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Dear SCCS Families,
Good evening. I hope this day found you enjoying some of the great outdoors and Minnesota summer sunshine. This Minnesota humidity is putting me in touch with our community’s Nashvillian roots!
My apologies for sending you a message over the weekend; I simply want to respond with time-sensitivity to questions about our work in planning for the reopening of our school building for the first day of school. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this message carefully and thoroughly; I know your time is precious.
First, I want to assure you that Fr. Izen and I are acutely aware of the importance of the work before us in discerning the path we will take to return to school as safely as possible in the midst of a global pandemic, one which is impacting all of us in many ways. As I’ve mentioned before, we firmly believe that in-person instruction for our children is the best way for the formation of the whole child and that being in community, with one another, is how we can best achieve the mission of St. Croix Catholic. Fr. Izen and I are also conscious of the fact that it is our duty, albeit in all circumstances, to make decisions based on the reality before us, through the lens of faith and reason, for the sake of the common good-for our children, our families, and our faculty and staff.
I am deeply grateful for the work thus far of SCCS’s School Building Reopening Committee, which is helping us to discern how to minimize our risks for reopening school. This dedicated group of individuals have brought to the table their expertise coupled with a willingness to research, carefully listen and discuss how we can best move forward and meet our goal of being in school as safely as possible. The following are key principles which guide all of the work, discussions, and recommendations of this committee:
- The child is body and soul with specific needs intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually;
- In addition to our students, we have a responsibility to serve the needs of the adults in this community- our faculty and staff, our parents/grandparents, etc.
- While COVID-19 is a novel virus, we can and should turn to science to help guide us in making prudential judgments for the health of this community- students, families, faculty and staff;
- Science can help to make clear for us what mitigation strategies should be considered given that we are discerning how best to reopen a school Preschool to 8th Grade;
- As we look to science, it is critical that the studies and literature we turn to is based on reliable and valid scientific research.
Additionally, each day scientists are learning more about COVID-19; therefore, recommendations for staying safe and healthy change. Further, we are all well aware that a great deal of conflicting information about COVID-19 is circulating in the media and that opinions about mitigation strategies vary considerably. Consequently, it takes time and care to sift through information to determine what is true. We need not be afraid, we simply need to be informed and prudent. We are blessed to have a group of people on this committee who are committed to ensure that the plans SCCS puts into place are wise and balanced and based on the above-mentioned principles.
To date, we have begun the writing of our PPRP (Pandemic Planning Readiness Plan) for SCCS. While we understand that in the case of COVID-19 risks to students without health conditions are minimal, we must consider those who are more vulnerable: our teachers and staff, adults who live with our children, and all individuals with underlying health conditions. Therefore, our plan will consist of several layers of mitigation strategies which have proven to be effective in limiting transmission of viruses in general. Such strategies include: good hygiene, physical distancing, limiting contact, revised attendance policies, etc. These mitigation strategies will require sacrifices, they will require greater diligence at home and at school, and we will be asking for your help so that at school we can continue to focus on the beautiful formation SCCS has to offer our students, the reason you send you children to us! While school will ‘look’ different; it is our goal to ensure that our children continue to experience the nurturing environment of SCCS. We will simply be adjusting
how
we keep our children safe, the manner in which we do so will be thoughtful and lovingly. Additionally, our plan, PPRP, will be a
living
document, as we learn more from research and as numbers of cases change, we will adapt and change.
Finally, I would like to address the question of the wearing of masks. I understand that this is an important question; it is important to all of us and one which our committee has already discussed a great deal and one we continue to research and discern. However, I did not begin this communication with the topic of masks because this discussion is only one piece of the greater picture of our work. As we all know, the wearing of masks has been identified as one mitigation strategy for adults and children. Like all mitigation strategies, the wearing of masks has advantages and disadvantages, especially for children. Further, discussions and research on the effectiveness of masks, and the types of masks, continue to evolve, which is why we do not yet have a decision on the wearing of masks for children and/or adults. For example, in a more recent dialogue, committee members discussed the possibility of requiring middle schoolers to wear masks. The committee also discussed other mitigation strategies, such as moving younger students to larger classroom spaces to eliminate a requirement for masks in those classes. Our committee will continue to carefully research, discuss, and discern whether the wearing of masks for students and/or faculty and staff will be recommended or required. As with our other mitigation strategies, once a decision has been made, it will be communicated to our families.
At a time in which unity is under attack in our nation, in our world, and even in our churches, my hope is that St. Croix Catholic can be a light through mutual trust and respect. As we proceed with our planning and as it is communicated to you, there will no doubt be differing opinions and disagreements with decisions made. Thank you in advance for recognizing that every decision that is made will be based on the evidence at hand and only after much discussion and deliberation. Admittedly, I am biased, however, I believe SCCS is being guided by a rather extraordinary group of people in both the School Building Reopening Committee and our Academic Committee. We believe our committees consist of an appropriate cross-section of our stakeholders and that they have the expertise needed for this work. Certainly, they are not infallible; however, these are intelligent, dedicated, and humble individuals, and SCCS is blessed by the gift of their time and expertise! We would kindly ask for your trust and consideration as we continue to work through this process. While we have a community full of many gifts, it is simply impossible to involve all stakeholders in the same way. That being said, the work of both committees is taking into consideration the feedback collected from the parent survey we sent out in late May/early June about returning to school as well as input from our faculty and staff, and we are committed to sharing further information as work progresses.
Lastly, another update regarding our plans for returning to school will be sent on Friday, July 24th. Thank you for your patience in awaiting information. We understand that such waiting requires patience and can be frustrating. However, our committees are working hard to look at the concerns at hand from multiple perspectives. As we all know finding accurate information and discerning its application takes time. In the meantime, if your child(ren), or a member of your family, has an underlying health condition which will prevent your child(ren) from returning to the school building at this time, please contact Denise Faust at
[email protected]
or 651.439.5581 ext. 232, and I, or one of our teachers, will be in contact with you.
May God bless you as Our Lady, cause of our joy, keeps you.
In Christ,
Sister Maria Ivana, O.P.
