Dear Families:
I cannot begin to express how sad it was to hear Governor Inslee’s news of extending school closures through the end of the school year. Our students, especially our eighth graders are missing out on some of the best times of their grade school years. So many traditions have to be put on hold. As we are awaiting further guidance on what this means for the weeks ahead, the Office for Catholic Schools has posted a letter and a FAQ for the community. Rest assured I will update you as soon as we have any additional information and please know that we will continue with our remote learning and doubling down to give your child/ren the best educational experience possible.
As we enter Holy Week, one of the most important weeks in our Liturgical calendar, we are missing our traditions – the symbolic Seder Meal on Holy Thursday, our Simple Meal, Living Stations of the Cross and silent dismissal on Good Friday. We are trying to recreate a bit of tradition by having a “virtual” Stations of the Cross on Friday. Thank you to the following 8th graders, Hugues Bindel, Claire Cunningham, Amanda Graff, Therese Lewis, Hattie Leonard, and Brock Tuminello for reading the prayers and to Luke Whalon, who not only read, but provided the musical interludes. The teachers will be providing the link to students and hopefully, they can share this experience with their class. It is certainly not the way we planned to celebrate Good Friday, but it is a shared piece of our liturgical traditions.
Next week is Easter break. We are staying with the original school calendar, having the week off. Hopefully, this will give teachers, students and families a time to catch their breath and relax for a bit before getting ready for the coming weeks.
And don’t forget that our auction is just over three weeks away on Saturday, May 2nd! Kathleen Gallagher, Becky Pelletier and Monica Flora have been adjusting plans and strategizing to give us a virtual party like no other. Our community is amazing and we can show unbelievable support by making this the best auction yet. Our teachers have been giving countless hours to making remote learning work, and they are missing their students tremendously. This is much harder on them than being in the classroom. Every single one of them would give anything to be back at school. Let’s show them how much we appreciate their efforts by raising funds to keep our operations as strong as they have been any other year.
During these trying times, know that we are an Easter people and may the gift of the Resurrection remind us that our faith will carry us through.
Have a blessed Easter!
