Randolph-Macon Academy suspends on-campus classes; students depart Friday, March 13

Given the rapidly evolving situation with the COVID-19 virus, Randolph-Macon Academy will be suspending on-campus classes at the end of the day on Friday, March 13 and asking students to depart campus beginning that afternoon.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the immediate area or associated with the school, as R-MA President David Wesley explained in an email to the school community. “We are guided by several goals: protecting the health of our students, faculty, and staff, and to help slow the spread of the virus,” he stated.

There will be no classes on Monday and Tuesday, March 16th and 17th, to allow the teachers time to adapt their lesson plans for online classes as needed. A full-time schedule of online classes will run from Wednesday, March 18th through April 9th, when the Academy’s spring break begins. The hope is that on-campus classes can resume after spring break, on April 20th, though Wesley wrote in his message to the R-MA family, “As we continue to monitor the situation off-campus, virtual learning may last longer as needed for the safety of our students and employees.”

The Academy had previously canceled plans to participate in several off-campus events, including the Band and Parade Unit’s Florida trip over spring break, the Drill Team’s trip to the Air Force Junior ROTC National Drill Meet in Ohio, and the Band and Parade Unit’s participation in the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. In addition to these, the on-campus Leadership Symposium and TechPilots Day, both scheduled for March 28th, have been indefinitely postponed.

The SAT scheduled to be held at R-MA this Saturday, March 14th, will be held as planned. The open house on March 22nd is also planned to go on as scheduled, beginning at 2:00 pm, but plans for a possible virtual open house are also being explored.