MARION — Tabor Academy plans to bring boarders and day students back to campus and will require every student who returns to campus to have a screening and antigen test upon arrival. The private school will change its rules, campus limits and schedules to keep students as healthy as possible. 

That’s according to the school’s Fall Reopening plan, which was released July 30 with guidance for the new school year. 

Dorms will be open only to students and car permissions will be suspended for the month of September. To allow students slightly more freedom with these restrictions the limits of campus will be extended slightly to include parts of Route 6 and Main Street.  

As students arrive on campus, they will have a comprehensive screening and a rapid antigen test. Students will be tested again two weeks later, to ensure that they were not exposed to the virus while traveling, and will have another comprehensive screening and testing if they begin to show symptoms. 

On-campus students will be asked to confirm via an app that they are not experiencing symptoms and the school will require both face masks and 6 feet of distance in all public spaces. 

It was not clear from Tabor’s July 30 release if students will have roommates or not. 

The school will use more rigorous cleaning procedures, bringing in electrostatic sprayers to clean 

Academically, the school will break its trimesters into modules, as described in a letter to families and community members on June 26. It will also make an effort to hold certain courses in the morning for Asian students who may be joining classes remotely from a different time zone. 

Overall, Tabor’s academic strategy is to integrate distance students with in-person classes, not create separate online sections. 

“Students participating via Zoom will have the same content and expectations as in-person students,” the plan said. It also described administrators as “actively thinking about ways to bring online students into lab conversations and opportunities.” 

Teachers are also encouraged to teach outside whenever possible. 

The private school is planning for a longer midday break to allow for several lunch sessions, and will deliver meals to quarantined students. It will also offer two new dining halls and a to-go option in the dining halls. 

Per the Independent School League, Tabor will not have games for fall sports, but the school will make an effort to offer other activities on Wednesdays and Saturdays.