Although the school was expecting to house 15 girls in Hathaway this year, it has instead been repurposed as a quarantine dorm.
With the opening of Logan House, the new all-gender dorm, Williston rearranged the distribution of boarders to different dorms on campus. Hathaway, located across the Cain Athletic Center, housed 12 girls last year. However, as students returned to campus from all around the world this fall, the lingering Covid situation necessitated that Hathaway become one of the quarantine dorms the school uses to isolate boarders infected with Covid.
To avoid a widespread of Covid on campus, students who are Covid positive are required to return home for an isolation of five days. For boarders who cannot return home but must be isolated from their dormmates, they are moved to a quarantine dorm such as Hathaway or Conant until they test negative twice on an antigen test.
Josh Rilla, an English teacher at Williston who moved into the apartment in Hathaway with his daughter and wife this summer, isn’t bothered by the fact that Hathaway has turned into a quarantine dorm.
“I was supposed to be dorm head in a community of 15 girls, and I was excited for that honestly, so I was a little disappointed when I found out no one was gonna be there,” he said. “It being a quarantine dorm doesn’t affect me much, as the hallway is behind our apartment, so we are pretty much separated and there wouldn’t be any contamination.”
Channing Doran, a junior living in John Wright, was in isolation in Hathaway at the earlier this trimester. He had very little knowledge of the dorm before moving in.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I was hoping for an upgrade from my normal dorm room, but I do miss being with people in John Wright because I don’t even know who my neighbor in Hathaway is. I have barely had any interactions with people since I have been isolated.”
As of Thursday September 15, there were 31 student cases with six students isolating on campus. There were also four employee cases. The school has reimplemented the “masking within big gatherings” policy.
A text was sent to every student and faculty’s phone on Thursday, Sep. 15. It read: “Starting Fri, 9/16, masks will be required for large indoor gatherings. Bring masks or masks will be available. This is the policy until further notice.”
David Koritkoski, Acting Dean of Students, outlined the future of Hathaway.
“The larger plan of the school doesn’t have us using Hathaway in the future,” he said. “In the short term we need it right now for events. Ideally, or as part of the master plan, it’s going to end up being a parking lot.”