"I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:9
This is it -- Antonian starts school next week!
We are writing to provide you some information to get you started.

Topics included in this newsletter:
  • Clarification on Attendance
  • Arriving on Campus
  • Bell Schedules
  • Connections for Remote Students for Back-to-School Days
  • Schedule Changes
  • Red/White Changes
  • Apache Dining Information
  • First Day Reminders
Clarification on Attendance
We have received a few questions about who is expected to be on campus and when. As a reminder, EVERY student, whether he or she selected remote learning or hybrid attendance, has been assigned to a hybrid attendance grouping (Red Group or White Group). HOWEVER, if a student has opted for remote learning, he or she DOES NOT need to come to campus next week; instead, he or she DOES need to connect remotely on the appropriate day based on grade level and hybrid attendance group (more information on connections in a later section of this message). All students who have opted for hybrid attendance are expected to come to campus on the appropriate day based on grade level and hybrid attendance group. 

The assigned days are as follows:
Arriving on Campus
The school building will be open at 7:00 a.m. Parents who have need to drop their students off as early as this, may do so; however, whenever possible, it is preferred that students NOT be dropped off earlier than absolutely necessary. Students who come to campus must enter the building through one of our health checkpoints, at which they will answer a brief health screen and have their temperatures taken. These health checkpoints will be staffed as follows:

6:45 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Front Porch
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Pettit Lobby
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Pettit Patio (between Pettit Center and Auditorium)
8:45 a.m. - 3:35 p.m. Front Office

Once in the building, students should NOT congregate in the hallways, the Gallery, or other common areas -- they should go immediately to the Student Center if before 7:30 a.m. or to their first period classroom when the teacher is present (7:30 a.m. and after). For returning students, schedules are available on the Ascender grade portal. New students received their schedules through orientations hosted by Mrs. Rosenfeld, Director of Admissions. If any student cannot access the Ascender grade portal, please email Mrs. Rosenfeld at lrosenfeld@antonian.org and she will provide an electronic copy. This will help avoid a rush of students at the school office in the morning.
Bell Schedules
The bell schedule for our Back-to-School Days (8/17/2020 through 8/20/2020) is included below. Because information will be presented every period of the day, students are asked to attend from 8:00 a.m. to 2:05 p.m. regardless of whether they have an open period/athletics 1st period or 9th period. Students who have open period/athletics period 1st or 9th period will report to the Auditorium during the Back to School Days for the session presentations during those periods.
* For students who have chosen remote learning, actual information presentations will be 25 minutes long for each class period, but remote learning students are asked to connect and be ready to allow for attendance-taking three (3) minutes before the information presentation begins, therefore making the total session time 28 minutes each.
Connections for Remote Students for Back-to-School Days
Our first day of school consists of several general information sessions. Because these sessions will be presented to all students at once, the connection for remote students will be different from the connections remote students will make for their classes (more information on that to come next week). The sessions will be conducted in a webinar-style format. Remote students will connect to these live sessions via links provided below. Please note that these links are unique to the day on which they occur (i.e., please use the link for your assigned day). It is also VERY IMPORTANT to note that these sessions can only be accessed when a student is signed in to his or her Antonian Gmail account issued when they picked up their Chromebooks. (For any issues related to login to the Antonian Gmail account, please contact Kurt Nowak at knowak@antonian.org.) The session start time noted allows for three minutes to get connected. Therefore, there may be a slight wait time once the remote student is connected before the webinar begins. During the webinar, a link to an attendance form will be provided in the chat function. Remote students are asked to complete this form for each of the webinar sessions. The form will collect a timestamp when it is completed to note that the student completed the form during the session.
Schedule Changes
Due to the complexity of maintaining balance between red groups and white groups for classroom capacity purposes, the opportunity for schedule changes will be extremely limited. With every change in one student's schedule, there is a ripple effect on classroom capacities in other classes. Students participated in individual counseling sessions to select their courses last spring, so at this time, only scheduling errors will be addressed. Classes will not be overbooked. Only after scheduling errors are corrected will a change in preference of classes be considered. This will be on a case by case basis and ultimately, may not be likely.
 
To accommodate the need for schedule changes due to error for a student who attends in person, the academic counselors have established designated dates and times for students to request such changes as follows:





Students who attend remotely and are in need of a schedule change due to a schedule error should send an email to their respective academic counselor (Mr. Hill for last names A-L at bhill@antonian.org; Mr. Perritano for last names M-Z at sperritano@antonian.org) no later than noon on Friday, August 21, 2020.
Red/White Group Changes
The red/white groupings are effective for the first week of school (August 17-20). Because there may be students who need schedule changes due to a scheduling error, the Administration WILL need to re-balance groupings after the first week once any necessary schedule changes have been made. Therefore, it is entirely possible that your child's grouping may change beginning with the second week of school. After that, the grouping should become permanent.
 
All requests for specific student groupings that were submitted through the open request process during the month of July will continue to be honored. However, because the process of maintaining balance between red groups and white groups for classroom capacity purposes has been very difficult, we regret to announce that we are no longer able to accept additional requests for specific student groupings.
 
We understand that this may prove challenging for parents who need to make daily transportation arrangements for their children, but this is necessary in order to maintain safe distancing in classrooms for all in-person students. A separate message will be sent late next week (by Saturday, August 22nd) to announce updated groupings. 
Apache Dining Dining: Luby's
Our Food Services Committee, composed of several administrators and student leaders, is excited to announce that Luby's Culinary Services will join our Antonian family this year! We are hopeful the expanded offerings with a variety of fan favorites and healthy options will be welcomed by our students and staff. There are plans to introduce up to 3 meals deals once we are able to increase our student population on campus. This year will be like no other, but we are committed to building a successful and valuable partnership.

Q&As
Q: Will my Apache dining card still work?
A: Unfortunately, no it will not. The dining card was exclusive to Poblano's POS system.

Q: What can I do if I still have funds on my dining card?
A: Your dining card will continue to be honored by Poblano's and they welcome you to their downtown location (inside the San Fernando Cathedral courtyard).   

Q: Will Luby's dining cards be available?
A: Yes. Everyone will be given a dining card that can be activated from home. You will be able to preload your card in $10 increments and track purchases & balances from their portal. Your ACP/Luby's dining card can be used in our dining area, express dining and ANY Luby's restaurant! Cards should be available for distribution by September 1st.  
First Day Reminders
  • MASKS ARE MANDATORY!
  • On-campus uniform: Regular (Click here: Uniform Policy)
  • Remote uniform: Spirit Dress (Click here: Uniform Policy)
  • Students should bring their Antonian-issued Chromebook to school on their assigned day.
  • Students should bring a pen/pencil and notebook on their assigned day.
  • Students do not need to bring their school supplies/textbooks with them during week one (August 17th - August 20th).
6425 West Ave.,
San Antonio, TX 78213
(210) 344-9265