COVID-19 - Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill

This page outlines our plans and procedures for conducting school during the COVID-19 pandemic. As new information becomes available, this page will be updated.

Handling Possible, Suspected, Presumptive, or Confirmed Positive Cases of COVID-19

Symptoms: Students, teachers, and staff who have symptoms of COVID-19, should stay home and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care. Staying home when sick is essential to keep infections out of schools and prevent spread to others.

Occurrence of any of the symptoms below while a student, teacher, or staff member is at school suggests the person may be referred for diagnostic COVID-19 testing or evaluation:

Fever (temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher)
Sore throat
Cough (for people with chronic cough due to allergies or asthma, a change in their cough from baseline)
Difficulty breathing (for people with asthma, a change from their baseline breathing)
New loss of taste or smell
Diarrhea or vomiting
New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever

Diagnosed: People presumed to have or are diagnosed with COVID-19 must stay home until they meet the criteria for return to school. Staying home when sick with COVID-19 is essential to keeping COVID-19 infections out of schools and preventing spread to others.

Exposed: It is also essential for people who are not fully vaccinated to quarantine after a recent close contact to someone with COVID-19.

NOTE: As of 7/9/21, CDC added an exception to the need to quarantine in the close contact definition, excluding students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or clinically compatible illness) where:

both students were engaged in consistent and correct use of well-fitting face masks; and
other K–12 school prevention strategies (such as universal and correct mask use, physical distancing, increased ventilation) were in place in the K–12 school setting.
This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.

Guiding Principles

As the school formulates plans to respond to the pandemic and prepare for fall 2020, Trinity's mission remains at the forefront.

The following principles will guide Trinity throughout the planning process:

The glory of God is the most important thing. Non Nobis: this is our mission and our commitment, and COVID does not change this at all. We should ask, how can our response to this and in this give glory to God, and make Christ’s name great?
Safety is a top priority. This includes physical safety, to minimize viral exposure to our students and faculty; emotional safety; and spiritual safety, teaching students that God will hide us in his shelter in the day of trouble.
Trinity’s distinctive mission (classical, Christian, rich, and unhurried; truth, goodness, and beauty) has deep roots and is adaptable to all sorts of conditions. We have remained true to that mission, and we will continue to do so.
God never wastes a crisis. God works through times of disruption—remember the story of Joseph. He can use this time to build character, to deepen our commitment to Trinity’s mission, and to help us clarify our vision.
Relationships are central to Trinity. Students are known and loved. Faculty model what it means to follow Christ and learn.
The public authorities are God’s servants, and we owe them respect and honor, especially in these times of crisis (Romans 13).

Our Non Nobis core value means that we must be willing to sacrifice our own needs for the good and safety of others, especially those who are most vulnerable. This whole springtime of remote learning has been a huge Non Nobis moment for our school.

Panel of Experts

Helpful Resources

COVID-19 FAQs (CDC)

Johns Hopkins daily situation reports

COVID-19 Testing in North Carolina

CDC Guidelines on When to Quarantine

CDC Guidelines for Exposure Risk and Self-Monitoring Related to Travel

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center Dashboard and Current Trends

National Institutes of Health Coronavirus Updates

The Centers for Disease Control’s Interim Guidance for US K-12 Schools

The American Enterprise Institute’s Coronavirus: A Road Map to Reopening

State of North Carolina Stay-at-Home Order

The State of North Carolina “Staying Ahead of the Curve” presentation by the Governor

Household preparedness

COVID-19 Fact Sheets in English, Spanish, and Chinese

CDC Information for Travelers

Netiquette for Remote Learning

Just for Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus

How to Talk to Your Kids About the Coronavirus (Healthline)

Additionally, Trinity School communicates regularly with other schools across the country through its INDEX network, with the schools in the Southern Association of Independent Schools, and especially with the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools and other independent schools in the Durham–Chapel Hill area.

Will off campus learning be offered in the 2021-2022 school year?

For the 2021-2022 academic year, Trinity School plans to operate in person and not to offer off-campus learning options. Our mission is best accomplished in person, and we have learned through the 2020-2021 much about operating safely even during this pandemic. We are hopeful that the conditions and necessary mitigations that will be necessary in the fall of 2021 will be fewer than during the 2020-2021 year, and we are prioritizing our mission and the well being of our faculty, for whom sustained off campus learning is an undue hardship.

Although Trinity will not provide a sustained and long-term off-campus learning experience for students, we will provide for students to continue their education while under limited quarantine in accordance with the school's health policies. As always, Trinity will put the safety of its students and staff first, and if we need to move an entire class, division, or school to remote learning, we will do so.

Mask Breaks

How will mask breaks and lunchtime be handled safely?

Students will be able to take their masks off to eat, but they will need to maintain at least six feet of social distancing. There will be opportunities for mask breaks that will likely coincide with breaks in the schedule, but we will be monitoring students closely to ensure compliance with distancing protocols. The maintenance of six feet of separation is an essential goal for us, and this is even more critical if a student removes his or her mask.

Travel Restrictions

Early Care

Hill Center Students

Daily Wellness Check

StrongSchoolsNC Publich Health Toolkit (K-12)

Last updated July 21, 2021.

As a school we follow the most current guidelines of the Durham County Health Department, NCDHHS, and CDC. The toolkit below informs our school's policy and procedures related to the pandemic.

Download the PDF