increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases and students asked to quarantine from home.

Pinecrest Academy spokeswoman Vivian Heard said that high school students will return to in-class learning on Monday, Nov. 9. The lower school and middle school students will remain in class this week without any changes to schedules.

In a letter to parents, Interim Head of School Elizabeth King-Howard and Assistant Head of School Charlene Dougal said all extra-curricular activities and athletics, including practices, for high school students are also cancelled until next week. The only exception was the fencing tournament held this past Saturday as they said the event had its own set of safety measures in place.

“This new uptick of positive cases in the Forsyth County area, and now at our school, has caused the High School leadership team to take a close look at what additional measures we should take to protect the health and well-being of our community,” Howard and Dougal wrote in the letter.

The two school leaders said any student exposure has not been caused by activities within in the school, no students have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and there has been no spread from one positive case to another. They attribute this to the school’s caution during the pandemic and their pandemic plan, created by their COVID-19 task force.

The task force includes school leaders and health care workers, including pediatricians, infectious disease experts, dentists, physicians, and school administration members along with Larry Blandford, a member of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission.

Howard and Dougal wrote that their goal from the start has been to keep Pinecrest Academy open, which is why they feel it is important to take extra precautions and try to eliminate any potential risks.

“We understand the difficult times we are living through — it's not a time to be fearful or to harshly judge others,” they wrote in the letter. “It's a time to take extra care of each other and remember that we are a Christian school community living through a pandemic together. We ask for your grace as we make difficult decisions for the entire school, and please know our intentions are for the good of all of our Pinecrest faculty, students, staff, and families.”

For more information on COVID-19 updates at Pinecrest Academy, visit the school’s website.