Dear Families:
I hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I can’t believe we’re headed toward the end of the school year and planning as many of our traditional activities as we can. This Friday is Field Day! In normal times, this day is the highlight of the year for students, especially the 8th grade Family leaders who have waited since Kindergarten to become the “head” of their Family. They have been such troopers in changing course, meeting with their Family online and choosing a country, creating a cheer and helping the younger students to find excitement for the day. We are so proud of them and their ability to shift to this one-of-a-kind, Field Day format. Festivities start with an all-school zoom at 10:00am on Friday morning!
Next Monday, June 1st, at 9:30am we will be having a final Prayer Assembly celebrating our graduates. This special tradition is where the first graders give their eighth grade “buddies” advice as they head off to high school. We will also be announcing summer birthdays (pencils will be coming in end-of-year bags), singing our St. Anne song and watching a special tribute song to the eighth graders from the first grade. At the end, we’ll also welcome the seventh graders to their Prayer Assembly chairs and their role as the new leaders of the school in the fall.
Also, Monday afternoon, June 1st is “Bump Up” day from 2:15pm -2:45pm. Teachers will be sending links to a zoom meeting with their next year’s class to learn about plans for the new year. Eighth graders will be “bumping back” to their Kindergarten year. Too bad they can’t re-visit sitting in their tiny chairs from Kindergarten!
Last week, Mrs. Austin and I participated in an archdiocesan-wide meeting focusing on preparations for beginning school in September in relation to Covid-19. At this point, we are moving ahead with plans to begin the school year, as scheduled, on September 2nd. We are ordering touch-less thermometers, touch-less hand sanitizing devices for each classroom and office and masks, gloves and a sneeze guard for the office area. Plans are being developed for increased sanitation of high touch areas, multiple times during the school day, including disinfecting the Big Toy between each recess. We know things will look different in the fall but we have every intention of opening (following guidelines from the CDC and as allowed by the Governor) on time with on-site classes. Our private school community is represented on the Governor’s Covid-19 response task force and is updating us as information becomes available.
What can you do to prepare for fall? At this point, it is recommended that students wear masks during the school day. It is suggested that each student have 4-6 cloth masks at home that will allow them to wear a clean one to school each day. We will also ask you to have your child be prepared to bring a bottle of hand sanitizer to school at the beginning of the year. Currently, the touch-less devices are on back-order but if they arrive in time, we will not need students to bring bottles to school. As students enter the building, we plan to take each one’s temperature to assure they are not ill.
We all understand that this is a moving target and our plans could change. Please know we are working hard and staying current on guidelines, preparing as best we can. The health and safety of our students, staff and families is of highest priority for all of us.
Have a good week!
Mary