Webb Students Return After Winter Break

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Students at The Webb Schools returned to campus on January 3 and 4 amid intensified health and safety protocols implemented to minimize the impact of a regional rise in COVID-19 cases.

The high school campus, which provides a residential program to 250 students and day school instruction to 150, has followed strict guidelines since returning to in-person instruction in fall 2021, including use of masks indoors, limits on gatherings, outdoor seating for meals, mandatory vaccinations and regular testing of students, staff and faculty.

Those guidelines, developed in consultation with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and Webb’s Medical Advisory Board, helped keep cases to just a handful in fall 2021.

Concerns about the highly contagious Omicron variant prompted an intensification of health and safety protocols, with all students, staff and faculty tested before being allowed to return to campus, universal use of surgical masks, vaccination boosters for all who are eligible and tightened limits for gatherings and athletic events.

“Webb is taking every possible precaution to reduce the inevitable number of cases, as well as to ensure we continue to deliver the rigorous, unbounded academic program that is the hallmark of a Webb education,” Head of Schools Taylor B. Stockdale said. “We are ready to handle whatever Omicron may throw our way, thanks to the vigilance of our response team and the sophisticated instruction program developed by our academic team.”

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, which is located on the Webb campus, will temporarily close to in-person visits as the region deals with the Omicron-driven surge. The museum’s rich array of virtual programs will continue to be available to the public and local schools.

The Webb Schools garnered national attention in October after announcing a planned estate gift in excess of $100 million. Webb is one of just four independent high schools to receive such a gift and the only one west of the Mississippi. In November, the schools recorded another historic gift – an $8.4 million cash gift for scholarships. This gift is the largest-ever cash gift received by the schools.

In December, Webb announced that nearly half the members of the Class of 2022 received early acceptance to some of the nation’s top colleges – including Stanford, Caltech, MIT and all five Claremont Colleges. The Webb Schools have a record of achieving 100 percent college acceptance for graduates.