It’s been one year since March 16, 2020 — the date we received the order to shut down under the New York State on PAUSE mandate. Originally presented as a two week measure, we would not return to in-person classes until August 13, 2020, 5 months later.
Covid hit New York City particularly hard, and Five Points Academy was no exception. We lost students, teammates, friends and family members to the disease; jobs disappeared; moves became necessary. The camaraderie and training we all counted on in normal circumstances to keep us healthy and sane wasn’t an option. But the Five Points Team has always been strong, and we showed it once again. Our coaches stepped up to keep everyone engaged and training with online classes; our maintenance staff came in weekly to clean and prep the facility for eventual reopening; our students met up in the parks and online to support and encourage each other, getting stronger and more technically proficient in the process. Once open for classes, everyone took care of everyone else with 100% mask compliance, attention to symptoms and risk, testing and near-obsessive cleaning. We did what we always do at Five Points Academy: we acted as a team.
As we mark this anniversary, things are still far from normal and we continue to operate with restrictions, but there is definitely a sense that all is headed in the right direction. We are extremely proud of our students and staff, unbelievably thankful for your support, and focused on making the Five Points Academy Team better than ever. We have come through this leaner, smarter and stronger. Thank you all…because we absolutely could not have done it alone. Onward and upward!
