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Colorado College switches to remote learning, most students will have to leave campus

Posted at 12:35 PM, Sep 01, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-01 14:35:53-04

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — All Colorado College classes are moving to remote learning, with most expected to stay that way for the rest of the fall semester, as the Colorado Springs school deals with COVID-19 cases on campus.

The switch from in-person to remote learning comes as the El Paso County Health Department has required the college to quarantine entire residence halls, and school said it expects "rolling waves of large quarantines" moving forward.

"This is not how you — or we — envisioned our students starting their campus life, or this academic year," college officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Remote learning for all classes will be in place for at least the next two and a half weeks, or until the end of "Block 1" on the school's academic calendar.

The school will announce on Thursday which students will be allowed to stay on campus for Blocks 2, 3, and 4.

But for most on-campus students, they should plan to leave campus by Sept. 20, the college said, unless they are already enrolled in one of the few hybrid learning classes that will continue to be offered by the university. Housing will be provided for international students in dire need, the college said.

Colorado College, which has a total of about 2,000 students, had identified 10 positive COVID-19 cases as of last week.

In August, 155 students at Loomis Hall were placed in quarantine after a student at the dorm tested positive for COVID-19.

Two other residence halls, South and Mathias, were also placed under quarantine to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Colorado College on Tuesday announced it is forming its own on-campus COVID-19 testing labs, allowing the school to control testing and results turnaround.

"We regret that we cannot accommodate all of our students on campus," the school statement said. "This is a difficult decision for us, and we know it is disappointing for so many of you."