Brentwood Takes A Break

24 December 2020Tommy M, Privett ‘23

As the long-awaited Holiday season is upon us and the first cumulative testing
season has ended Brentwood students are as excited as the Who’s down in Whoville. Busily packing up their rooms, vacuuming under their beds and saying a hopeful ‘See you later,’ to their Brentwood families. The time for a much-deserved break is upon us and our students have now dispersed from our tightly-knit waterfront campus to other homes across the globe.

From December 18th to January 11th, Brentwood students and teachers will be enjoying a respite after a long four months of grit, joy, dedication and perseverance through these uncertain times.

Brentwood is home to students from six continents. As such there are a lot of uncertainties regarding the necessary travel and possible contact with COVID-19 in airports and urban areas. Our school’s COVID team of Mr Sullivan, Mr McPherson, Ms Murtland, Mr Shadlock, Mr Burton & Mr Patel have put in many long hours of tremendous work in order to ensure that as many Brentwood students as possible will be able to be at home and with their families to ring in the long-awaited New Year and say a farewell to 2020.

To make this possible, the COVID team has developed protocols for Winter Break that will culminate in our return with Camp Brentwood 4 (CB4) that will be in place when students return in 2021. The first of these protocols is another two-week quarantine in Victoria for all students returning from international travel. International students will arrive in Canada on January 2nd for their required isolation period. On January 12th, online classes begin for students in and out of quarantine and they will continue to run until January 15th. The students then have the weekend off to allow travel back to campus on the 18th.

Upon our return, Camp Brentwood 4.0 will be the same as CB1, with a two-week bubble placed on the Brentwood campus for boarding students as well as heavy cohort distancing, masks in all indoor spaces, and the return of day students to the Foote Centre. The Brentwood community is hoping for a smooth two weeks and ultimately, a return to our current state of relative normalcy.

Break plans and opportunities differ from student to student. I spoke to three students and received answers from each after asking the simple question, ‘What are your plans for the break?’

Ariel C, Privett ‘23 replied that he would be returning to “the sands of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia” where he plans to “bathe in the glory of [his] mother’s home cooking, see [his] precious pooch (Sandy) for the first time in four months and spend some quality time with [his] family.” Ariel also added that he was very grateful for the efforts of the COVID team that will allow him to be with his family during the most wonderful time of the year.

Head Prefect, Jack NG, Ellis ‘21 is a local student, born and raised in Cobble Hill and will be staying home during the break. His plans include “family time, university applications, a whole lot of rest and relaxation and some light reading”. Jack added that he is really hoping to get some time in the fluffy powder of Mount Washington, skiing with his family.

Finally, Hazel L, Allard ‘23 told me that “Due to the travel restrictions and mandatory quarantine in Hong Kong and Canada” she wouldn’t be able to return home to Hong Kong for the break. So, she and her Mom, “Who is flying across from HK” will be staying in Vancouver over the break. She showed thanks for the fact that “Brentwood has made a great effort towards being more flexible towards international students who cannot return home to face two quarantines upon arrival and departure”.

So, as we disappear for almost a month, Brentwood will be left with great memories of a unique start in this strange year of 2020. We end wishing all students, faculty and families a holly, jolly, safe and healthy Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

Tommy M, Privett ‘23