For most students, the required sheltering at home due to COVID-19 has been a safer option than attending school. But for a group of 17 Chinese students studying at Verde Valley School, just the opposite was true.

The students, all juniors from Shixi High School in Shanghai, came to the Village of Oak Creek boarding school in January as part of a study abroad semester — a program that first started at VVS six years ago.

In addition to a Chinese literature course, every semester the Shixi students take International Baccalaureate classes with the other VVS students, as well as participate in events, activities and mealtimes.

Two adult liaisons from China help make sure the students are settled on campus and act somewhat as Resident Advisors in the dormitory building the group is given, one for the boys’ hall and another for the girls’. During the holidays and breaks, the Shixi group usually goes sightseeing and visits universities in Boston and New York.

This year turned out a little different. During the Shixi group’s spring break, which started March 7, they flew to Boston and visited the universities there. But because of an onset of new health precautions stemming from COVID-19 at the time, the group didn’t get to sightsee or go shopping as planned. They also didn’t end up going to New York City at all, after VVS School Head Paul Amadio advised the Shixi administration of New York’s rise in COVID-19 cases.

“We put the health and safety of out community first at all times,” Amadio said.

The Shixi students returned to VVS on March 14 and haven’t left since.

When school closures began to be announced across Arizona, Amadio decided to extend spring break for all VVS students an extra week and then move to a virtual learning structure on March 30.

Many students, international or not, were already in their hometowns or countries for spring break. For those who weren’t, Amadio and VVS staff made arrangements to help them

“We helped with the logistics and transportation for any student who needed assistance,” Amadio said. “For a couple of families with financial hardships, the school purchased tickets.”

However, making plans for the Shanghai students to return deemed difficult.

“Delta couldn’t coordinate so that the students would all fly back together,” Amadio said. “We were told by the Chinese government that they would all have to go through 14 days of quarantine.”

That would have meant that after the 16-year-olds were transported from Sedona to Phoenix, flew from to Phoenix to Los Angeles, and then had the 15-hour flight to China, all alone, they would go through customs before being have been whisked off to a formal quarantine area for two weeks. These quarantine areas, often designated hotels, are not paid for by the Chinese government, but would have been at the expense of the parents, often averaging around $1,200. Instead, the decision was made to keep the Shixi students on the VOC campus until June.

“They were sequestered as a group for 14 days,” Amadio said. “At that time they were the only people on campus with the exception of a few administrators and support staff.”

Amadio, who usually visits Shangai several times a year and attends the Shixi High School graduation, has a close relationship with the principal at the sister school and has remained in contact with him throughout the pandemic.

“The Chinese parents know we take good care of their children.” Amadio said. “They were grateful they didn’t have to go back to Shanghai.”

Most parents said they would rather have their children learning and not have to get on a plane during that time, Amadio said. VVS is able to ensure the parents that their teens are healthy on campus. Since they returned to VVS, the school nurse has been coming to their dorms twice daily to take their temperatures and do health checks.

“It’s not really any different than other boarding schools and even NAU and ASU, where they have hundreds of students still living on campus,” Amadio said.

In late March, the U.S. surpassed China as the country that had the most coronavirus cases. In fact, China is starting to open up again as their new case numbers have fallen.

The Shixi High School reopened April 27, but the study abroad students are still quarantined in the VOC, learning from their dorm rooms virtually, along with the rest of the VVS students now spread out all over the world.

“The student engagement has been amazing,” Amadio said of the school’s new online structure. “You never know what to expect when you have students all over. Staff [has been] fabulous about creating programs on different online tools in addition to the online classrooms.”

Since students in Germany, for example, might be asleep during the normal school hours at VVS, not all the classes can be held live, but Amadio said that the online platform makes it easy to do academic core work on one’s own time.

Online school “coffee houses” and social gatherings with students and staff are also held every week and have been highly attended.

“We are blessed and grateful that it’s going as well as it is,” Amadio said.

However, the Chinese group is getting a far different experience of a semester at VVS than previous groups from their school had.

“They’re on the Sedona campus, though they’re not really getting a Sedona experience,” Amadio said. “But they’re being really great about it, staying very positive.

Amadio said while the students can participate in some activities on campus now, it is “a fraction of what we would be offering if school was in session.”

Instead of playing basketball and running around, the Chinese students are asked to stay on flat surfaces.

“We’re taking away as much risk as we can,” Amadio said. “At the moment they are able to hike in and around our campus and spend time in the quad and theater — and of course, their dorms.”

In the campus theater, the Shixi students are able to play music, board games, theater activities and watch movies. The theater can also be used to practice for an upcoming performance.

“One of the highlights for VVS is each year in May, Shixi students produce and perform a cultural heritage performance with fan dancing, music, poetry and history,” Amadio said. “This year, we would like them to create and perform the evening and have it streaming for all VVS constituents.”

The students are sticking close to campus.

“They must practice physical distancing at all times outside of their group,” Amadio said. “Sadly, up to this point, we have staff that go out and bring them supplies if they needed something.”

The students cannot walk around town and pick things up from the shops that might be open, but often order snacks and goodies from China online, Amadio said.

As for meals, the students are able to venture to the VVS dining hall to pick up food and bring it back to their dorms to eat. VVS staff, who nearly all live on campus, are also able to pick up food to bring back for their families.

Like usual, salads and garnishes are sourced from the campus’ organic farm, which is just starting to bud now. Amadio said they are able to still safely get food from the farm, and the four chefs and kitchen staff, downsized during this time, prepare meals nightly.

The study abroad students usually “end up loving the food at the school,” Amadio said, adding that food-wise, “nobody’s complaining, that’s for sure.”

Alexandra Wittenberg can be reached at 282-7795 ext 126 or at awittenberg@larsonnewspapers.com