Winter is infamous for being the season of sickness, but this year Menlo has seen a troubling wave of illness, taking down students across campus with everything from the common cold to the norovirus. Assistant School Nurse Laurel Marks says the surge is part of a larger national trend, and the impact on class attendance, sports teams and other extracurriculars is impossible to ignore.
Administrative Assistant Courtney Tyler is responsible for recording student absences for the Upper School. “We’re close to having around 50 kids sick each day, [with] a high day having at least 62,” she said on the week of January 27-31.
“We are seeing a high number of cases of illness on campus, but it’s not unprecedented,” Marks said.
Norovirus is a common and contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea. According to Marks, there has been a national outbreak. It is also hard to prevent since hand sanitizer is ineffective in killing it. Those infected can spread the illness for up to two weeks after recovery. Marks says that it is essential now more than ever that students wash their hands before eating to reduce the risk of infection.
Still, students often arrive on campus knowing they are transmitting germs, something Marks acknowledges.“I think that students, especially at this school, are afraid to miss their classes and feel that […] academically, it’s too challenging to miss school, even though their teachers are very, very understanding and don’t want sick students coming to school,” Marks said.
Sophomore Celina Chen noted the difficulties of missing school. She became sick over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend after sitting next to one of her sick classmates for two hours at a mock trial tournament. Afterward, Chen attended school for two days, in each class feeling like she was about to fall asleep, before deciding to stay home.
“[Teachers] are very understanding of the fact that you can’t come to school,” she said. “But you do still need to catch up with your work at some point.”
Chen isn’t the only Mock Trial member who fell ill, according to Mock Trial advisor and history teacher Nick Merlesena.
“[Many students have] been unable to attend practices, and then during the day of competition, it’s unclear whether or not students will be able to perform later in the evening,” he said, noting that the Menlo Mock Trial team has been more flexible than ever to compensate for the absences, with many students taking on new roles.
In addition, Merlesena noticed how illness affects his teaching. “In a class of 16, around six people were absent,” he said. His strategy has become adjusting his assignments, particularly group work, to match the uncertainty of his student’s participation ability.
Sickness and absences also affected the winter sports teams. Varsity boys basketball head coach Ben Batory has faced performance challenges, with more than half of the players not even being able to attend practice, let alone a game.
“[The lack of athletes] definitely impacted us […] heading into the [Jan. 24] game against Priory,” he said. The Knights lost the game 77-44.
“It was very clear that we were not our best selves,” Batory said, referring to the Priory game. “Some of our regular players only played a few minutes in that game just because, physically, they couldn’t manage.”
Despite basketball being during the cold and flu season, Batory cannot remember “this many players ever getting knocked out by something.” He stresses the difficulty of running any extracurricular or sports program when most of the team is absent.
“Trying to run a practice with seven players out of 18 is […] tough,” Batory said.
As spring approaches, Menlo’s student population should no longer be as heavily influenced by sickness, meaning classes will soon be whole again and students will experience greater immunity.
