Winter flu caught up with the students and faculty of Richard Winn, leading Head of School Chris Thoma to decide to close the school down for two days.

Thoma said this past Tuesday that the school doors would be closed on Wednesday and Thursday because of the virus.

The Richard Winn staff spent most of this past Tuesday disinfecting the school, wiping down all surfaces with cleaners and disinfectants in an effort to kill the flu virus that was sweeping through the school, leaving about 76 victims--mostly students, but some faculty members, too--in its wake.

“When you live in small tight quarters like the classroom, (it’s easy for something like a virus to spread,) and it’s better to not take any chances,” Thoma said.

The school spread the news about the losing to the parents on Tuesday.

“We don’t want anyone else getting sick,” said Thoma.

He said the school calendar contains some makup days so they could absorb a few days with the doors closed.

And when Thoma said doors closed, he meant it--the school will be closed, and Thoma instructed his faculty there would be no meetings or practices of any kind during those two days.

All the doors and windows will be closed and the temperature in the building will be lowered to 60 degrees in hopes of killing the virus.

The only school events that will be affected by this closing will be athlectic events, such as the scheduled basketball game against Augusta Christian, orignially planned for this past Tuesday. The game may be rescheduled at a later date.

“I want to emphasize this is not a crisis, we’re just being proactive. The health of our students, faculty and staff is always the first thing we think about,” said Thoma.

An unconfirmed rumor said the virus may have been picked up by Richard Winn students who went to a Disciple Now gathering this past week.