Dear Catholic School Families,
As of next week, all our Catholic schools will be back in session for in-person learning. I have visited several schools and I am extremely pleased with how our students and employees are following our important health and safety practices. I am grateful for your trust as we welcome back our students this year!
Communication and transparency are essential as we work together to keep our school communities safe and healthy. Now that the year is launched at all schools, we feel it is critical to seek input regularly from school parents/guardians, teachers and staff about the implementation of our school reopening plan, specifically our efforts to maintain a safe operating environment. If you haven’t already, you will soon be invited to submit a one-minute “pulse” survey to share your perspectives. After Labor Day, when all schools are open, we will begin sending this pulse survey regularly to all families and educators. Based on your feedback, we will work to continually improve our safety practices.
Please know of our gratitude for your participation in this important effort.
Yours in Christ,
Jim Rigg, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Catholic Schools
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Self- Care
Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Count to four on the inhale, and count to four on the exhale. Keep doing this as you think about relaxing each part of your body, from your toes to the top of your head. As you breathe in imagine that you are smelling a flower as you breathe out imagine that you are blowing out a candle. This simple technique was covered at The Impact of Stress on Learning webinar provided by Catholic Charities in partnership with the Office of Catholic Schools. This webinar provided valuable information about how the body reacts to trauma and stress and how parents can help themselves and their children. Click here for the webinar recording and click here for a self-care handout for parents in English. Click here for the webinar recording and click here for a self-care handout for parents in Spanish.
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Student Absences and Illnesses
As you have reviewed the safety plan and operating framework for our schools this year, hopefully, it is clear our principals and administrators are erring on the side of caution when it comes to managing any signs of illness among students and staff. Together, we continue to learn how best to support the entire school community. To that end, as students are either sent home feeling ill or are reported absent from school due to illness, the school administration will follow up with parents/guardians to check on the well-being of the child and gather some information about symptoms, close contacts, etc., so we can better and more quickly assess when your student is able to return to the classroom. Thank you in advance for your continued cooperation with your school principal and staff.
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Selecting a Mask: the CDC offers do’s and don’ts
By now, everyone has a mask...or two...or three. It’s likely that we will continue to accumulate or replace masks for the foreseeable future. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer clear do’s and don’ts to selecting, wearing and cleaning a mask. I encourage you to view this webpage with your family. The children will find some of the “don’t” pictures a bit humorous as they depict some fairly obvious ways of incorrectly wearing a mask – it’s definitely a good conversation starter about consistency and responsibility. If you need some encouragement on how to get your child(ren) to wear a mask and keep it on, here are some additional resources:
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