Following reports to the nursing staff at The Bear Creek School regarding two students who exhibited flu like symptoms, the school has taken the course of caution and is closing for one day to minimize any possible risk, gather more definitive information, and discuss further details about how to proceed.

Head of School Patrick Carruth states, “Though we have not seen a significant increase in flu like symptoms within the school, we believe the information about possible risk combined with the current environmental context calls for us to proceed with care and wisdom. As a result we have decided to close school and cancel all extracurricular activities, Friday, May 1.” Further closure is not planned at this time but will be announced if the decision is made to do so.

Neither of these cases is a confirmed case of swine flu, and we have been in close contact with the public health department and, though we have no definitive evidence of a “probable” swine flu situation at The Bear Creek School, we wish to be prudent and to err on the side of caution.