The New York Conservatory returned to on-campus classes as of July 27 with a small cohort of students, in order to practice and refine the safety protocols that will be place when campus opens to the full population on September 14th. Fall semester will additionally be offered online, for students who wish to begin the program but delay moving to New York City until January 2021.
NYCDA has submitted its required reopening plan to New York State, and the plan conforms to both mandatory and recommended guidelines for opening and maintaining a safe campus. The full plan is posted on campus, and available to students and parents via email upon request. Main points are below:
On the campus
- Students, faculty and staff will be required to complete a quick health and COVID-19 exposure survey prior to entry to campus each day, including temperature check and response to questions. This will likely be conducted via phone app.
- Face masks will be distributed by the school and worn properly at all times by all persons on campus.
- Class sections will be decreased from 16 to 8 students, and class start times will be staggered to allow for social distancing in hallways and common areas. Studio floors will be marked to indicate social distancing requirements.
- Plastic dividers and floor markings indicating proper distancing in common areas will be added to the campus as necessary.
- All commonly touched campus surfaces will be cleaned with bleach dilution every two hours.
- Restrooms will be single person use only, and will be cleaned twice a day.
- Mini market and vending machine areas will be supplied with disposable gloves for use when opening coolers and using self-checkout keypads.
- Eating on campus will be done inside floor-marked squares to maintain 6′ distance between students.
- Campus windows will be open as much as possible to maximize fresh air flow.
- Classes not requiring students to work collaboratively, i.e. Film Genres, will be taught online to relieve crowding on campus.
- Hand sanitizer stations will be placed outside each studio and classroom.
- Water fountains will be decommissioned and students will be encouraged to bring or purchase bottled water.
- Visitors to campus and alumni use of facilities will be suspended for Fall term to minimize additional exposure for students.
in the event of covid-19 cases among the student population
- If exposed students are sharing a room or suite in our residence, they will be moved to isolated housing.
- New York Department of Health will conduct testing of student and contact tracing. We will follow DOH instructions on quarantine of affected students.
- Students forced to quarantine will be able to join online classwork to keep up with their courses.
- The campus will be closed for 1-2 days for deep cleaning and disinfection.
- NYCDA policy requires Student Services to follow up with students who are absent from class, to keep in close contact with student and parents when a student falls ill, and to arrange for transportation and accompany students to the ER if they need to go.