Jordan Harris ’21 received the Pfizer vaccine at the clinic at Northwood School on Thursday, April 15.

Just nine days after New York State opened the vaccine to high school students ages 16 and 17 and only three days after school opened following spring break, Northwood School hosted a coronavirus vaccination clinic on Thursday, April 15 for students, faculty, Northwood families.

The clinic is believed to be the first school-based clinic for high school students in the North Country and maybe all of New York State.  The indoor turf field was temporarily transformed into a vaccine clinic thirteen months after the school sent students home at the start of the pandemic.

The clinic, operated in conjunction with Adirondack Health, vaccinated every student currently at Northwood who wanted and is eligible for the vaccine.  Thirty-one students and twenty-six community members were vaccinated.  

Not every student who wanted to be vaccinated could get the shot this week. Two athletic teams are away this week traveling for games. The school is currently making arrangements to bring the late-returning students to a state-run clinic that uses the Pfizer vaccine. The closest such clinic are in Plattsburgh or Potsdam. 

Students getting vaccinated at Northwood this spring will be fully vaccinated before graduation and summer break, which everyone agrees is a great start to helping life at school return to “pre-pandemic normal”.   

Assistant Head for School Life Mr. John Spear announced the clinic in a letter to the community on Tuesday morning: 

The Husky greets new and returning students on opening day in September 2019. (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge)

A few weeks ago, the Northwood School admissions team sent out decisions to applicants to the school. In previous years, applicants and their families were strongly encouraged to visit during the application process and were invited back to campus for a revisit day before making their final decisions. The coronavirus pandemic has made it almost impossible to conduct the usual admissions programs without breaking the safety bubble of the students and staff. Admissions office staff told The Mirror that the pandemic did not seem to negatively affect the application pool or process at all. In fact, the pandemic may have made it stronger.  

The application pool was filled with many strong candidates for admission which made the admissions process highly selective and competitive this year. Jeff Miller, a senior member of the admissions team, said “The Northwood 2021-2022 applicant pool was one of the strongest in recent history, with the overall number of applications up 20 % year over year.”  

Each year, Northwood becomes more well-known, driving up inquiries. The increased interest comes in part from the school’s social media platforms, word of mouth from current students and alumni, and our strong athletic teams. Miller went on to say, “The admissions committee saw a lot of depth in the applicant pool this year as well, with a high number of qualified candidates.” The deep pool of many strong candidates made admissions decisions difficult, but it is an exciting time at Northwood.  

After learning of the decision, admitted students and families were invited to a virtual revisit day. Miller said, “the admissions office is looking forward to hosting our virtual revisit days for accepted students and their families on Tuesday, March 23rd and Thursday March 25th.” Normally students and families are invited to attend in person on campus shadowing a current student throughout their day. This gave students a better feel for the Northwood experience.  

Similar to all aspects of our lives since the pandemic struck a year ago, revisit days and other admissions events have gone virtual. Potential future Huskies will get to know Northwood through Zoom and Teams calls and virtual campus tours. We wish these prospective students the best of luck with this important decision and hope to see them on campus in the fall. 

Students embraced and said their goodbyes on March 12, 2020 as school closed during the coronavirus pandemic. (File photo)

One year ago today, students were hurried into the auditorium after dinner for a hastily called school meeting that would change their lives. 

Earlier that day, the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. There were only approximately 700 cases in the United States at the time, but public health experts were predicting the virus would spread exponentially in the coming weeks and months. Colleges and universities everywhere were sending students home, the NBA shut down that day, and there were widespread concerns that air travel would soon be suspended, which would have left dozens of international students stranded in Lake Placid. At that school meeting, Assistant Head of School Mr. John Spear told students that the school was sending them home and closing campus.   

In an email to the community sent while students were in the meeting, Head of School Mr. Mike Maher wrote, “I have consulted with Northwood School trustees and school leaders, as well as experts in public health, and colleagues at other boarding and college institutions. I have concluded, after careful analysis, that Northwood School will cease all on-campus programming and transition all instruction online as of today, March 11, 2020. Tomorrow we will prepare students for online learning and assist them with their travel arrangements. Student departures may begin as early as 2:00 pm.” 

It was the first time since World War II that school was shut down during the school year, and the students’ mood in the room ranged from celebration to shock. A day earlier, student-athletes were disappointed when all athletic travel was canceled, effectively ending the Junior Hockey Team’s state championship run and canceling the soccer team’s trip to Las Vegas and the most important showcase of the season.  

Northwood shared the news of the closure on social media on March 12, 2020.

The school hoped to re-open at the end of the school year, and Maher concluded his email on an optimistic note: “We plan to resume on-campus instruction and other programming on Monday, April 27, which will leave four weeks for classes, AP exams, and other year-end activities, including commencement and LEAP. Of course, resuming on-campus programming at that time depends on the status of the coronavirus. We will monitor the situation closely and communicate regularly with everyone in the Northwood community.” Of course, school remained closed for the rest of the 2019-20 school year with graduation canceled.  

Ella Fesette ‘22 was a sophomore at the time and recalled that day. “A bunch of us were just hanging out in the living room and we heard a teacher walk by who mentioned something about leaving campus, and then that night we had a meeting about going home. I was so upset to leave because I had a feeling we weren’t coming back, and I was going to miss all my friends and especially springtime at Northwood. Also, not being able to say goodbye to the seniors I wouldn’t see again.”  

Senior at the time Madison Novotny ‘20 said, “I was in the basement of Berg when I heard the news. It all happened so quickly. I was stressed.”  

Jazzy Valenzuela ‘21 was a junior on that day and recalled, “When we found out that we had to get sent home I was in the living room and then we were called into the auditorium for a meeting to talk about it. I was so confused and felt anxious because I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t realize a year later we’d still have corona, so I guess in the moment I was just expecting to go home for only two weeks.”  

Getting sent home was a shock to all the students. A lot of emotions were triggered from being stressed and anxious to being sad that the year with friends had to be cut short so unexpectedly. It’s safe to say that it was for sure a year they will never forget, no matter how badly some would like to.